Le Francais Mistral

As an act of sympathy to Cecile (yea rite!) who hasn't had a chance to enjoy good food other than the highly processed ones in the States, all of us took a shot at French food somewhere close to Briar Forest. A friend of Cecile's recommended this restaurant and it is supposed to serve authentic French cuisine, prepared by French chefs, of course. Cecile badly wanted to have good French baguette and coffee, the poor thing who had to deal with the American nonsense :p

Details on the menu, click: Le Mistral. As you can see, the variation in the menu is very limited, which may be a good thing, that the chefs have perfected the art of these meals.

Anyway, I questioned Cecile on the menu and she said that, French cuisine portions are normally small. When you pay a lot, the portion is supposed to get smaller because that's how much quality they are putting into that small amount of food. As she described each menu to me, her face shone (lol) and suffice to say, I had a very high expectations on this dinner.

Both Hannah and I left our apartments at 7 so that in case we got lost, we still have time to figure our way out to arrive on time for our dinner at 7:30pm. Had a bit of a trouble locating the restaurant so we asked a passer-by. Lol, even the passer-by exclaimed that it's a good restaurant!

Parked and before we can properly find our table, we saw a few at the bar. I ordered a glass of red wine (France), $9. Chatted for a bit before heading to our table where some of the others are already there waiting.

@ the bar

Served starters

The starters that they served for us was free, tasted something like tuna of some sort on cucumber slices.

Since Cecile has already given me a brief overview of the menu, I already had in mind what I wanted to order. Both Hannah and I decided to share an appetiser, order a main entree each, but share them otherwise, and possibly share a dessert, if we're up for it.

Very early on, I already aimed at the foie gras! I have heard good things about it, politically incorrect or not, I am going to order it!

Lucasz got lucky flanked by super gorgeous girls :D

In a posh dinner settings with articulate-mannered waiters, we must expect glass tripping and wine spilling!

Ha-ha.

Sweet Hannah

French decor.

Hang on! What's that great big cow doing over there silently giving us a steely glare? Is this a French thing? I asked Cecile. Before she could say anything, Hannah said, of course, if you notice the French passport, they have a picture of a cow on it. Hahhahahha. And guess what, later on as we were paying, Cecile took out her purse and it was small with a cute comical cow sewed on it.

Want to make a guess what this is? :

Salted butter! Hahaha

The breads are pretty awesome... It's pretty hard on the outside but when you tear the bread apart, it's all soft and fluffy on the inside. Tastes absolutely great with fancy butter.

Long dinner table. It's been a while since all of us had dinner together!

Lucasz wants a photo with me.

Omon's appetizer arrives!

Escargots de Bourgogne, Ail et Persil

Burgundy snails baked in butter, garlic and parsley

$11

Then our appetizer arrives!

Terrine de Foie Gras au Sauternes Cuite au Torchon, Brioche, Petite Salade de BetteraneFoie gras terrine "au torchon" marinated in Sauternes served with toasted butter brioche, braised beet salad.

$15

Hmm.... How can I describe the taste? It's almost like eating a layer of animal fat, it's so oily and juicy but gooooooooood.

Eeek! Red-faced from red wine. Oh, I'll tell you a tragic story about the wine later...

And opposite us, Cecile and Magda also were sharing appetizers. They ordered foie gras too, but cooked differently.

Tranche de Foie Gras Poele aus Poires, Reduction au Juis de Morilles et Porto

Seared slice of foie gras over roasted pears, served with a morel mushroom and Port wine reduction

$15

Then we took our own sweet time eating our starters, before finally (after a super long wait, we had appetizers at 8:30pm maybe) having our main entrees at 9 plus. But I kinda like it, that you get time to enjoy food and digest it properly. The Chinese (zhu char way) would have been plopping all 10 dishes in front, rice and all, rush, rush, pay, go back.

This is Omon's again...

Filet de Red Snapper en Papillate aus Tomates et Courgettes sur un Lit de Julienne de Paireaus au Juis de Citron et Huile d'Olive Vierge, Riz Sawage

Filet of red snapper en papillote, served on a bed of julienne leeks surrounded by zucchini and tomatoes, marinated in lemon juice and olive oil, wild rice

$27

and Lucasz's:

Magret de Canard Caramelise, Sauce a l'Orange Epicee, Gateau de Pommes Fruit au Foie Gras, Pointes d'Asperges

Caramelized duck breast with a spicy orang sauce served with an apple foie gras and green asparagus

$27

Hannah told me to try avoiding to order stuff like chicken because that's not a really French meal, and instead to choose red meats. I duly obliged...

My main!

Rable et Cuisse de Lapin en Tapenade, Gnocchi de Pommes de Terre, Jus de Tomates Parfume au Thym

Boneless leg and terderloin rabbit on black olive tapenade, potato gnocchi, tomato emulsion flavored with thyme

$26

I received many objections from Lucasz when I wanted to order a rabbit. Lol. He says rabbit are not for food, but Hannah agrees to me ordering the rabbit cause it's not often we have rabbit and we should definitely try it. Kasia also ordered a rabbit!

Now, the taste: It actually tastes a bit like chicken, but a bit tougher on texture. The legs are surprisingly huge, I suppose Texan rabbits are bred that way. The gnocchis are potatoes with pasta grilled till brown and they do taste yummy.

And I shared with Hannah's:

Filet Bauf Roti et Fume, Pommes Rates a la Truffe, Sauce Bordelaise Parfumee au Raifort

Half roasted smoked beef tenderloin, fingerling black truffle mashed potatoes, Bordelaise horseradish sauce

$35

2nd most expensive entree on the menu.

Oooooh the tenderloin is to die for! At medium rare, the whole of its insides are pinkish and sooooooft, soooo juicy.... thinking about it makes me melt inside now. Too bad I was already half filled when I was done with half my rabbit, so I couldn't really enjoy the mashed potatoes, but they are good anyways.

To die for!

I cleaned the plate, just left the mashed taters cos my stomach is not for heavy duty.

Hannah was not up for dessert and I felt the same way too, so we didn't order any. But that didn't stop others from ordering...

Lukasz's

Fondant au Chocolat Marie Brizard Cafe Glace Vanille Frappee

Chocolate fondant served with Marie Brizard Cafe-infused vanilla shake

$8

A poke throught the fondant in the middle and chocolate oozes out. Gosh...

Then MagdaO's

Tarte Tatin Cuite au Poelon et Glace Vanille

Baked caramelized apple tart, served with vanilla ice-cream

$8

According to Cecile, this dish was created by the nuns (not sure about this, might have misheard through the thick accent) and they wanted to make apple pies, but they do not have ovens, so what they did was to cook in pans instead and the dough at the bottom that received heat the most will be exceptionally crispy. It's really nice!

I had a really good time there... except for a bit of an off moment. I think I was too ambitious and had a tad too much wine. So when I got up to go to the ladies', the wine all kind of rushed to my head and the effect wasn't that bad till I was done easing myself and was in front of the mirror, washing my hands when it hit me, a wave of dizziness.

I had to hold on to the sink and just closed my eyes for a few minutes, I think a lady who was just done washing her hands might think I've gone a bit mad haha. So I tried to hold myself steady, got back into the cubicle and squatted down for a bit. That helped after a few minutes so I got back up again. Then, the wave just swept through me again! Aiyo, I think I repeated that for almost 3 times until I finally felt fine. So the whole time I think I was in the loo close to 20 minutes? Some of the girls joked that I'm like an old lady lol.

Our bill arrived :

Hmm.... $33 including taxes and gratuity (party more than 5 will be charged this), actually not bad! But.... Hannah's $60+! Added together would mean $50 each.. *calculate* .. close to RM175! Lol.... this is officially the most expensive dinner I've ever had... The previous was The Ship record the one I terpaksa treat TY, but this one surpasses that waaaaay beyond.

But to think of it, the prices are actually not that bad, so long as you don't convert everything to RM. If you were to work and earn your salary here, everything is pretty much affordable.

Got back, slept early so that I could wake up early for AUSTIN!

Up next :)