The premise was set. Valentines Day and a French restaurant to celebrate it! Joie de vivre as they say :). Well not really..
Decor - Restrained elegance that exudes its own touch of romance as it sits right near the lake (Although the other side is a rather dingy street at night!)
Service - My critique here is ONLY for Valentines Day (Shouldn't matter but still). Romantic restaurants typically tend to have a more relaxed approach to timing their courses. This place took it a bit too far. The time lapse between Apps - Mains - Check kept stretching after every phase, to the point that we kept staring across the room to signal someone else to get our check since our server couldn't be bothered I suppose!
Food - For hors d'oeuvres we had the Charcuterie plate. While the cured meats were a little too salty and hard to chew (perhaps too cured I guess), the liver mousse was good and paired very well with the mustard on the side and the thin flat bread.
For Mains, we had the Cassoulet and Moules Frites. The lamb shoulder on the Cassoulet was delectable! The sausage was decent. The leg and thigh duck confit was nothing to shout about. The meat was cooked fine but lacked a strong flavor dimension. The worse part was the beans as they looked and tasted like baked beans straight out of a can. The walnut oil was non existent and bread crumbs although sparse, did save the sauce a bit.
The moules frites was better in comparison as the mussels were perfectly cooked with no sand/grit on them. The sauce was delicate yet tasty and the supporting fries were well seasoned.
Price : This is where I believe the experience lost a star here. For $27, the Cassoulet should've blown me away but it didn't. For $22, the mussels were better but not worth that much money. I guess the price was proportional to the portions which were good I must say! But quantity and quality don't always go hand in hand.
I wouldn't mind trying out this place again but for nearly $100 for a couple, there are better places to try out. Hope others have a better experience here.