DUBAI: My love for all things French has never been a secret. From food to fashion, the French tag gets my endorphins working overtime.
So lunch at Fauchon, a 125-year-old French café with a branch in Dubai, was an offer I was happy to swap an afternoon of my life for. With dreams of mussels and millefeuille floating through my mind, I walked into the eclectic, pop-art style café in Mall of the Emirates.
Tough choice
A twin store with a café and pastry shop, my partner and I were torn between lunch or planning a mass shopping spree of the macaroons, pastries, chocolates, jams and spreads on offer. With food on a plate outweighing food in a jar, we opted for lunch.
With a choice of salads, soups, hot and cold starters to choose from, variety isn't the problem. The problem lies in wanting a taste of just about everything.
Settling on the Tiger Prawn Salad was a wise choice. With chunks of sour mango, marinated artichokes and salad leaves, with a rich fruit vinaigrette on the side, the salad was large enough to be my main. I couldn't resist tasting my partner's seafood casserole. Cooked in the traditional Brittany style, the casserole was overflowing with scallops, mussels and clams in an aromatic broth. Moving on to our mains, one look at the menu and I knew I wanted to try Fauchon's version of Zarzuela. Traditionally a Spanish dish of seafood in a peppery sauce, Fauchon added a typically French twist by serving the seafood in stacks of grilled sea bass, scallops, calamari and king prawn, all braised in the peppery sauce, with a perfectly presented rice pilaf on the side. My partner's chicken breast with lemon, although not traditionally French, is still worth a taste. Accompanied by green olives, new potatoes, baby leaves vegetables and coriander, the flavours were complementary and extremely satisfying, to the point where I contemplated finishing off her leftovers. The lemon sauce was mild enough not to distract from the flavour of the chicken, but tasteful enough to distract from any imperfections in the meat.
At nearly bursting point, we needed to save space for dessert. What's a French meal without some finger-licking sweetness to finish it off? With a sweet tooth that decided now was the time to be greedy, I ended up ordering more than I could stomach. I began with their world-famous éclairs. Presented in a hue of colours from traditional chocolate to caramel, orange, lemon and even one with the Mona Lisa's eyes for icing, the éclairs were everything I wanted them to be. Careful not to overindulge, I rationed out my portions, knowing that the Carremenchoc, Carre Gianduja, Chou Fleur and mini macaroons were all on their way.
The best way to describe the Carremenchoc is edible art. With a gold layer giving way to dark chocolate cake, cream and mousse underneath, it was chocolate perfection. The Chou Fleur, or choux pastry as it's more commonly known, was soft Chantilly choux with raspberries and cream.
Dessert done, we glanced into the pastry shop once more. With a stomach so full, a shopping spree didn't seem like such a good idea any more. Just as well. All the more reason to revisit the next time I'm in Mall of the Emirates.
Meal for two: Dh350-Dh400
