Coquette Brasserie

So as many of you might know (if you read this blog regularly), we were in France last year.  I don't believe that we have dined on French food since then (at least from what I can remember).  So I was quite excited to try Coquette Brasserie where Gramercy Grill used to be located.  Met up with Steph for this one and we were greeted to a truly French experience with French staff and true brasserie-like feel, except with more space.  After going over the menu, we went ham with the dishes.

We started with the Tartare de Bison with gribiche sauce and egg yolk jam.  We also found some pickled shallots on top and caperberries.  Despite being lean, the bison was fairly buttery and tender.  I found the seasoning a bit weak, so the shallots and caperberries had to do the heavy lifting in terms of acidity and saltiness.  The side of crostinis were light, airy and crispy.  They were the perfect compliment to the tartare.

Next, we had La Jambon Persillé with cornichons, grainy mustard and toasted baguette.  Upon digging into the terrine, it resembled more of a ham hock rillette rather than a terrine.  No matter though as it ate quite well with a meatiness that was also tender and full-flavoured.  The tanginess of the pickles and mustard went a long way into keeping things bright and balanced.  Wished there was more baguette, but I'm sure you could ask for more.

However, we didn't need to ask for more bread because we ordered La Corbeille de Pain featuring bread from Bad Dog Bakery with foie gras butter.  The best small plate we had was the Tartelette à L’échalotes.  To me, it looked and ate more like an onion tart, but it really didn't matter as the tart was caramelized, sweet and aromatic.  Despite being broken, the tart shell was nicely textured being soft and firm at the same time.  On the side we found a frisée salad and goat cheese.

Despite it being categorized as a main course, we got the Moules Frites as another appetizer.  This consisted of 1lb of PEI mussels in a marinière sauce.  All the mussels were open and cooked just right maintaining a briny butteriness.  As for the sauce, there was only a bit of it on the bottom of the pot.  It was aromatic and sweet with the brininess of mussel nectar.  The side of frites were thin but and mostly crispy.

The best main dish we had was Le Canard sporting a confit leg, pomme purée, beets and whole grainy mustard & orange sauce.  The duck leg itself was fall-apart tender with crispy rendered skin.  The meat itself was only salty enough, so that the sweet and tangy sauce was able to compliment.  Buttery and smooth, the pomme purée was great with the shreds of duck meat while the beets added a sweet earthiness.

When we were deciding what to order, there was no hesitation to add Le Burger to the list.  Turns out it was a good decision as the Wagyu beef patty was moist and juicy (well, actually fatty, but tasty!).  It had a good sear and was dressed in a caramelized onion jam. gruyère, burger sauce and arugula.  As a whole, the burger was delicious where the bun was toasted properly and things go messy.  This had savoury, sweet and umaminess.

Our last main dish was the Steak Frites sporting 6oz flat iron prepared medium rare.  In general, the steak was good being tender with a nice char on the outside.  It was could've been salted a bit more though.  It came with the same frites and a side salad.  I liked the fact that the steak was medium rare by default.  For me personally, that is the way to go with moist steaks.  Since the steak was well-rested, there was no pools of steak juice leaking onto the plate.

Onto dessert, we didn't mess around and ordered all of them!  The Tarte Tartin was pretty good with a flaky and buttery crust.  Inside, the apple was tender and sweet with some background tang.   Nice caramelization throughout.  It came with buttermilk ice cream and drizzles of salted caramel.  The Crème Brûlée was one of the best versions we've had in quite some time.  It was a fairly large portion served in a shallow oval ramekin.  The custard was creamy and light while being semi-sweet and aromatic from the vanilla.  On top, the sugar was evenly torched creating a smoky and sweet crunch.  Delicious.

The other 2 desserts were the Mousse au Chocolat and Panna Cotta aux Fruits de la Passion.  These were also solid with the mousse having some body, yet still light and airy.  It was purposefully sweet with background chocolate bitterness.  As for the panna cotta, it was on the firmer side but not heavy.  Naturally, it was refreshing with fruitiness and tangy sweetness.  Overall, we thought the meal at Coquette was good with some highlights.  It did remind me of my time in Paris last year down to the ambiance and the "Frenchness" of the place.

The Good:

- Above average

- Nice ambiance

- Authentic experience

The Bad:

- Definite highlights, but some other dishes were just okay