Auberge de L’Ill, Alsace ()

Today I enjoyed a lunch at the venerable Auberge de L’Ill. The building, in an idyllic location on the banks of the river Ill, has been owned by the Haeberlin family for over 150 years and the restaurant itself has held one Michelin star or more continuously since 1952. The food reflects that – classical and full of flavour.

Your meal begins with an aperitif and a couple of nibbles on the picturesque outdoor terrace before being invited inside. At the end, if you’d like coffee or tea you can sit and relax outdoors again to take in the Alsatian countryside.

Today my dining partner and I opted for the “menu tradition” and between us ate the following:

• Amuse bouches and bread
• Breton lobster with spiced fennel salad
• Salmon soufflé with puff pastry and tomato concasse in a Riesling sauce
• Sea Bass with courgette cream.
• Veal filet mignon with artichoke barigoule
• Pigeon and Foie Gras wrapped in cabbage with black truffle
• Petit Fours
• Chocolate with peanut brittle and peanut sorbet
• Fresh raspberries with crème brûlée, grilled almonds, almond milk foam and raspberry coulis
• Coffee and iced chocolates

Particular highlights for me were the salmon soufflé – very simply presented but wow, the flavour combination is incredible and it pays tribute to traditional Alsatian cooking – and the pigeon dish which was just a testament to the chef’s ability to juggle the powerful flavours of pigeon, foie gras and truffle.

Those two dishes are worth the visit alone, though the supporting cast were absolutely nothing to sniff at either.

Overall the Michelin suggestion that two stars means “worth a detour” is probably right – I took a detour here after travelling from Southern Germany on my way to Strasbourg, but the detour was absolutely worthwhile. The on-site Hotel des Berges is also superb, by the way.