We went to Batard the day after the “faux” snow storm Juno, it was freezing cold outside. We opened the door to a very warm welcoming place. Wood floors, faint yellow walls, chandelier, it is very formal, elegant, refined. It was 7pm, dinning room was half full. Dinners seems to be more sophisticated, more of a country club crowd, whispering conversation. We sat down in the deep corner of the dinning room. From we sat, we could get a glimpse of the kitchen’s ceiling. If the kitchen and dinning room is actually separated by glass instead of a wall, so the action in the kitchen is in full display, it would make me so happy.
The first thing that Batard did made us happy is warm bread. We were each offered a poppy seed roll and a olive french baguette. The olive baguettes smelled so good. Both crunchy on outside and soft spongy inside, serve with creamy whipped butter, most importantly, warm!
My co-conspirator ordered a cocktail. The server sat the cocktail down on the table with a coaster, what is unique about it was that the coaster was printed with the cocktail’s name and it’s ingredient. Very smart and detail. The menu breaks down to 8 appetizers, 9 entrees, 4 desserts and a cheese cart to choose from. We both chose 3 course menu opting out of cheese.
-
OCTOPUS “PASTRAMI”
braised ham hock, pommery mustard, new potatoes
-
RED SNAPPER
mandaarinquat, grilled squid, fennel
We were a little disappointed when we didn’t see sweetbread on the menu, since we heard so many good things about it. We had the Octopus Pastrami, and Red Snapper for appetizers. Octopus legs were pressed into a brick form, with chunks of ham hock, dressed with an excellent whole grain mustard. Octopus was not as good as the one at 15 East, but still very tender and good pair with the mustard. Red snapper was sweet. Mandarinquat not only added acid and brought out the sweetness of snapper, also added color to the dish. However, the olive oil was a little too much that almost covered. The celery was a little bitter, I would prefer it to be apple or maybe asian pear. But the little bits of squid was amazingly good.
-
DUCK BREAST
foreleg pear, mushroom crêpe, duck liver mousse
Duck was beautifully cook. Perfectly medium rare, tender and juicy. There is a spring roll like mushroom crepe. Very moist and well season, although I wish the crepe would be a little crispier. I absolutely love the pear, so sweet and fresh; and the duck liver mousse was just as good as it could be. The only thing the didn’t fit in this plate was the matcha like green power underneath the duck liver mousse. I couldn’t make out what it was. It was powder like, green breadcrumbs but have absolutely no taste.
-
VEAL TENDERLOIN
“tramezzini,” trumpet mushrooms, sweetbreads, sauce diable
It is a veal medallion wrapped in a pastry like golden crust. It had the crunch I expected. But I would like my veal a little more red. The trumpet mushrooms gave the dish a different texture.
-
CARAMELIZED MILK BREAD
blueberries, brown butter ice cream
-
ARBORIO RICE PUDDING
preserved raspberries, earl grey-milk ice cream
Desserts were good, not too sweet, I have heard a lot of good things about this caramelized milk bread. It was very good, very fluffy, but the caramelized sugar coat might have been a little too much. For us, this milk bread is something can be easily acquired at a Japanese bakery, and there were places that we have had better, so we were a little confused why so many people were head over heels about it. Nevertheless, everything we had was great and elegantly presented. And for its reasonable price tag, we’ll be back. (Jan, 2015)
