For my ethnic cuisine report I chose to go with a French restaurant. I chose French food because I am already accustomed to many of their cultures and foods from taking French when I was in High School, however I had never gotten the opportunity to try an authentic French meal. After looking around on the internet, and a few recommendations from friends and family I ended up going to La Madeleines, a French cafe in Webster off of Bay Area Blvd. close to where Baybrook Mall is. I chose to turn the trip into a date and went with my girlfriend so we could try something new together. This was also beneficial because we could each order different meals and get a larger sample.
When we arrived at La Madeleine's it was situated in a large shopping strip and from the outside looked nothing special. They had outside seating which is true for a lot of authentic French cafe's. When we entered the cafe we were immediately hit with the smell of fresh baked bread. There was a glass counter that had many different breads as well as deserts for sale. Ordering food here was different from what I expected, instead of being seated and given time to look over the menu, you were instead expected to look at the menu briefly as soon as you walked in an order your food immediately. Although I was not expecting this I was still prepared as we had already reviewed the menu online and knew what we wanted to order. For our main course I ordered the Beef Bourguignon which is tender sirloin beef medallions and vegetables sautéed in a red wine demi-glaze nestled in a bed of parmesan mashed potatoes. My girlfriend ordered the Pesto Pasta, which is bow tie pasta tossed in pesto cream sauce with balsamic chicken and tomatoes. After placing our order we were given a wooden spoon with a number on it to indicate our order and we then walked down a buffet style counter that had extra appetizers and such to add to your order. For an appetizer I ordered the Cream of Potato soup, which was a bowl of potato soup topped with shredded cheese and bacon. After paying for our order we got our drinks as well as some complementary, fresh baked bread and butter and found a seat. It was a nice day outside so we decided to find a seat outside near the windows. While we waited for our order to come out I went to work on the potato soup. First off it was extremely hot, but tasted delicious. It had an excellent flavor to it and was even more enjoyable when you dipped bread in it and combined the two. After about a 10 minute wait our meal was brought to us, each plate was carried by a separate chef making it seem like our food was very precious to them.
The food was elegantly placed on the plates/bowls. My meal was in a bowl with a layer of mashed potatoes lining the bottom of the bowl with beef chunks and mixed vegetables on top. The first thing I noticed with my order was the smell. There was a very strong smell of the parmesan mashed potatoes and they smelt great. The aroma of the cheese mixed with the beef made my mouth water. I took my first bite of the meal and it was delicious, the mashed potatoes were some of the best I've ever had. As for the beef it was excellent but it wasn't anything spectacular. The sauce the beef was covered in on the other hand was very good and tied all the different elements of the meal together very nicely. The vegetables that were mixed in where not all that great however. There was carrots, peas, mushrooms and various others. The carrots were the one thing that threw me off. I generally like carrots but mixed with this particular meal I found myself pushing them to the side. But my meal wasn't done just yet, I still had yet to taste the pasta my girlfriend has ordered which looked equally as good as mine. It was a creamy bow tie pasta with chicken and various herbs mixed into it. After taking my first bite I wasn't completely satisfied with the taste. It wasn't bad by any means but I just feel it could have been better. I think this my possibly be due to me having a high expectation for it considering the beef meal I ordered was top notch.
To wrap the meal up we each had a chocolate chip croissant, which was actually not that appealing. It looked good when we ordered it but when you actually bit into it was like chocolate flavored bread and was not very appetizing at all.
Overall my experience with La Madeleine was superb. The cafe creates an excellent atmosphere for anyone who just wants to go to relax and have a meal, but also caters to your dinner appetite as well. I am definitely happy with my choice in restaurants and would definitely recommend La Madeleine to anyone who has never eaten there.
