Croisette Café, Bangsar: Revisiting French Soul Food with Set Dinner Promotion!

French Cuisine Set Dinner Promotion

What a deal! Ever since my visit to Croisette Café here, I can only still dream of its heavenly desserts that leave a dreamy print in my senses. Glad to be back at Croisette Café, I was really looking forward to that evening. Knowing I am in good hands when it comes to dishes by Chef Pierre C., I arrived early and get to chill out in the nice cozy ambience. It is a fairly small café and one gets a really nice personal touch since the café is run by the owners themselves. I was back for their current Set Dinner Promotion and was really pleased with how the evening went despite them having a big reservation that evening.

There are four choices of each course from Appetizer, Main Course and Dessert in the Set Dinner Promotion. Diners also get an Amuse Bouche thrown in.

Amuse Bouche

Though it varies each day as it depends on daily ingredients and chef’s inspiration, I was superbly glad I got to savor Duck Rillette on little crostini with baby gherkin and tomato. The creamy and melting tender duck was rich and saltish. The sliced tangy baby gherkin is great to cut through the richness and salty notes of the duck.

APPETIZER

Salmon & Tuna Tartare, Capsicums Brunoise & Cucumber Jelly

I love this! The myriad ingredients of finely chopped salmon and tuna dressed with crunchy cucumber jelly salad crowned with globules of salmon roe are superb in flavors and textures. It’s lightly creamy, tangy and rich with a citrusy note that makes the dish really enjoyable. The chill factor brings freshness to the palate. In addition to the tartare, there are bits of dried capsicum, minced boiled egg and blini with a drizzle of balsamic to bind everything together. Though the list of ingredient is long, everything works well beautifully.

Prawn Bisque, Saffron Scented, Croutons & Rouille

Talk about essence, this one is loaded with a lovely intense prawn essence. It’s silky and lightly creamy with little croutons soaked with the bisque.  A small dollop of rouille, made from garlic, saffron, olive oil and other ingredients, enhances the bisque in flavors. The bisque really shows off the main ingredient to its max potential and every spoonful is velvety and prawny. Chef Pierre makes the most lovely bisque and soups. The last round I was there, his Cauliflower Cream was just as sensational!

Baked Mussels Stuffed with Herbs Butter

The cuisine at Croisette is all about using minimal ingredients and letting one taste them. Here, mussels are simply dressed in light herb butter and baked. Six of them to be precise, sitting on salt and with a light squeeze of lemon, the light sweet tender mussels are a great way to start the dinner as they are not too heavy or filling.

Nissarde Salad with Tuna & Anchovies

Nissarde Salad is basically Nicoise Salad, which we are more familiar with here, a garden of greens dressed with classic ingredients like tuna, anchovies, olives, boiled egg, tomato and pepper, all dressed olive oil and vinegar. One gets quite a few notes of flavors and textures with all its ingredients in this dish.

MAIN COURSE

Sea Bass Fillet, Red Capsicum Coulis & Celeriac Puree

The sea bass fillet was firm and sweet, sitting on a pool of sweet red capsicum sauce and accompanied by dollops of celeriac puree. Flavors are delicate in this one but the sweetness of the fish is very pleasant and I adored the creamy and velvety celeriac puree.

Bouillabaisse ‘Croisette Style’ with Prawn Bisque

Tuck into a deep pool of oceanic treasures in this bouillabaisse prepared a la Croisette style! This hearty and rustic pot holds a huge prawn, fish, scallops, squid, mussels and clams, all bathed in an intense prawn stock. Served on the side was toast topped with rouille to add more depth to the seafood stew. The broth is superb in my books as I can’t help but to scoop up spoonful after spoonful of the broth for enjoyment. The huge prawn head is also brimming with loads of rich roes made for sucking pleasures. I would love more toast to soak up all the seafood essence of the bouillabaisse!

Duck Confit, Potato Sarladaise & Mesclun Salad

Imagine leg of duck slowly cooked in its own oil at very slow heat to perfume and flavor it before being crisp up on high heat to render out the fat and crisp up the skin. And that is what duck confit is all about! Here, the duck confit is rich and moist, exuding a deep meaty flavor of the duck. I would wish for a crispier skin on the duck though. Sitting beneath the duck is an excellent Potato Sarladaise, potatoes cooked in duck fat, garlic and parsley. I love the potato so much that I made sure to finish it. To cut the richness of the dish, a side of healthy light mesclun salad is served alongside.

Beef Rib Eye, Cepes Mushroom Sauce & Potato Gratin

Cooked medium rare, the beef rib eye was prepared how most French would love to eat this. If you are not into rare meat, do make sure to let the staff know. It’s a great classic steak and potato dish and here, the bonus is the creamy earthy Cepes mushroom sauce. The potato gratin is also worth every calorie intake as it is ultimately creamy and melts-in-the-mouth. The French really knows how to make awesome potato dishes and Chef Pierre is certainly the living proof!

Chocolate Parfait, Confit Orange Rinds Inclusion & Bergamot Sauce

If I have to repeat myself, I will do so to rave about desserts here. There is nothing rustic about the desserts here as every dessert is made with such class and finesse. In fact, it is desserts made for fine dining. This chocolate parfait has a deceiving outlook filled with fine little bubbles but when one cuts into it and had a taste, it will bring your senses to cloud nine. Concentrated cocoa is super velvety on the tongue with notes of Grand Marnier and oranges. Lusciously decadent, it makes my heart sing. Served with orange rind inclusion, Bergamot orange sauce and chocolate sauce, this is heaven on a dessert!

Cake Passion Indulgence

I have had this before previously and it taste just as good as it did. The partnering of chocolate layer with white chocolate mousse and passion fruit crème brulee works really well. In a bite, one taste tangy passion fruit cream and chocolates. Enhancing this further is a strawberry coulis adding more fruity edge to the dessert. This is yours if you love creamy and tangy desserts with a good dose of chocolate.

Nougat Glace (Iced Nougat) with Fruits & Nuts Nougatine, Grand Marnier Scented

Another rich dessert, this one is laced with loads of dried fruits and nuts in nougat. Grand Marnier also makes its presence here and it sits on a pool of creamy sauce with strawberry coulis. I like this a fair bit but the richness might be more suitable to share. It’s really pretty on the eyes too.

Apple Tart on Thin Crust

I was caught off by the still crispiness of the thinly sliced apple on this tart. Served hot as it is made to order, this one needs to be ordered ahead. There is a lemony hint in the tart, making it light and fresh. The thinness of the tart sweet apples and pastry crust is very enjoyable with the other sauces served and the fact that this dessert is warm, it is a comfort ending. I would also have love a scoop of ice cream with this!

This is one of the very few places where one can dine French is comfort. Croisette Café aims to please in serving great home cook French dishes and gorgeous desserts in a relax and comforting ambience. Do check out this deal of the Set Dinner Promotion as there is even a BUY 2, GET 1 FREE additional promotion. Go just for the Set Dinner at RM74 nett per person without drinks or RM108 nett per person with either 2 glasses of wine or 2 cans of beer.

CROISETTE CAFÉ

Level 3, North Block Cascadium Condo

28, Jalan Penaga Bukit Bandaraya

59100, Bangsar Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016 330 4477 / 014 665 7944

Email: croisettecafe@gmail.com

Operation Hours:

Tuesday to Sunday  11.45am to 9.45pm

Closed on Monday

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Croisettecafe