La Beaujolais - Mercure Hotel, Abu Dhabi

We found a gem of an eatery in Abu Dhabi - Here is a quick review of our visit to Le Beaujolais, which has quickly become one of our FAVOURITE places to eat in the UAE!

 

Located: City Centre Hotel Mercure - Al Markaziyah, Hamdan Street

Opening hours: 12:00pm - 12:00am

Tel: +971 2 6333 555

 

 

 

 

Some of our starters, all of which were delightfully french and yummy ...

Escargots à la bourguignon (or snails in garlic and herb sauce) was served steaming hot and bursting in flavour, I wanted to lick the sauce off the cute serving dish! It was served with a hot, crusty baguette which we asked for re-fills ;-)

Baked Onion soup, 28 AED - Pretty good too!

 

One of the signature dishes ... Coq Au Vin, I loved it! At 78 AED, and this being a French brassierie, it really was a steal :-) The duck leg, at 95 AED, was really good too. I didn't try TS's 350g rib-eye steak (102 AED), but he seemed to enjoy it!

 

 

And to end off, another great value dish - Tiramisu, 28 AED. A large portion, and full of flavour, we loved it!

Overall - Delicious food, unpretentious and attentive service, a homely environment, and need I say it again - Great value :-) A wonderful restaurant that deserves to be visited again and again!

Raclette dinner and Comté - Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guyon, near Paris

Add: Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guyon - 78490 MAREIL-LE-GUYON, France
Tel: +33 1 34 57 08 40
Web: http://www.chateauform.com
GPS:
N 48° 47' 23"
E 1° 51' 5"

We indulged in wonderful french cheese all week - Both at lunch as well as dinner time! I slowly learned over the week that my favourite was Gruyère de Comté :-)

Some facts from Wikipedia ... Comté is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Comté has the highest production of all French AOC cheeses, around 40,000 tonnes annually.

 

A raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off (racler) the melted part.
This was our wonderful dinner on the penultimate night of our seminar :-) A wonderful communal-eating experience!

 

 

A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and charcuterie. These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese...

 

Kronenbourg 1664, good ol' french beer!

 

If you are lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality of a Chateauform, you will have the privilege of having an open-bar, free-flow of wines, spirits and all other wonderful beverages!

 

Chateauform Mareil-Le-Guyon - Delicious french cuisine

More photos of my stay at the warm and cosy Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guon, in the village of Mareil-Le-Guyon in France. Interesting places nearby include - Palace of Versailles, 20 km away ... and Paris, 37 km away.

Chateauform - A unique concept in seminar and chateau living, combined together!
Tel: +33 1 34 57 08 40
Web: http://www.chateauform.com

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen and dining room, and open bar, throughout our week on the seminar :-)

The lovely fireplace in the house - We were treated with wonderful french soups all week, including cream of champignon and chestnut too!

 

 

My colleagues and myself loved the food all week ;-) Burp!

 

One of the chefs in the house - Magnificent cuisine, tastes home-cooked ... because it is!

 

Felt like a kid again ... all the wonderful sweeties!!

Cuisine Studio - French, Tropicana Golf Country Club

Recommended by cousin P and dear JQ ... this is Cuisine Studio at Tropicana Golf and Country Club!


Complimentary, and really good crusty french bread ... The crusty bits were exquisite!




Stuffed Escargot, RM$24 - I am starting to like... snails!



Mussel in white wine, RM$65 - Expensive, but delicious. The waiter explained that may seem a wee bit salty, but that's because it is fresh out of the sea :-)

Duck Cassoulet, RM$61

Really traditional country-kitchen french dish, which I enjoyed. But it was just too "hearty" and a challenge to finish for one person!

Escargot Pasta, RM$40 - I loved this, full of taste and the flavour of sundried tomatoes simply exploded in my mouth!

Ch Perreil - Bordeaux, RM$130

Refreshing, good value wine.

Acqua Panna - RM$15

Ouch ... Don't like restaurants which don't serve "filtered tap-water" aka sky-juice!

Interestingly, Cuisine Studio is a cooking school, french ingredients shop, pattiserie, bakery, as well as a restaurant! Overall, a good experience which L and myself enjoyed ... but a trifle pricey!

French wine & Pate ... Le Bouchon

Located near Bukit Ceylon - Tong Shin area of Kuala Lumpur ... a delightful French restaurant run by Philippe. Good bottle of 2000 Chateau Soudars Bordeaux (RM$169), and some excellent Goose Terine @ $48 aka Pate and Toast (ask for more Onion Jam, so yummy!) to go with it. Excellent!

Le Bouchon 'Wine and Dine'
Your French Rendezvous ... Breizh Bretagne Sdn Bhd
14-16 Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603 2142 7633

Ma Maison, Ampang KL - Homely french cuisine

Dinner, Wednesday @ 27th December 2006
32 Persiaran Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

French cuisine in an unassuming location, excellent service, and beautiful food ... Breads (garlic, mmmh) were good, the starters were outstanding - Prawn bisque and home-made liver pate, and the mains equally good ... Coq au Vin (Rooster) and Cod. EXCELLENT!

Great value at RM$120 for all the food!

ps. Uncle Jean Marc, great recommendation!