This year Fannypack and I did birthday dinner a little different. We didn’t tell each other where we’re taking them so it was fun to see what we came up with. It was also hard though since…we’ve both been to so many restaurants that it might be a repeat!
We did well though. I took her to Como Taperia for hers and she hasn’t been before, and for mine, she took me to Café Salade de Fruits which is inside the French Cultural Centre.
We were quite pleased with the quaint homey feel of the restaurant, and everyone talked in French (we didn’t know the restaurant was inside the French Cultural Centre at the time)!
Our server came around and gave us an extensive introduction to their menu and daily specials. Fannypack and I both decided on the Table d’Hote ($35) which is a typical French bistro-style 3 course menu. We also added their Grilled Romaine Caesar ($14) because…grilled romaine.
For starter, it was a delicious, fragrant Lobster Bisque. We could smell the sea immediately when the bowls were placed in front of us.
Not to mention the bread (baguette) rounds they gave us were so delicious and soft with a slightly crisp outer shell and worked so well to soak up whatever bisque was left in the corners of the bowl where the spoon couldn’t reach. I might’ve gotten full just from this alone.
The Grilled Romaine Caesar was a bit of a letdown. The romaine wasn’t charred all that much and just had the slightest grilled aroma to it. You can barely see the grill marks on the half head of lettuce. The Caesar dressing was disappointing also. I expected more anchovy flavor but it was mostly garlic. At least they didn’t overdress.
For my main I picked the Medallion of Game Meat and today’s game meat was Venison. It came in a peppercorn sauce and it was quite delicious. The venison, being game meat, is quite lean so it was cooked a medium rare towards rare side. It’s best eaten in small pieces since I found it just a bit chewy but not so much that it’s inedible.
You can definitely taste the gaminess but I didn’t mind that at all. For sides it came with a cheesy scalloped potato which I mostly left alone, and steamed vegetables that could’ve used a bit more seasoning.
Fannypack picked their Salmon Wellington and it was nicely packaged in a buttery puff pastry. Her sides were a risotto-esque risotto (they call it risotto but the consistency was far too soft to be a real one) and also the steamed vegetables.
I had a bite of the Salmon and it was quite good.
The dessert that comes with the Table d’Hote is a Chocolate Terrine. Had a bite. It’s good. If you love super chocolatey things like this.
Fannypack knows I’m not a fan, and let me choose something else (it’s an upcharge). I chose the Vanilla Crème Brulee as I always like a good crème brulee.
This one didn’t seem like the sugar was brulee’d fresh as it wasn’t warm or hot when it arrived. Nonetheless it was still tasty and creamy.
There were definitely some hits and misses but we still enjoyed most of the meal very much. I think my mom and sister would love it here also as it reminds me of our month in Paris. I’ll be looking forward to taking there here soon.
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