Pardon my French, but I can never seem to remember the name of this restaurant… Sheepie and I were looking for the place, but because we couldn’t remember the name, I wasn’t able to find it on Google maps or Urbanspoon for some time.
It’s a cafe with about 20 tables, and last time we drove by, it was completely packed. This time, there were only 3 other groups. It was around 5pm on a Sunday. We sat by the window, I sitting on the comfier cushioned bench. Although it was run by Japanese, it didn’t have the above-than-average level that these kind of cafe’s usually would have in Japan.
We ordered the Hashed Beef Stew with Hamburger Steak $12.95. It was a fairly large dish, and half of it was enough for me at the time. It came with a side salad, rice, beef stew (like curry) and a hamburger (Japanese style). The hamburger was super soft and juicy. Ah~…brings back nostalgic memories of eating Western food in Japan…always so tasty…
Hashed Beef Stew with Hamburger Steak $12.95
This dish did live up to my expectation. The hashed beef stew was excellent. I found it a bit on the salty side, but that’s just because I don’t use salt in my own cooking. I wished there was a little bit more rice, but that’s just my preference. Sheepie on the other hand didn’t seem to like it as much as I did. He said it was on the blander side. But then again, he hasn’t really ate that much Western food in Japan except McDonald’s so he doesn’t have that same nostalgic feeling or familiarity with the taste. But from someone that hasn’t ate much of them, he does give a different perspective on Japanese-Western style food.
Service was prompt and friendly. The atmosphere is ok, though I did wish they bumped up the interior decor a bit. The ceiling is a bit ghetto and not much thought has gone into the visual experience. Hey, it’s a French-Japanese restaurant. They could do a bit better. The regular menu is ok, but the special menu/dish is on crumpled lined paper written in either crayons or felt markers. Although I can see they are trying to achieve a friendly, handmade feel, it brought down the level to ‘are they too poor?’ or ‘are we serving to children?’.
However, the food was very good. For what I saw from the menu, it didn’t seem like a real ‘French’ fusion restaurant. It was the typical Western food that is served in Japan, catered to Japanese. So don’t let the name fool you. Don’t go in expecting French cuisine. This is a Western-style restaurant run by Japanese. If you’re not familiar with the tastes, they might throw you off (like Sheepie), but I can’t wait till I come back and try more things off the menu! (I guess with a different friend…lol)
Note: They are closed on Tuesdays!
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The complimentary slices of bread were soft and spongy. Tasted really good. We ordered a plate of pâté which went even more well together with the bread.
I ordered the Omelette du jour $9 which came with an omelet with red peppers and their daily soup. The soup was quite large and very tasteful. The omelet was soft, though I would have liked to have more ingredients inside – especially mushrooms! Love mushrooms – a must have in omelets!
One of us wanted the same dish, but with prawns thrown into the omelet, but that was not allowed, so she ordered the Shrimp Salad.
The other company ordered the Spinach Salad. They were both pretty large and presented very well. Looked tasty and healthy!
