text: I was expecting to leave Joel Robuchon a changed person.  Okay maybe not, but I was expecting to have one of the best meals, if not the best, in my life.  I thoroughly enjoyed the olive oil, cheese, and bacon varieties of bread I chose from the massive bread cart.  The caviar with crab and fennel cream was an awesome way to start my 16 course tasting menu.  I usually don't like cold foie, but the second dish changed my opinion.  Thinly curled pieces of foie gras terrine, shaved black truffle, and soft potatoes melted in my mouth.  The rich flavors with a little bit of radish & coarse black pepper made me moan with delight.  At this point, I was thinking The French Laundry was in trouble of losing its top spot on my all time favorites.  The third course actually had a trio of truffles.  One was a mushroom consume with a veal stuffed mushroom, topped with black truffles.  The second was a black truffle tart with onion confit, and third offering was an egg custard with golden toast and more truffles.  I'm telling you, this one trio had more truffles than I had eaten in my whole life.  For some reason at this point, my service dropped off dramatically.  My next course was brought out while I was still enjoying my truffles.  Pacing was too fast, and I did not get a chance to breathe in between the rest of my courses.  At one point, I also had to pour my own water.  Come on, this should not be the case at a 3 star restaurant where I am paying nearly $500 for a world-class dining experience.  I really enjoyed the crustacean trio, pumpkin and ginger soup, and the farrow risotto, but there were a few dishes I did not enjoy.  That's not unusual for a tasting menu, and overall, I thought the food itself was rich, beautiful, and decadent. Just when I thought I finished with the chocolate dessert, another cart filled with les mignardises drove by.  I was so full at this point, but I did choose a variety of dark chocolate treats to take with me.  I left with a bar of Joel Robuchon chocolate, a high gloss picture album of the restaurant, and a slightly disappointed feeling.  I'm glad I tried Joel Robuchon, as most of my meal was extremely delicious.  However, for the price and disappointing service, I would not recommend this restaurant to others.  The French Laundry remains number one in my book.