La Cuisine de France
Escargot
A few weeks ago, Ninja-Kitty and I finally used our last Bistro of St. Tropez gift card from freshman year. Oh, the fruits of winning those First Friday scavenger hunts reap such delicious meals! This time, we had our stomachs set on the escargots: naked snails basking in a pond of glorious buttery truffle sauce. I think this must have been my second time eating escargot?
Epic Close-Up of the Epic Deliciousness!
Anyways, I really don’t see why some people are repulsed by the idea of eating snails. Perhaps since I am Chinese (we eat everything) and from NY (exposure to all cuisines), but I actually get a thrill from eating something out of the ordinary. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed by how normal they tasted; I expected some level of strangeness or extraordinaire from the snails, but they actually just resemble some sort of mollusk-like seafood. It was definitely the sauce that made the dish. The rich truffle flavor brought out the meatiness of snail and soaked mushrooms. The sauce was just so decadent, I drenched the rest of my table bread in it.
Calamars
For the second appetizer, we ordered the Calamars, which consisted of grilled jumbo calamari stuffed with some sort of pate-like sausage. The calamari was chewy and delicious, but the sausage was a little odd-tasting. Again, it was mostly the fire roasted red pepper sauce that carried the flavor. It was much thinner and lighter in comparison to the truffle sauce from escargots but still yummy with the sour undertones of pepper that highlighted the meat.
St. Tropez Burger
Ninja-Kitty ordered the St. Tropez Burger as her entrée, which came with hand-cut fries and a side salad. The burger itself was pretty amazing, with mushrooms and foie gras slathered on top. I stole a bite of that juicy meat with rich foie gras edge. It was snugly tucked within the soft bun, allowing the juices to seep into the bread.
Niçoise Salad
Hearing an old lady in the building recommend the salads, I got the Niçoise salad topped with a hearty filet of grilled Atlantic salmon. The fish was delish, as salmon almost always is (especially French salmon)! The charred roasted potatoes were quite flavorful, whereas the rest of the salad was mostly seasoned by the vinaigrette. I bit into a few strange vegetables like olives and this mini pickle-like thing, cornichons? Anyways, those weird things aside, this salad was probably one of the better ones I had. Well it sure better be, considering its $15 cost!
I don’t think I’ve had snails before. I must try them! This post was delectable!
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