L'Atelier Gourmand
This is a very small cafe. Due to my late booking (13 minutes before arriving), I'm relegated to a counter. However, my chair has a proper back, so it's okay. :)
Duck breast pan seared then oven roasted, served with a honey and balsamic sauce and pan seared seasonal fruit. Plus seasonal vegetables.
The duck meat isn't really all that tasty or juicy. It's cooked nicely though, and the pear is a pleasant accompaniment to it. The waitress came back to me to inform me that this dish had some strong flavours. However, there are no strong flavours here. The balsamic vinegar just isn't very strong.
The pumpkin, potato and carrot in the disc of vegetables are all a bit samey, but the onion and pepper gives it a bit of bite.
(This is an entree, and its score isn't counted.)
This doesn't look like much, but it's full of oniony flavour. Oniony flavour isn't all that exciting by itself, but there's a herb in here that's imparting a very strong flavour.
Turns out it's star anise and cinnamon.
Puff chou filled with pistachio crème au beurre (French butter cream), roasted almonds and house-made pistachio ice cream.
This is really strange. The pastry is sweet but in very light and crispy layers. Inside is a light green ooze! The ooze is the very pleasant pistachio crème au beurre. It's like a nutty flavoured custard. It gets a bit lost in the dish, but occasionally pops up, much like a meerkat.
Amongst this, red and white droplets aren't big or tasty enough to achieve anything. I analyse them after the dessert.