Imagine a fine dining restaurant tucked away in a laneway, beside brick walls and back-end car parks, there is the French Brasserie. This quaint restaurant is classy on its own terms—high, warehouse style ceilings, Asian-inspired dividers align the tall glass windows all in tune but in contrast with the wooden chairs and white table cloths. My first impression was that it was clean, sleek but still got a touch of French in the overall design of the setting. I haven’t dined in a French restaurant before, so I set my expectations well and high, looking forward to my French culinary experience. I also had experience learning French cuisine and I pretty much know what to expect. For me, French food should have at least the following elements: (1) excellent presentation, perhaps the best of all cuisines I know, not sloppy but well–orchestrated, (2) contrasts in taste-crunch, mush, sweet, sour and nothing overpowering, and (3) sauces, sauces and sauces.
Entrée -- Meridith goat’s cheese with lavosh and beetroot and herb salad.
Surprisingly, I loved the beetroot salad. It looked like a beetroot shaped into a log and roasted. Roasting beetroots is the best way to bring out its sweet and earthy flavour, leaving an almost muted taste on your tongue. There were some drops of dressing on the plate and from what I know, was made from raspberry. It was excellent. But the goat’s cheese was a whole different story. I’m not sure whether to incorporate the goat’s cheese with the beetroot but it didn’t seem like a good idea at that time. I’m not a cheese fan and I like my cheeses light and not too lingering on the palate. With the lavosh, I just finished 1/3 of the herbed goat’s cheese.
Main – Grilled Salmon with Lemon
I chose Grilled Salmon with Lemon for my main, since I just had lamb at Grossi. The grilled salmon did not meet my expectations. If you’ll notice the picture, you can see that the salmon was slightly overcooked on some parts but deep (few centimetres, I mean) inside the meat was slightly rare and the part near the salmon belly was just moist enough. I’m still not over my Connex Sizzle salmon experience, so I have to say that I’m not satisfied with their version of grilled salmon. Another point I noticed was that the herb salad from the entrée was also in the main. Perhaps, another complement for the salmon?
Another experience that I had during the course of my lunch which I would like to share was not too pleasant. The manager (sorry, I didn’t get his name) was also there, taking care of the guests and guiding the waiters. I was the first to arrive at the place during lunch and I was led to the table by my server. The table I sat on was good and set for four people, so the server promptly removed the other sets, since I was dining by myself. The manager came by and by, and seemed to notice that I shouldn’t have been seated on the table. He, sort-of, reprimanded the waiter, telling him what he should have done—all in French. At one point he even asked me: “Who placed you on this table? Was it him (pointing to the waiter)?” I was a bit embarrassed and didn’t know what to answer, enough that I offered to move to the other table, which was arranged for 2 people. There was another incident during the course of my meal and that was when I wasn’t too satisfied with the goat’s cheese and it was the only food left on my entrée plate. The manager seemed to frown and asked me whether the cheese was no good. I admitted that I didn’t like it, but it was, of course, a matter of preference. By the end of my meal and as I motioned to get my bill, he dropped by again to take notice that I didn’t finish my wine and my coffee. I politely said that I can’t drink too much (wine) since I have to head back to work. I’m not sure but I’m getting the impression that left over food is frowned upon by the French and they prefer you to finish everything set on the plate. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the experience here at the French Brasserie. The setting and staff were attentive and prompt and the food lived up to its idea of simple yet delicate French fare. But there were just some things that I think should or shouldn’t have been brought to light. I began to think that I’d like to return to the French Brasserie, maybe next time, it will be better.
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