I happened to notice the banner of the French Garden Restaurant on Friday, and my fiance and I are always looking for excellent dining, so we chose to eat there tonight. Our experience was absolutely spectacular ~ the service was prompt and attentive, the decor and ambiance casual yet elegant, and the food...... ah, the food.... it rivals Madronna Manor for taste, presenation, and freshness, and exceeds the Manor for portion sizes. And try to save room for dessert ~ they had 10 of the most tempting, original desserts available, created on site, and presented with artistic flare and beauty; almost too gorgeous to eat. Anyway, obviously we'll be back! It's nice to see that the ghost of Marty's has been transformed to such a delightful new restaurant!
tommy
03-11-2007, 02:19 PM
Renybu: your glowing report of the French Garden - without any specifics, or any critical comments - makes me suspect.
You're fortunate you didn't get the leg of lamb - as I did, last weekend. I was surprised it was in front of me about 5 minutes after ordering - certainly too quick for cooking. It had obviously been nuked or somehow warmed up, as it cooled off quickly. After the 3rd bite the dish was cool, which for me was evidence it was reheated. However, the main problem was it was not cooked enough in the first place, as it was partly raw & chewy - the kind of meat that after a few chews you have the choice of spitting out, or swallowing it half chewed. It was a real dissapointment, as I'd been there a few times before and had a better meal.
Renuby
03-11-2007, 03:18 PM
Renybu: your glowing report of the French Garden - without any specifics, or any critical comments - makes me suspect.
You're fortunate you didn't get the leg of lamb - as I did, last weekend. I was surprised it was in front of me about 5 minutes after ordering - certainly too quick for cooking. It had obviously been nuked or somehow warmed up, as it cooled off quickly. After the 3rd bite the dish was cool, which for me was evidence it was reheated. However, the main problem was it was not cooked enough in the first place, as it was partly raw & chewy - the kind of meat that after a few chews you have the choice of spitting out, or swallowing it half chewed. It was a real dissapointment, as I'd been there a few times before and had a better meal.
That's interesting that you mentioned the lamb ~ that's what my partner had, and he said it was some of the best lamb he'd ever had! The chef must have been having an off night the evening you were there, or let's hope so.
Dixon
03-12-2007, 06:06 AM
...presented with artistic flare...
Oh, flambe, huh?
Hyuk hyuk;
Dixon
Juggledude
03-13-2007, 11:46 AM
Oh, flambe, huh?
Hyuk hyuk;
Dixon
Always the cunning linguist I see...
R
pjpete
03-13-2009, 06:49 AM
Don't be eating meat .......
Renybu: your glowing report of the French Garden - without any specifics, or any critical comments - makes me suspect.
You're fortunate you didn't get the leg of lamb - as I did, last weekend. I was surprised it was in front of me about 5 minutes after ordering - certainly too quick for cooking. It had obviously been nuked or somehow warmed up, as it cooled off quickly. After the 3rd bite the dish was cool, which for me was evidence it was reheated. However, the main problem was it was not cooked enough in the first place, as it was partly raw & chewy - the kind of meat that after a few chews you have the choice of spitting out, or swallowing it half chewed. It was a real dissapointment, as I'd been there a few times before and had a better meal.
farmerdan
03-13-2009, 11:48 PM
This is a very old post with a recent reply, but I might clear up some confusion here.
I can assure everyone that we would NEVER use a microwave to heat meat.
The way meat dishes are cooked in the restaurant environment is that they are started shortly after the appetizers are sent to the table, otherwise there would be long delays between courses. Many meats like lamb are best if they 'rest' a bit after being on a grill, so they are set off the grill for a few minutes before being finished on the grill or in the oven. This makes them less tough and they continue to cook internally from the heat already in the outer layers without being overdone.
In this way, your meat dish can appear very shortly after you have finished your appetizer giving the impression that there was not enough time for it to be cooked. Recently, a customer returned a steak because they thought is was undercooked. Since they had already started eating it, we took a new steak that was being cooked for a different customer and sent it to them with new veggies so that the rest of the party would not have to be delayed. The customer refused it because they thought there was no way that we could have cooked a new steak so fast and must have 'microwaved it'. They were right, we couldn't have cooked a steak that fast, but we never got the chance to explain what we had done.
Oh, well that's the restaurant biz...:wink:
Dan Smith
Owner, French Garden Restaurant
spam1
03-15-2009, 01:06 PM
We've had some interesting experiences at the French Garden, but we still keep going back. Our first time there was after they had been opened 3 weeks. It was our waitress's first night, and she didn't know how to order properly so my wife's whole meal came before my apetizer. Oh well, they comped the apetizer and one meal, and new restaurants have startups, but the food was so good we decided to go back.
On one other occasion, my wife wanted to try the lamb, but she doesn't like pink meat. She started by ordering it well, but the waiter strongly recommended no more then medium. When it came, it was just to red for her. She looked at and we wondered "what to do", just then Dan came by (we found out who he was later, at first we thought is this a customer) and asked if there was something wrong. I explained that we got what we ordered, probably, but my wife just couldn't eat it that pink. He had the plate up, into the kitchen and back in a pretty quick time and she enjoyed her meal much more.
Mistakes, on both sides, happen, but it's how we fix them that makes all the difference.
This is a very old post with a recent reply, but I might clear up some confusion here.
I can assure everyone that we would NEVER use a microwave to heat meat.
The way meat dishes are cooked in the restaurant environment is that they are started shortly after the appetizers are sent to the table, otherwise there would be long delays between courses. Many meats like lamb are best if they 'rest' a bit after being on a grill, so they are set off the grill for a few minutes before being finished on the grill or in the oven. This makes them less tough and they continue to cook internally from the heat already in the outer layers without being overdone.
In this way, your meat dish can appear very shortly after you have finished your appetizer giving the impression that there was not enough time for it to be cooked. Recently, a customer returned a steak because they thought is was undercooked. Since they had already started eating it, we took a new steak that was being cooked for a different customer and sent it to them with new veggies so that the rest of the party would not have to be delayed. The customer refused it because they thought there was no way that we could have cooked a new steak so fast and must have 'microwaved it'. They were right, we couldn't have cooked a steak that fast, but we never got the chance to explain what we had done.