Wednesday, June 25, 2008

French Escapade

Last Monday, H & I went out for dinner to celebrate our special day, and it's somewhat like our annual date night (the last one was July 2007 :P)

I chose André Wine & Dine, a french restaurant. Reasons being I've been craving for french food since reading about a critic's world and a chef's real life stories...well a lot of those involved fine-dining french cuisines. And discovering this particular expensive mushroom.
Also, André's got good reviews from patrons, and the price would not burn a big hole in my pocket. Guess what?! I wasn't disappointed, the dishes we ordered were yummy and worth every penny! :D

For appetisers, H got the really delicious fried prawn, the sauce and green salad went really well with it! I almost wanted to swap that with my escargots, but too bad H couldn't fathom eating snails, too icky for him. Nonetheless he tried one after much persuasion. The escargots were fresh, a tad salty but still good!

Next up - Soups! My mushroom soup was nice - not too thick nor thin, with just the right amount of cream. And best of all, I get to taste the 3 little slices of truffles at last!! But to be honest, I have to say I'm a wee bit disappointed with the taste of the truffles, it tasted ... erm just like any other mushroom, lack of the strong aroma as I've read. H had the tasty french onion soup, I liked the caramelized onion and cheese in it.

Main course, I was delighted with the Confit de canard (duck confit), the tender meat and the crispy skin offered such contrasts and paired well with the balsamic shallot sauce. H ordered the beef tenderloin - well done, but I suggested he tried it medium well... couldn't believe he agreed. The meat came and H was put off by the bloody meat a wee bit. But to be honest, I tried a mouthful - it didn't have the pungent smell of blood and was actually delicious. Did that make me a vampire? Ha! :P

Done with the mains and we wondered if we're able to finish the dessert. But oh boy! my "Live for Chocolate" cake had the warm and gooey chocolate in the middle of the warm choc cake. Ate it with the strawberry and sorbet... Man! I was almost in heavens! The orange souffle was a tad not as flavourful but it's nonetheless light. At least H enjoyed it.

Here's my rating (out of 10):
Food - 8
Ambience - 6.5 (It's pretty cozy but the lighting was a bit too bright, and they should play jazz :P)
Service - 8 (attentive and non-intrusive)
Value - 8.5

I'd recommend you foodies and/or love birds out there to try it out.

29/6 Updates - Food photos are here
R0016750

~ Bee has difficulty resisting good food.