Tom and I decided to go to Cafe Normandie for Valentine's day. Thank goodness this wasn't our first date because the experience we had was not good at all and it would have ruined the mood. Out of everything that we ordered, only the bread and one other thing was tasty. Everything else was either disappointing or just meh. The service was also meh and we got seated in a place where, every time the door opened, I was chilled to the bone (it was about 2 degrees when we went) and we were uncomfortable close to the two couples on either side of us. I actually can't even comment on the decor of the entire restaurant because our seats were pretty much in the entrance of the establishment. I would not recommend this place to enemies, let alone you lovely readers. It is expensive and you get nothing out of what you paid for.
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| The Bread |
First, the brought out bread. There were three types- a sourdough roll, a traditional white roll and crusty white bread. I really enjoyed all three although the sourdough was my favorite. All three were satisfying in a different way. Sadly, when they refilled the bread, they did not refill the sourdough roll.
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| The Duck Pate |
I ordered the duck pate as my appetizer. It came with a little salad on the side. The salad was pretty good. It was acidic and bright. The duck pate was not the best. I will admit that I have not had duck pate before, so, I'm not sure if I just don't like duck pate or if Cafe Normandie's pate was just bad. So, I will try my best to describe it to you so that you can decide. It was very stick to your mouth thick, dense and mushy. It had a hearty taste but it also had an off bitterness to it. Tom described it as an iron flavor. Tom and I both agree that, while it wasn't a spit into the napkin taste, it was not in any way, shape or form good.
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| The Cream of Crab Soup |
Tom got the cream of crab soup and, as mentioned, it was our favorite part of the meal. It was a very thin soup but it had the perfect balance of hearty, buttery crab, creaminess and the sharp flavor of the sherry that counterbalances the richness of the soup.
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| The Beef Bourguignon over pasta |
I ordered the beef bourguignon over pasta (they also offered it with rice). The beef broth was very thin and lacked flavor. It tasted like meat juice and nothing else. There was no subtlety to the flavor and was absolutely mediocre. The meat was a little chewy. The vegetables were OK. The pasta was cooked fine but the sauce wasn't thick enough to help flavor the pasta (and the sauce wouldn't have helped much anyways), so, it was kind of like eating plain pasta. For some odd reason, they put a huge thing of uncooked broccoli on top. I truly hate when I go to a restaurant and I think, 'I could make a better version of this' and I definitely thought this with this entree.
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| The Roast Duck with Raspberry Sauce |
Tom ordered the duck with the raspberry sauce. It also came with potatoes au gratin and vegetables. The duck was cooked well. The sauce was primarily meat-y with just a hint of acidity from the raspberries which paired nicely with the rich duck. I will say that the sauce did not taste much like raspberries, so, it felt like it was improperly named. The skin was nice and crispy. The actual physical raspberries were the best raspberries that Tom and I have ever had. The potatoes au gratin were cooked well and were nice a creamy. The vegetables weren't all that exciting but I preferred them to my meal, so, I stole all of them from Tom (thanks babe). This was definitely a solid dish but I've had better duck for the same price, so, I didn't really feel super excited about it.
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| The Fruit Tart |
The fruit tart was ok. It was very bland. It tasted like sweet, cream and acidic. No nuance. It kind of reminded me of a tart that I could buy at the store. Considering how amazing the raspberries were, the fruit was not very vibrant tasting at all. Disappointing.
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| The Chocolate Eclair |
The chocolate eclair was also bland. It tasted like sweet and chocolate. It was very unappetizing. This was very disappointing.
I wouldn't waste my money here. There are better restaurants that are worth the time that have much better food and service.
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