Claire's Kitchen at Le Salon

I've literally passed this place almost everyday on the way to uni, and decided to finally come here with BW. I feel like this is one of those 'hidden gems' in Sydney, where you can get authentic French food without it being too expensive. Of course, French food is cheaper in France haha. This place has got a more 'romantic' feel without being overly priced, with ambient lighting and many tables for 2, plus a candlelight on each table which I thought was cute.

entree food spread

Finally used my Dimmi voucher which I have accumulated point for the past 4 years. You get $20 off if you make 10 reservations on Dimmi, or 5 reservations and 5 reviews. 

entrees

Souffle aux forages: Twice cooked three cheese soufflé-$25

inside

The cheese souffle was so cheesy, it was just so good. It’s not like a dessert souffle where it’s very airy and light. This savoury souffle wasn’t as light as a dessert one, but still quite light considering the fact that cheese is dense. There was some sauce at the bottom where you could have even more cheese. The top had that nice caramelised colour which gave it more flavour. It is a good dish to share since it would be too rich for one person. 

Escargots Bourguignons: Traditional French snails in garlic, parsley and Cognac butter (1/2 dozen)-$16

Can’t go to a French restaurant without ordering snails. I don’t think snails have much taste, as it really depends on what it’s cooked with, which is usually herbed melted butter. The melted butter tasted really nice when you dip the bread in it although you are pretty much just eating fat.

Steak tartare: "I recall Margaret Fulton lecturing me in the 1980's on how important it was to hand chop beef for Steak Tartare" so we do and serve it (raw) with condiments and toasted French baguette-$26

mixed

I think the first time I ever had steak tartare was in a small French restaurant in a local area, so nothing fancy but it tasted so good. I can’t eat raw meat or blue steak, but can do medium rare steak. I think I would only have raw steak at French restaurants since you can trust that they sourced the meat and it’s ‘clean’ and free of bugs which could make you sick…The waiter came to mix everything up after I took initial photos. I thought it was quite cute how the yolk is placed in the egg shell. All the condiments went together so well. The spice from the raw onion, mustard, and other stuff. I guess the slight acidity from the other toppings helps to slightly ‘cook’ the beef. It sort of tasted like sashimi, but with beef, so tasted like fresh beef from the ocean. It was served with some crisp bread which contrasted the texture of the beef well.  

mains

The mains we ordered were relatively light and healthy compared to the entree.

Ratatouille topped with truffled poached duck egg and crispy basil-$32

duck yolk

The ratatouille had heaps of different veggies in it. I think it’s the first time having this dish for me so don’t have much to compare to, but it tasted really healthy. The sauce was quite light which was mainly based with tomato. Loved the crunchy bit on top which gave some crunch, but didn’t do much flavour wise.

Ballotine de Saumon et Crevettes: Atlantic salmon and prawn roulade served with crab beurre blanc and rice Pilaf-$38

This is something I normally won’t order since I usually go for a more ‘safe’ option like a piece of meat, but didn’t feel like having steak here, and the only duck on the menu was in the form of a pie which doesn’t look that great in photos. The salmon was wrapped around a prawn mousse. I wasn’t a massive fan of this dish since it reminded me of bland asian fish cakes that my mum tries to make. The prawn mousse was firm whilst the salmon was soft. I loved the crab sauce since it was so flavourful, wished there was more of it. The salmon skin was really crunchy and loved how it gave the dish some height. If you look really closely towards the bottom half of the roulade, you can some glad wrap holding the roulade. They didn’t completely take it off when they plated this dish. Initially me being me and wanting to try everything I was like is this edible…? But then it was definitely glad wrap when trying to cut into it. During the meal the waiter came over and asked if everything was all good and I said yes, but then at the end I’m like might as well tell them. So after I finished the meal and showed the waiter the glad wrap on my plate, he was super apologetic with a French accent. They ended up giving one complimentary dessert.

dessert platter options

Mont blanc w/ macaron and grand mariner ice cream-$18

inside

I think because there weren’t heaps of people so they didn’t have the dessert trolley, but they had a sample of the desserts on a plate which you could choose. I decided to go with the Mont Blanc since I didn’t feel like chocolate or creme brûlée (which I can make at home). The dessert was nice but not amazing. Glad it wasn’t overly sweet but more chestnut flavour would help. One of the best mont blancs I’ve had is from Angelina, and it’s just as good in the original in Paris and also in Hong Kong. The dessert came with a scoop of ice cream and a macaron. The ice cream was a grand orange liqueur flavour, so a sweet dessert orange. Normally I don’t like dessert orange flavours, but it was nice in the ice cream. The macaron was choc mint flavour, again my least preferred flavour combo, but my love of macarons outweighed my dislike of choc mint.

petit fours

Wasn't expecting petit four, but yay for marshmallows. 

chandelier

They have a lot more seating inside and upstairs as well, so this place is bigger than it actually looks. 

this clock reminds me of the clock at Musee d'Orsay in France

It’s a really nice place to go to with good food and service, with a nice ambience.