September 15, 2008

French Food - The Gaulion way

So my bro was visiting us this past weekend and we wanted to make the trip as special and wholesome as possible. And so to the normal sightseeing that one does, we added an authentic expensive French dinner on the list. A French friend of ours who'd been there recommended the place and so the reservations were made and after a long exhausting day of sight-seeing we landed at the place. The first look was a cozy barn-type place. And a closer look revealed that the short tight spaces was intentional for the restaurant was very large in itself, being multistoreyed and furnished entirely in carved wood, from the walls to the furniture. And it wasn't very brightly lit, giving it a cavern-like atmosphere... So we settled in to our reserved table downstairs amidst loud crowds who were celebrating a Friday, perhaps. And first things first we're told all the food is unlimited as is the wine. The latter lights up the guys' faces... And the next thing we know, a very large basket of fresh raw vegetables was placed in front of us with a bowl of mayonnaise. This was the starters with large loaves of freshly baked bread...





And no, I wasn't kidding. See? And so we crunched like cows on the raw vegetables which went interestingly well with the red wine. We were given huge knives too, to cut through the larger vegetables and from what I saw, the collection included carrots, radishes, turnips, spring onions, onions, cabbages, capsicum, cauliflower, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and lemon. ALong with this, one had the option of going to the upstairs buffet and loading up on unlimited meat chunks and some veggie salad combos as well.

While we were crunching away, the waiter dude informed us that we could choose main course between duck, lamb and steak. While my eyebrows vanished into my hair, he quickly mentioned that they also served ratatouille for their vegetarian patrons. Relieved as I was, I could also finally try that authentic French dish. And that's what sold me on the place finally. The ratatouille was phenomenal. Essentially just a stew of vegetables made in a tomato sauce, it was very nice indeed. And for dessert, we could choose between chocolate chip and a lemon sorbée. No prizes for guessing which one I chose, the chocoholic that I was. Tipsy as everyone else was, some chose the sorbée to clear their heads but the chocochip was a no-brainer.

A loud, long and interesting meal later, we all owed 41€ each, the menu price, more than a tad expensive but surely worthwhile for a once-a-time Gaulion experience. Oh and I didn't mention which restaurant, did I? Here it is...


6 comments:

rrv said...

Does Gauilon means something?

The only French food I had was in India at this restaurant called Le Madeline, or something like that. I remember having penne with pesto, and I dont think this is particularly French, do you?

Oh, and u should have posted photos of the stew.

Jaya said...

Radhika -> It sounds like you had Italian food there :) Yeah, I shd've clicked the ratatouille... but it was steaming and delicious and vanished into us before I got the camera to it :)

Jaya said...

Also Gaulion means Gaul-like... So raw like the Gauls of France ate it... Like Asterix n Obelix, you know?

Ram said...

Indeed it was one heck of an experience.. closest a veggie could get to Asterix or Obelixian banquet..

Anonymous said...

Unlimited wine? Sounds like my kind of a place.

Jaya said...

Bala -> Indeed it was... We look forward to having you here again :)

Anon -> Drink on!

Post a Comment