Simon Food Favourites: Chez Pascal Cuisine Francaise

13 July 2009

Chez Pascal Cuisine Francaise, Sans Souci (8 July 2009)

440 Rocky Point Road, Sans Souci NSW 2219
Tuesday - Saturday, 7 pm - Midnight, Tel: (02) 9529 5444
http://www.lebreux.com.au/chezpascal

Filled up on French Fat

Dear Readers, sorry for the delay in posts but I've been recovering from an overdose of self-induced French cuisine aka 'Fat' from this cosy French themed restaurant. I've been wanting to try this place for a while and a friends birthday dinner of 12 gave me the opportunity to try. I prechecked Eatability and discovered many contrasting love/hate reviews of the food and service so I wasn't expecting too much.

Sitting with the largest group in the restaurant certainly made me feel part of a large French family experience as we started with real champagne and enjoyed our French damper with garlic butter. The young service was friendly enough and when they loudly announced the specials menu at our table my mind went completely blank when trying to choose from all the amazing French sounding dishes on offer. I finally chose two specials, the Gratin de Crabe Lorentine which ended up being very rich for me but at least I could slightly taste the crab throughout it and the Côte de Boeuf Sauce Diane which I really enjoyed, the meat was juicy and tender with it's tasty sauce.

You could definitely see a lot of oil in some of the dishes ordered, especially the Salade de St Jacques which unfortunately sat in a pool of oil. The Suprême de Poulet au Basilic Crème Fleurette was reportedly a bit dry and the side vegetables like mine looked a bit rustically dry and sad. The diners who ordered the Joue de Boeuf and Venison were happy with their tasty tender choices. For dessert I had to try the crêpe Normande which states 'will not be served with cream or ice cream'. It looked fantastic but we suspected it was a bit overcooked for us because it had a slightly burnt taste to it. It's a shame no complimentary baguette bread is served to mop up the sauces and green salad to cleanse the palette as I believe is tradition in France.

After 10 minutes driving home from the restaurant I had to make a critical emergency stop in the Novotel Hotel. I suspected food poisoning but no one else got sick that night so I think I've discovered my stomach is highly sensitive to large amounts of oily food combined with alcohol :-(. I actually hope to visit again with two real French men from Normandy (I'm not kidding) to see what they think of Chef Philippe's dishes and it's authenticity who by the way is actually from Mauritius.

Do you have a favourite French restaurant in Sydney?

Other French restaurants visited:

• Tabou - Surry Hills, 27 June 2010

• Sel e Poirve - Darlinghurst, 1 Dec 2009

• Tabou - Surry Hills, 9 Oct 2009

• Onde - Darlinghurst, 25 Sept 2009

• Chez Pascale Cuisine Francaise - Sans Souci, 8 July 2009

Starters

French Damper: Accompanied with 3 butters: plain, garlic & olive tapenade $4.00/half

Champagne to start from the birthday host

My d'Arenberg 2003 The Footbolt Shiraz and decanter

Entree

Gratin de Crabe Lorentine $24.50

Coquilles St Jacques à ma façon: Tasmanian scallops cooked in olive & leeks $18.50

Foie Gras Sauce au Truffle $26 (includes Aperitif)

Salade de St Jacques $23.50

Champignon au Crevettes $23.50

Palette cleanser

Sorbet palette cleaner served after entree and before mains. Paul Bocuse is a famous French chef.

Mains

Faux-filet de Boeuf à la Bourguignonne: Scotch fillet cooked in red wine, mushrooms, onion & bacon $21.50

Coq au Vin $19.50

Côte de boeuf Sauce Diane $29.50 (cooked medium rare)

Suprême de Poulet au Basilic Crème Fleurette: Chicken breast cooked in olive oil with basil & cream $19.50

Joue de Boeuf (Chef's Best) $17.50

Dessert

Chocolate truffles with the coffees

Berries Lavender Anglaise $14

Puit d'Amour $12

Crème Caramel $9.50

Crêpe Normande: Caramelised apple pancake with Calvados apple brandy $14.50
Chef note: This crêpe is a gastronomic delight from Normandy and so as not to ruin the tradition or experience, it will not be served with cream or ice cream! FORGET IT!