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2010-07-29
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Note: Some people came up to me every now and again, telling me "Your (My) writing is..." (too long/ too tedious/ relying too much on metaphors/ too complicated/ too descriptive/ too anal on the small details...etc) I never noticed it being a problem, until one day when a stared at the computer screen trying to write, only to find words have smartly avoided their appearance in my mind. Below is an attempt to write, with few attempt on metaphors, stories, and complicatedness...just to see how it
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Call me old fashioned, but I have always considered eating 'express' anything could not only lead to a shorter life expectancy, it is also a hazard to even consider eating faster than one can chew, especially when I have a picture in my head of someone engulfing the entire burger in one gulp, whilst gobbling down the salad and a coffee in less than 5 minutes. Oh wait, was it Garfield who did that too? Anyways it doesn't matter, what matters is 'express lunch'. I never like the idea of it. It encourages people rushing through the only hour they have during a busy work day, but that's beyond the point isn't it?
Express Lunch at FRITES has one catch, one better be prepared to call in advance for a table, so that you will get one of the more comfortable tables other than the bar. Staff at Frites play no favorites, no matter who you are. You don't call and arrive at 1pm, you will end up at the bar. It's strict rules for them, but the no-grey area is also not friendly to those who should be deprived of a stool, say, a pregnant woman or an old man with a stick who could barely walked up the stairs to reach the restaurant. The pregnant woman sitting next to us was tucking herself deeper into the stool from falling off, while trying to hold her belly in place to not let anything drip onto herself.
The menu consists of a first course which was either SOUP or SALAD. The Caesar Salad caught our eye, followed by a PENNE with WOODLAND MUSHROOMS and HERB CREAM SAUCE ($98) and a SUMMER TRIFLE to round off a set lunch. Splitting the lunch we also shared 1/2 kilo order FRITES HOUSE MUSSELS ($175). The people who lunch sit tightly packing the entire space, while the end of the bar table is a giant dog statue that overlooks the entire dining room.
The Caesar Salad arrived in a flash. A quartered soft-boiled egg neatly balanced on the top of a pile of dressed romaine lettuce --the dressing beautifully clinging on each piece of green leaf, while flakes of crispy bacon is mixed throughout. The only risk of any Caesar salad often lies in the suspicious fishiness that leaps up when you least notice it. This time around the anchovies was in every bite, you could taste the tiny bit of saltiness and you could tell it's a fish but it's not a heavy dose of fishy taste either.
The Penne arrived next. I considered it for a minute, and came to conclude that 'woodland mushrooms' is just another term to charge a few bucks more. Exactly how many people know whether a mushroom comes from a woodland? And how many woodlands bear enough mushrooms to be cooked and served in a foreign country at lunches? The penne is slightly chewy, but mostly alright. The cream sauce, though, disappoints big-time. It's a very white sauce, and there is nothing wrong with that, but one should just take their word for it.,An Herb Cream sauce was exactly what it was -- herb + cream. The sauce tastes like dairy, thickened dairy to be specific and the herbal taste is contributed from an extra sprinkling of thyme and oregano, but that was it.
The Mussel pot was yet another cream-based mussel dish. The mussels, wide open with each a small bits of meat within. Despite the lack of ineptly opened ones, the mussels tasted fine, briny with a light sweetness to it. Chopped tomatoes in cream,combined the juices from the mussels themselves are not as light as one would expect but it's a satisfying treat, except that one seems to never get enough mussels. Frites with Mayonnaise is good as it is -- crunchy golden potato sticks piled high in a tin, while the mayonnaise exudes richness in every dip the potatoes take.
Dessert time arrived as one considers this fabulousness in a glass -- a summer fruit trifle smells of trouble. The burnt sugar crisp on one side seemed overly charred. The meringue was sweet with grains of sugar undissolved. The red fruit compote beneath tasted like a sweetened cough syrup, and turned into yet another wrong turn with the sweet too-thick custard and syrup soaked sponge cake at the base. If it wasn't a foodie's mission to try everything at least once, it's hard to imagine someone sincerely likes this thing.
Coffee was plain, and it arrived slightly tepid, and it's just made across the counter. It makes me wonder, how did a good start winds down to a bitter ending? Frites wasn't bad, and for the most part the service is ok.One would never sit around with an empty glass yearning for water to be refilled, or a bill to be picked up. If only one could expect the same dedication to all the dishes they dish out from the kitchen...not nearly as consistent as their signatures.
张贴
