Café du Lac

I really wanted to try Café du Lac when I first read their online menu but the online reviews aren't all that great so it went to the bottom of my list and forgot about it..... until I read my favorite foodie's review here about her Winterlicious experience there. And it just happen that there's a Fabfind deal recently and so we made a reservation for 8:00 on a Tuesday night.

It was packed when we arrived and there was only the owner there, we waited for a few minutes before we was ask to wait while the table is clear while she was serving/talking to other customer and when the table is clear, we have to ask her if that's our table and if we could sit down. 

And after a few more minutes waiting, I got an empty menu.

When we was ready to order, she didn't even mention their Prix-Fixe Tuesday special until I asked about it.... then I mention I also order the duck in a jar in advance, then she left us without asking if I need an app or drink... after we ask for our app and order a bottle of wine....

We waited for our app for another 30 minutes and our apps came but no bread, water or wine.....Until I complain on Facebook and a friend tweeted the owner and told her I'll write about it and she quickly rush over to apologized and explain that it's usually not that busy if not she'll call in extra help... ok she have time to tweet (O_o)?

Foie gras caramélisé

~ caramelized foie gras, pear chutney and apple crisp

The foie gras was perfectly seared on the outside but a bit under cook in the inside and the crisp wasn't that crisp and the pear chutney fells a bit too cold when paired with the foie gras.

But foie gras is foie gras, I'll love it on it's own but wish we were offer some bread to dip the foie gras oil with =D

Celery Soup with Truffle Oil

This was the app for the Tuesday Prix-Fixe menu. It was surprisingly good since it's my first try of Celery Soup and the flavor was not as strong as I expected. Smooth with just enough truffle oil cause sometimes it can be over powering to other flavors. 

Love the simple cream, oil and flower petal presentation.

Trying to eat very very slowly to wait for our wine, we still manage to finish almost half before the wine arrive. The only consolation is that it was really good.... after our apps then she realize that she didn't gave us bread and she advice that their daily made bread was out and she offer us a few slice of baguette instead but it wasn't that great... dry as if cut and put there for a few hours.

The AYCE Mussels from the prix-fixe menu and there was the choice of white wine, Tomato and mild curry sauce. Ben choose the Mild curry sauce to try something different but bad choice =P The curry flavor was so mild that you could barely taste it and bit too sweet.

I also find the bowl too small and we couldn't reach the sauce at the bottom which give the mussels barely any flavor... but I guess it's a good thing since we didn't like the sauce.

Their house made tomato sauce was surprisingly good and flavorful, 

almost like a tomato paste consistency.

Canard dans une jarre  (Duck in a jar)

This is a weekend special or to be ordered a day in advance.

~ foie gras stuffed duck magret in venison balsamic reduction with savory cabbage, leeks and Berkshire porkdouble smoked bacon served on a bed of rustic mashed potatoes

This is quite a pricey dish at $36, but the Chef Hudson actually came out to serve this dish and explain how it's made, I love how he took time to come out to meet with customers.

Look at the fatty duck skin, the meaty moist duck meat and the foie gras stuffed in between the skin and meat.... the cabbage absorbed the duck flavor and it was just divine and the sauce with the mashed potatoes was really really good. So good that I actually finish all of the mash too since I normally don't like potatoes that much =P But I really didn't taste any balsamic in the sauce and nor can I find trace of any of the dark red color in the dish, but the sauce was still very good regardless. My only complain was that it was a difficult to cut and my suggestion is to have it served with a steak knife. As I cut into it and realize how tough it was I thought that the meat will be the same but I was surprise at how fatty, juicy and moist it was. The flavor was intense and intense maybe because it was cook in the jars for hours.

Since it's AYCE Mussels, we order another 1/2 serving of the white wine sauce and we love this one much more but still with a too small bowl and too little sauce. 

It's ok but the one here is so much better.  =P

And btw, it came way latter when the chef actually came over to our table to see what dessert we wanted whereas the owner totally forgot to put in our order for the mussels. This time there's no excuse since there was only another table left and wasn't that busy anymore.

Brownie chocolate-betterave

~ chocolate and beetroot brownies drizzle with beet caramel and creme anglaise

We wasn't even offer a dessert menu, the chef just came over asn ask us how the food was nad if we wanted dessert. He just describe the dessert to us and I was intrigue by the beetroot part but I didn't taste the beet flavor with the caramel and chocolate flavor. This was OK for a brownie but it was on the house due to the slow service.

Chocolate and Caramelized Banana Crepe

This is the prix fixe dessert

I has a really home made feel to the crepe and real chocolate not Nutella.

I like it a lot mainly because chocolate and banana is my favorite crepe combo.

Verdict :

Good Food with friendly but not very attentive service.

I may give them another chance in the future since maybe she was caught off guard by way more customer than usual. 

But will not have the AYCE mussels again.

Maybe I should try their Duck Confit or their brunch next time