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Having never before tried one of those dinner boats plying the Seine, I recently tested the new menu created by chef Martial Enguehard (Meilleur Ouvrier de France, formerly of Lucas Carton and the Crillon) for the Capitaine Fracasse. The food was fine, if not a gourmet feast. We began with an assortment of (straight from the refrigerator) mini-starters: foie gras, a goat-cheese-and-cucumber sandwich, fish tartare, a mayonnaisy apple salad and a sweet/peppery vegetable soup. For the main course (the only one you get to choose), I had a deconstructed blanquette de veau, with the veal and rice wrapped in cabbage like a big sushi, served with a tasty mushroom-flavored white sauce and carrots. My companion proclaimed his filet of beef (+€10) with foie-gras sauce and purple mashed potatoes to be delicious. Dessert was also an assortment, with a bite of chocolate cake, a little fruit tart (topped with tiny malted-milk beads) and creamy cheesecake in a bowl. The service is friendly and efficient, and the interior plain, but who needs decor when the show takes place outside the windows as you glide past all the glories of Paris, from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame and back, ending with a familiar but out-of-place sight: the scaled-down Statue of Liberty on the Ile des Cygnes. Prices range from €50 (drinks not included) to €89 for the whole works and a bottle of 2006 Grand Cru Classé Haut Médoc. On the whole, a supremely relaxing way to spend an evening.
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