Name (Chinese): La Gauche de Malin法式餐厅 Address (Chinese): 沙河口区滨海西路 Address (Pinyin): 527-1 Binhaixi Lu District: Shahekou Directions: South-East of Xinghai Square,across the castle Telephone Number: 8480-3188 Webpage or Email Contact Details: La Gauche de Malin
La Gauche de Malin is famous for its classical steaks, seafood and various kinds of European-style food. The 1st floor with a capacity of 150 seats, provides classical steaks and other typical western foods.The 2nd floor provides an international buffet with a capacity of 120 seats. You can enjoy the piano, violin and cello performance here; the 3rd floor includes 13 suites, each holding more than 4 and less than 30 people at dinner. It provides both western food and around the world cuisine, such as the typical and delicate Korean barbecue. It serves from 11:00am to 22:00pm.
We just went there today for a second time and I found it a bit expensive this time as the buffet selection is really quite limited and the food quality is not all that great.
The buffet goes for RMB88 a head with half price for kids and free for babies. The first time we had been there, this price was inclusive of beer, but not this time. We had to pay an extra RMB32 per pitcher of beer.
Main thing is that they should improve the quality of their meats and the offering of hot dishes. But it was quite packed (with all Chinese customers) and they seemed to enjoy it.
In conclusion, I am pretty sure I will not go back for a while because in the end we paid RMB605 for 6 adults and 2 kids and we could have gone to a seafood place and paid the same for a good meal.
The onion soup was cold, the foie gras was burnt on the outside and bleeding on the inside, and the spaghetti bolognese tasted like it came from a can. The cardboard can of Kraft parmesian cheese bits on the table was the coup de grace.
I have never complained about food at a restaurant before in my life. I ordered some 500 RMB worth of food, but after the first several dishes I called them over and asked them to please God stop bringing out the food, because I thought the half-cooked foie gras was going to make me throw up.
They were extremely beligerent and insisted I pay for everything I ordered even though it was inedible and only half of it had been brought out. So I did. I should have walked out.
We were a bit reluctant to visit this place as we heard some time ago that this place is not what one would expect from a so-called French restaurant since the French chef has been replaced by an Asian chef.
But one has to try itself before judging it...so there we go!
The ambiance of the la carte restaurant is really nice. There is ample space between the dining tables so you can have dinner quietly and quite privately. Although the pianist was not a real Chopin the music created a classical, romantic atmosphere. In the restaurant the lights are changing colours. Not too much and not bothering at all but it contributed to a romantic touch.
The wine list showed many wines (also Italian....) and for not too much RMB's you could find a good wine of your choice.
Both of us did not have an appetizer/salad but a soup. The Kenyan tomato soup was not impressive. It tasted more like a tinned soup than like fresh Kenyan tomatoes. The French Onion Truffle soup tasted like it was diluted with water and you could find a few little pieces of onions. The bread accompanied the soup was not very fresh.
As main dish we both had a Angus Tenderloin steak. After our soup-experience we did not expect too much from it but we were mistaken. The steak as well as the served sauce was very tasteful. It came with one small piece of carrot, one piece of broccoli and one mushroom so for the 'big eater' it is recommended to have an appetizer / salad.
We paid for the steak about 120 RMB's.
For a change (and because of the lack of a side dish) we both ordered a dessert. And this was really a surprise! I had an Apple Strudle which came with peach mousse and my partner had Chocolate Mousse which came with a huge wafer and several puffs. It reminded me more of an art project than a dessert and they tasted delicious. The cappucino was good as well.
By the way, they also have various 8-course menus which I would like to try another time.
All in all, I can recommend this place for having a good Western diner in a nice ambiance but I would not classify this as a typical French restaurant (advantage compared to a real French restaurant; prices are more reasonable).
Nice detail: when we were walking outside the restaurant we heard lovely French music playing..... no, it was not bad at all!
Alexis.Chu
Coltsfan
