Le Gavroche is a neighborhood classic French restaurant that’s not to far away from my place.  Feeling the need for something decadent I wandered down to the little house on Alberini Street.  They have been a Vancouver institution for many years now and I’ve saw some great posts on the food blogs that I read so I was really looking forward to dinner here.

I checked over the menus posted outside on the bottom level and went with a tasting menu, it really is the best way to get an idea and good sampling of the menu without breaking the bank.

Complementary Bread and Butter were served first.  Not a lot of places offer a bread and butter plate these days and I really wanted to love this but I think my bread was left out to long which made it super dry and hard with the outside pieces, the butter was flavored nicely but I had to let it sit out for a while seeing it was right out of the refrigerator.

For a drink I went with beer-I’m not much of a wine guy.  They had a pretty limited selection seeing this is more of a wine restaurant.  The Kronenbourge went with pretty much all the dishes I ordered

I was served and amuse bouche of Smoked salmon and Caviar.  The house smoked salmon was really good and the caviar added a nice salty brininess but crustini was on the hard side seeing it was the same texture of the bread I was served.

For my starter I went with a Lobster and Chickpea Salad.  Dressed with a spiced vinaigrette this was a beautiful salad.  The lobster was poached in brown butter which added a richness to the dish.

After the salad I was served a palate cleanser of Orange Sorbet.  This totally did the job and cut the richness from the lobster salad.  The sorbet was nice and smooth in texture which was almost creamy.

The main I went with was the Duck Breast with Foie Gras, served with a potato fondant garnished with a duck skin crackling.

The seared foie gras put this dish over the top.  When I took a bit of everything in a bite it really was like magic.  The sauce on the plate had a great depth of flavor that really rounded everything out.

The main part of the plate was the seared duck breast and duck skin cracking with some baby root vegetables.  The duck was nice and moist, flavor wise it wasn’t to gamey.  Duck crackling added a beautiful crunch to the plate and I could eat it like potato chips!  For a starch on the plate they did a classic potato fondant.  It was crispy on the outside with a soft, fluffy inside.

For dessert I went with the Wild Berry Terrine with Mint Ice Cream.  Inside the gelatine was a selection of blue berry’s, goose berry’s and a blackberry layer on the bottom.  This was an enjoyable dessert and the ice cream had a nice mild mint flavor to it.  To round out the plate they dotted raspberry and mango coulee.

I had a great meal and the service was great, they get top marks for being attentive and knowledgeable.  If your looking for a nice romantic dinner I would highly recommend Le Gavroche.