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2015-03-13
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7/10 plates emptied!大家都說這是一間法國餐廳，可是吃完了以後感覺是一家地道的美式餐廳！餐廳的位置很法式——位於中環偏上環的橫街，烏漆麻黑的招牌配大紅熒光燈店名「La Vache!」。Dvd告訴我們這是「Holy Cow!」的意思，對於牛扒專賣店是挺有趣的一語雙關的店名。店內的裝潢和氣氛確實有種法國小餐館Bistro的格調：牆上是別緻的法國風景畫，座位後擺滿了同名紅酒「La Vache!」，擺滿甜品的小車，印有手繪小畫的三層廁紙（不得不說廁紙質量超級好，有點，太好過頭了），特別是桌上的手繪畫餐桌紙、紅白格子餐巾以及來自巴黎的扒等等都讓我們有種很放鬆的感覺——如果餐廳音樂不是那麼「美式奔放」而是維持「法式溫和」的話，會更適合大群人聊天聚會。Carly has been longing to try out the steak and frites at La Vache!; failed a couple of times to book as this little store in SOHO only accept bookings of more than 5.
[Written by Carly in English, Gobay in Chinese]
大家都說這是一間法國餐廳，可是吃完了以後感覺是一家地道的美式餐廳！餐廳的位置很法式——位於中環偏上環的橫街，烏漆麻黑的招牌配大紅熒光燈店名「La Vache!」。Dvd告訴我們這是「Holy Cow!」的意思，對於牛扒專賣店是挺有趣的一語雙關的店名。店內的裝潢和氣氛確實有種法國小餐館Bistro的格調：牆上是別緻的法國風景畫，座位後擺滿了同名紅酒「La Vache!」，擺滿甜品的小車，印有手繪小畫的三層廁紙（不得不說廁紙質量超級好，有點，太好過頭了），特別是桌上的手繪畫餐桌紙、紅白格子餐巾以及來自巴黎的扒等等都讓我們有種很放鬆的感覺——如果餐廳音樂不是那麼「美式奔放」而是維持「法式溫和」的話，會更適合大群人聊天聚會。
Carly has been longing to try out the steak and frites at La Vache!; failed a couple of times to book as this little store in SOHO only accept bookings of more than 5. Holy Cow! It’s time for some juicy steak and some of Carly’s favorite comfort food fries. The Gang visited La Vache! on a Friday night, the place was soon packed, bustling and buzzing with young hipsters, white collars who were all ready for some juicy hearty meal to start off the weekend joy. Bright red neon signs of “La Vache!” and highlights of “Steak and Frites” was the first thing to garner your attention at the store front, hungry bunch has already formed a mini line up by 6ish. There must be a reason why this place is always ever so packed, anticipation makes the heart grow fonder; Carly could no longer hold back the excitement and was ready to feast on unlimited frites without hurting her wallet too much (will probably hurt the belly though)!
Walk down the short staircase and you enter the world of meat lovers who care about ambience, food and quality. La Vache is located at the upper corner of Peel Street in SOHO, cute and modern cartoon drawings of French scenery, La Vache’s labelled house wine bottles were up against the sofa, creating this relaxed yet upbeat setting for social gatherings.
Red and white checkered napkins reminded Gobay of the little French bistros, lined cartoon drawing printed on the triple layered Kleenex, buoyant American freestyle was subtly blended with the French bistro dining setting, the Gang was well-settled in their seats as they sip on the house red wine and listen to the America pop music playing loudly above their heads.
食物除了甜品，就只有牛扒炸薯條餐，薯條任添，HKD258/份。這種套餐卻是十分美式，沒有我們印象中的法式餐廳會有的豐富選擇，也沒有精緻的擺盤，更沒有一貫出名的小份量讓你吃完了要去吃漢堡包才飽……這裡只有一種餐，而且份量絕對滿足。我們選了兩種熟度 “Medium-rare (三四成熟)” 和 “Medium (五成熟)” 來對比哪種熟度更適合這裡的優質牛扒。
La Vache is definitely the place for people who are afraid to make decisions, there isn’t many to choose from anywhere, whether you want to stay healthy or decided to let it loose by munching tons of fries, both salad and frites are served unlimited with HKD258 dinner set including only one choice of steak. For this menu setting, considerably closer to American diner style, French bistros offer plentiful food choices, elegant fancy plates and containers, and “enlarged” portion of meals which urge you to go eat beef briskets（九記清湯腩）after the “meal” or “dining”. Carly had no complaints as she had her belts buckled, heaven for frites lovers like her! For steaks, most of us ordered “medium rare” and “medium”, to see how well the beef should be cooked to best fit La Vache’s steak.
首先是法式餐廳必備的餐包 “Baguette”法式長棍麵包配牛油，外脆內軟，在香港算中等偏上的法包水平，Yum! 再來就是經典頭盤：鮮蔬核桃沙律——Dijon Mustard第戎芥末醬汁太濃，所以吃著很鹹，但核桃和櫻桃蘿蔔片讓人覺得十分清爽。
Gobay, the bread expert, felt that the baguette quality was above average as the elongated baked bread was good crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. (Carly thought that it was quite a compliment from Gobay already!) We both agreed that La Grande Bouffe not far away from La Vache along Hollywood Road offers quite excellent baguette, that little French bistro (reasonably priced as well) might surprise you with their weekday lunch sets.
Yet let’s not get distracted, we were close to being famished as we see the well tossed mixed greens salad, heavily coated in Dijon mustard based salad dressing, sauce was tad too thick, causing the salad leaves to lose its zippy crispy freshness, didn't think that mustard dressing always blends well with salad (honey mustard as an exception for its sweetness can kick off your appetite). The salad tasted heavy and overly salty for starters, no one could really finish their plate of “fresh” greens. Carly decided to just nibble off the walnuts and freshly chopped cherry radish sprinkled on top of the salad.
我們當晚開了一支法國波爾多紅酒，為了不辜負傳說中的美味牛扒—— Château De La Croix 2010，這是法國Médoc地區的中級酒莊 (HKD450左右)，Gobay至愛的法國酒區Margaux也是在Médoc地區裡。這瓶酒是傳統的 “Carbernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend”，酒成紅寶石色，酒體較厚重(入口酒精濃度較高)，有明顯的黑莓和紅莓果香，入口順滑，用來配牛扒性價比相當不錯。
The Gang opened a bottle of red wine that night to go with the steak. Château De La Croix 2010 is from Médoc region in Bordeaux, France. It is Cru Bourgeois of the most traditional style of “Carbernet Sauvignon-Merlot blend”. It demonstrates nice and clear ruby colors with strong aroma of ripen black current and red berries. It tastes smoother as you wait 15 minutes after being pouring it in the glass, with a medium-body and well-balanced acidity.
主角牛扒上場，10安士的美國Prime-Grade Rib Steak，餐牌上寫的是Trimmed Entrecôte——就是牛肋骨之間的肉，以牛肉味濃，肉質細嫩著稱。牛扒外層的焦黑和內裡的鮮粉紅形成色彩碰撞，我們要求的medium-rare和medium的熟度都做得非常到位。本來以為它配的是普通的蜂蜜芥末，但原來是自家制的Béarnaise sauce——法式蛋黃醬，用白葡萄酒醋、蛋黃、紅蔥頭、胡椒粒和龍蒿(Tarragon)調配而成，比一般的蛋黃醬多了適度的酸和刺激感，配牛扒吃能中和油膩，而且它的粘稠又能增加肉在口中的奶油般質感。但對這裡的牛扒，推薦就這麼吃，什麼醬都不用點，因為本身撒有點鹽又事先用黑胡椒粒和牛油醃製過，所以簡單的吃就能嚐到濃郁的牛肉味和柔軟的口感，還有陣陣烤製焦香。這個價錢在晚餐時間，能吃到這樣質素和技術燒製出來的牛扒，實在讓人驚喜！
*Drumroll* Warm plates were served to our table WAY BEFORE the steak arrived so the purpose of enjoying food on hot plates was just defeated as the plates soon turned cold. 10oz of America Prime grade Rib Steak, Trimmed Entrecôte, popularly known as the contre-fillet, portion of the sirloin on the opposite side of the bone from the fillet/tenderloin, famous for its rich beef flavor and refined texture. Dark brown on the exterior and bright pink, medium rare and medium was right on the spot. Homemade Béarnaise sauce, sauce made of clarified butter emulsified in egg yolks, white vinegar, and seasoned with herbs. Funny how people refer this sauce as one of the children of the “mother” Hollandaise sauce which everyone is very familiar with it to go with some egg benedicts, Béarnaise sauce is often more acidic to balance off some of the grease from the grilled meat, creating a flavorful creamy enjoyment on the palate with a dip of steak into the tad thick sauce.
Gobay liked how the steak goes so well without any sauce, as it was well-seasoned with a sprinkle of black pepper and salt, simple as that, buttery belly-filling steak was soft tender, rich and moist to its core – sizzling grilled meat urged us to finish our steaks before it turns cold. For only HKD258 a dinner set, it was definitely one of the most reasonably priced and affordable steak houses in Hong Kong, not to mention it is located at one of the most pricey dining places in Hong Kong.
還有可以不斷添加的炸薯條，是用牛肉油脂去炸的，我們一開始都在瘋狂猜測薯條上是否撒了類似雞粉的調味料，但細問之下，他們只是單純地用牛扒油炸就已經有足夠的鹹味，而且新鮮炸出來的幼細薯條熱辣辣的很脆很好吃。
Unlimited supply of fries filled our hungry tummies with fingerlicking comfort food, when everyone was just so excited, guessing whether La Vache has seasoned their fries with chicken powder as it did have an exceptional stunning savory taste to it (not from regular salt). The waitress clarified that the no extra salt was added, as they deep fry the frites in beef oil for a natural salty flavoring, thin chopstick-like freshly fried potatoes are always the best, not to mention the lipsmacking steak to go with it.
我們還試了甜品車Dessert Trolley上的幾款甜品，可惜都不甚如人意：拿破崙千層酥尚算鬆脆，但太容易散開，而酥皮層壓得太厚實，中間的忌廉不夠多所以口感平衡不好。朱古力慕斯非常甜膩，旁邊配的鮮忌廉上檯時就已經化成一灘半液體物質，讓人無話可說（阿彌陀佛，忌廉你好好安息吧）。草莓撻，只能說放在上面的水果是挺新鮮的但餅底太厚而吉士忌廉部份亦不夠幼滑。
Dessert time! Carly has heard fairly good comments about the dessert at La Vache and she got really excited to see all the varieties which are offered here and picked a few to share with the group. Tried out some of the most authentic French desserts, let’s start with the one that is the less sweet. All the desserts were charged above 85 dollars per plate, considerably overpriced. Each of the dessert had an extra scoop of cream
Mille Feuille | 拿破崙千層酥【Mille Feuille】Generally a bit disappointed because the pastries were obviously left in open air for too long, given Hong Kong’s humidity, the pastries were not really crispy and to a certain point, hard flaky without the fluffy layers altering, not enough cream was layered in between, custard being rather mildly sweet, nothing extraordinary.
【Chocolate Mousse Cake】Dark chocolate mousse was cloying sweet so despite how enticing it looked, nearly everyone gave up after one or two bites. Texture-wise it wasn't too bad yet no one would really opt for an overly sweet piece of cake after such a filling meal especially when the bitter aroma of dark chocolate was lost in sight, the fresh fruits garnishing could not save the scene much either.
【Strawberry Tart】Relatively satisfied with this tart amongst all three selections as the strawberries were indeed freshly cut and nicely lined up on the custard. Custard cream was not too creamy or rich; preferably more fresh vanilla beans could have been added to make this one decent tart. Worst part was the tart being moistened, lost the crunchy texture of an average tart crust.
Carly as a dessert lover could not bear to see the scene of having desserts leftover on the table, yet she really was not encouraged to nibble any more bites as she saw the sad melting whipped cream lying flat on the plates, it was already halfway melting when it was served to the table. As Gobay stated, “Cream, may your soul rest in peace.”
Hazelnut Puff
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不是太清楚記得這款類似泡芙的甜品到底是甚麼東東，是因為這甜食實在是不太美味，以至忘記了也不出奇。Carly依稀記得榛子的忌廉味道還可以，不太甜，但就不過香濃滑身。泡芙吃上口也不太脆身，似是留在空氣中太久，有點不新鮮的軟度。對於愛好甜品的Carly來說, La Vache的甜品或麵包都不太值得一試，想吃較正宗和美味的蛋糕，鬆餅就得去Passion by Gerard Dubois.
Everyone simply forgot about this dessert, it simply did not recall a thing by looking at the photo either. Clearly shows you how forgettable the taste it was, Carly vaguely remembered that it was some hazelnut puff, the puff being left in open air for too long, the moisture was absorbed into the pastry and made it non-fresh for sure. Hazelnut cream filling being mildly sweet, lacked the rich dense creaminess and nutty aroma to begin with.
總體而言，牛扒餐的性價比確實名不虛傳，非常適合牛肉愛好者來這裡覓食，推薦為必試餐廳！另外有個小資訊，有心的食客可以嘗試去發現一下：巴黎有間很類似的扒房，也是以賣牛扒餐聞名，也是賣的Prime Grade Entrecôte，名字就叫Le Relais de L’Entrecôte，頭盤配的也是核桃和櫻桃蘿蔔沙拉，價錢在2013年時是25.8歐元一份。而這家店在亞洲的唯一分店則是開在了灣仔，所以推薦食友去嘗試繼而比對一下那一家的Entrecôte更好吃。
The Gang and their food guests were overall impressed with the fine steak quality and being very reasonably priced, it is recommended as a must-try out of all the steakhouses in Hong Kong. Carly previously visited Gaucho and Tango – Argentinian steakhouses in Central area yet still think La Vache’s beef quality was exquisite and worth coming back for. These steakhouses are often found in Paris, majority of them serving Prime Grade Entrecôte，or named as Le Relais de L’Entrecôte. Their only store in Asia is located in Wanchai, the Gang will be visiting that place to compare its quality against La Vache! so stay tuned all you steak lovers out there!
Gobay話你知：有關法國Médoc紅酒區紅酒配牛扒是我們耳熟能詳的，但為什麼呢？物理上的原因是，牛肉的纖維粗，蛋白質成分高而且油份足，所以和酒體厚重(即常說的Medium body或者Full body)的紅酒搭配，當中的Tannin成分在碰上肉蛋白後，會產生化學反應，化解油膩而且令其軟化，這樣人的口腔裡就會長生一種十分幸福和愉快的感覺。
這裡推薦對葡萄酒有興趣的食友看弘兼憲史寫的葡萄酒講座系列。他把葡萄酒知識和圖畫結合起來，由淺入深而且包含了葡萄品種，酒區，分級等的資訊，非常適合入門者學習。言歸正傳，法國Médoc紅酒區可能很多食友都會覺得十分熟悉，因為那是法國的名酒故鄉，我們平常經常聽說的「貴到飛起」的名酒大多是出自這個地區，比如Lafite, Margaux, Latour和Mouton，五個一級酒莊有四間都是出自Médoc。至於要加深對名酒莊的認知，大家可以去看漫畫《神之水滴》，知識含量很大的漫畫。
Gobay Food Knowledge Corner : French Médoc Red Wine DistrictWe have been always told that red wine is the perfect match for steak but seldom have we known why. Crude fiber, high protein and the greasy nature defines the goodness of beef steaks. On the other hand, tannin in red wine helps to dissolve the fat and softens the texture of the meat which increases the enjoyment of eating by pairing beef steaks with red wine.
There is a series of books written by Hirokane Kenshi for beginners of wine: The Guide of Tasting Wines. Kenshi-san brilliantly showcases his knowledge in varietal differences, wine regions and classifications via comics and easy descriptions.
Many gourmets may be familiar with Médoc region already. The major ‘Grand Crus’ are from that region, e.g. Lafite, Margaux, Latour and Mouton. If you are keen in learning more about the noble wines, you may start with The Drops of God – a very informative Japanese comics of wines.
題外話/補充資料：
* 訂位：5人以上才可以預訂
* Only accepts booking of 5 or above
(以上食評乃用戶個人意見 , 並不代表OpenRice之觀點。)
張貼
