Chez Nous - Restaurant Review.

[I've forgotten how to do accented letters, so forgive the Franglaise as you read this post]

Francaise sans snobberais (yes, I made that word up).

A lot of local European restaurants seem to have a little snobbery going on to make themselves feel exclusive. I've been to Chez Nous twice, and I'm glad to say it is good food with good attitude. The host chatted with us about the wines and food and made us feel welcome. The service was good the entire time and the food was worth our time and money. We wanted a relaxed, lip-smacking experience, and that's exactly what we got.

I went for the Menu du Jour because I wanted a bit of everything. It was a tough choice between their Pate Maison appetizer and their daily soup special, but I chose their chilled cucumber soup. Delicious! Light, summery, with a touch of mint (this theme will repeat in dessert). The man had the tomato bisque with roasted red bells and found t delicious too.

For the main course I had their Truit au piment fume, and the man had their charcuterie plate (from the appetizer menu). This worked out very well for me because I didn't have to miss out on eating pate :)

The trout was roasted perfectly and flaked off the skin with no effort. The creamy paprika sauce was delicious, and the trout was neatly topped with a nest of fried julienne leek. On the side were carrots and a roasted half-tomato.

The charcuterie plate was well put together, with several styles of pate and sliced meat. I didn't taste enough to review it since my fish was so filling and excellent.

While the prix fixe menu only offers Creme Caramel (yay for flan without the cinnamon!) and Mousse au Chocolat, you can upgrade to any of their other desserts for the difference in price between the mousse and what you want. The hostess sold me on their dessert special. I forgot its name, but she described it as two meringues in a bed of creme anglaise vanilla sauce, topped with almonds and caramel. The description itself didn't sound too special and I was imagining two crunchy cookie islands on a custard ocean, but I took a chance. And THANK GOODNESS I DID!

First off, they weren't crunchy meringue cookies. They were soft, fluffy and airy, with a freshly whipped sheen on them. The custard sauce was light in texture and sweetness, offset brilliantly by a beautifully amber caramel sauce which balanced its sweetness with a hint of bitterness (not yet bitter though). If I had to change anything, I would cut back on the sliced almonds, but that's only because I only eat almonds if they've been roasted and salted. Much like my chilled soup, this dessert was light and summery, yes, with a touch of mint :)

So is there a downside to all this deliciousness? Just one - the man ate so much that he had to excuse himself and take a short walk while I finished dessert. Sounded like he needed to ward of an imminent food coma.

You still need a reason to go eat French food here? How about the fact that they don't have a website that makes you embarrassed when you try to look up the menu from work? (I'm looking at you, Justine's)