La Brasserie De Paris

I’ve read numerous articles about it and I can’t argue with what’s I’ve seen. It’s Viva la Revolution – there’s a been a steady wave of Frenchy French influence sweeping through the West. And I’ve had no complaints to date. I’d thoroughly enjoyed my visits to Petite Mort , was enamoured with the bistro style cuisine at P’tite D’Ardois, adored The Loose Box and thought Bouchon Bistro went alright, plus I will be the first to admit that I can’t get enough macarons from Jean Pierre Sancho and Maison Saint-Honore.

But I ventured out for dinner last week and my run of fabulous French experiences stalled. In a massive way – from tres bien to mon dieu monsieur!! Now anyone whose perhaps stumbled across my humble little blog knows that I have a propensity to the positive. I like to find the silver lining to what some would argue weren’t the best dining experiences….. but I’ll put it out there early on that I struggled to find much to like about this night out.

GG and I had been roaming around Subi and were in the mood for a steak. Our first port of call was Hippo Creek, but sadly there was no room at the inn. Now there were two other options down the road that we should have reverted to…. either the Subi Hotel, where the pork belly is amazing, or down the road further at Squire’s Loft, where we know we like the steak and they have either black peppercorn or green peppercorn sauce – too cool!! But instead I’d heard about a place called La Brasserie de Paris and decided we should give this new addition a go.

While everywhere else had looked so busy, when we arrived at La Brasserie de Paris (which had taken up residence where the Sicilian used to be, across the road from the Oriel) it wasn’t a full house. There were a few folks there, but not that many, so we were able to get a table. There were basically two ends to the restaurant and we were sat closer to the til.

We ordered a glass of wine each and looked through the menus.

While we waited for our mains, we partook in some complimentary bread and butter. It was nothing to write home about and my big beef with it was that the butter was hard as a rock! Sad times when you can’t spread the butter on your bread and have you just balance it on there in cubes. I was bemused as to why butter would need to be kept in the fridge instead of just kept at room temperature?

On to mains and I had decided that I would go with BOEUF BOURGUIGNON ET PUREE DE POMME DE TERRE (Beef “Bourguignon” in red wine sauce, mashed potatoes) $32.00. It was a cooler night and the thought of a rich casserole dish just seemed so alluring to me. It ticked the steak box in a sense. I can’t say I was all that impressed with the presentation. There was something a little bit tacky about the paper doilies. But hey I had high hopes for the taste. The meat was pleasant, as was the flavour of the sauce and I really enjoyed the mashed potato. But, it was nothing I couldn’t have done at home though.

And while I had been disappointed in my dish, I had high hopes for my GG’s given the $43 price tag on it. He had ordered the FILET DE BOEUF AUX CEPES ET PETITS LEGUMES (Beef fillet mignon , porcinni sauce , mixed vegetable) $43.00.  You can only imagine our mutual dissapointment when his meal arrived. A piece of thin steak, swimming in an uninspired gravy with the saddest pile of over steamed vegetables on the side. They honestly looked like they were taken from some sort of frozen bag of vegies and then banged in hot water and left for far too long. It was a sad state of affairs and from all accounts the taste was as bad as the appearance. For $43. I’m not adverse to paying higher amounts for a meal, but if we pay good money, I think we deserve good food. This place did not deliver. Not even close.

So given the meals I was already feeling miffed and when I further reflected on the service. It had felt really abrupt, which was very disappointing. Sometimes amazing service can save, or at least help to offset, very average food, but as it was I left afer our meal honestly believing that this place will not last. The price does not warrant what they are producing.

It was not a good night out. I will not be heading back in a hurry.

Au Revoir La Brasserie De Paris!