Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Franck

IMG_5427

This French restaurant located in Shanghai's French Concession area has built up its name as one of the best in town and I paid a lunch visit during my short stay in town. It is located inside Ferguson Lane, a charming red-bricked, hospital-turned trendy establishment full of history and of course different upscale cafes, art galleries and restaurants. I thought I was in Europe as soon as I stepped through the gate. It was a bit surreal when there was such a big contrast in terms of atmosphere compared with the streets outside full of rusted bicycles and individuals street vendors selling home grown fruits. Anyhow, I am here to talk about food, my opinion on the huge income disparity issues will be discussed here later.



The atmosphere of the restaurant / bistro was cozy and "unpretentious" with paintings hanging on the walls and a single light bulb hanging from the celling above each table. Soon after we sat down, staff brought over a blackboard menu for the day. The items were all in FRENCH! A very bold move or perhaps a better word is arrogant? I guess the use of the word "unpretentious" stops at this point.

IMG_5394

We started off with some homemade bread. They were fresh but unexciting in my opinion, the butter of the other hand was a delightfully surprise. Slightly chilled when served with a very rich and deep buttery flavors.

IMG_5399

Next came the Cold Cuts platter which was larger than we expected. It was of single portion and I think one can treat this as a main dish for sure. Quality cured hams and a wide selection indeed. Thumbs up!

IMG_5403

The foie gras with toast was another pleasant surprise. Served cold, the half liver came with several buttery toast. Yes, the toast was wonderful! Not only buttery in flavors but the toasts were airy in texture as well. I heard it takes a long while to make because each slice is to undergo multiple panfrying process with plenty of butter. The more butter the better! Yum! As for the liver (it was duck liver), it was good but not as flavorful as I hoped. (please note that foie gras can be both duck or goose liver, it is the process of how the liver is fattened that gives it its name)

IMG_5407

The Steak Tartare was a definite thumbs up! It was diced up to a right size in my opinion, slightly "longer" in rectangular shape than usual. It was very beefy with hints of Dijon mustard as well as the capers flavors. A very well balanced flavors I have to say.

IMG_5410

The Heirloom Tomato Salad (Thanks  @Spike's for the reminder on the name) was .... very colorful. HAHA ... yeah, I cannot think of how I can describe this dish aside from colorful or fresh. I guess the fact that we can add more olive oil as we wish from the cute tin can was a nice touch.

IMG_5413
IMG_5415

I had the Duck Confit which was overly salty, I mean very salty indeed! Although the meat was tender and juicy, the salty flavors took over the joy of eating from this dish.

IMG_5421

Likes: 
  • Great Toast! Butter and Airy
  • Steak Tartare - well-balanced flavors and diced to the right size in my opinion
  • Great atmosphere
Dislikes: 
  • Menu in French only??? 
  • Duck Confit - overly salty! 
Avg Spending: RMB 200 - 300 per person

Franck
Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu, Shanghai
武康路376号, Shanghai
Tel: 158 2167 6767
http://www.franck.com.cn/


View Larger Map

8 comments:

Spike said...

Man, I was reading through this, enjoying your write up and the pictures, and then stopped dead in my tracks at the tomato salad. Heirloom tomatoes!!!!! Is there ANY place in HK at all serving these? I've yet to find them here.

Jason said...

@Spike: ahhh Thanks for the reminder, heirloom tomatoes they were! In HK? I am yet to find any as well. Let the search of heirloom tomato begins!

Joyce Lau said...

That is pretentious. Even many restaurants in Paris and Montreal have menus in English now.

The fact that there is no English or Chinese at a place in Shanghai is triply pretentious!

Unknown said...

heirloom tomatoes! my heirloom tomato plants died T_T counting on the one in sc mama's home now...

the toasts look wonderful indeed...and overly salty duck confit? that might be good for my dead palate :D

Peech said...

uh.... there are a number of places serving heirloom tomatoes in HK... Tuscany by H for one. As I recall so does Classified Mozzarella.

Jason said...

@Rita: dead palate? you should give that a try and perhaps your palate will be alive again!

@Peech: ahh ... Classified Mozzarella, a place I am yet to try and always slipped my mind for some reasons, thanks Peech for the reminder indeed!

HK Epicurus said...

Fusion Gourmet also carries Heirloom tomatoes on top of what Peech has suggested ; ) May be a few others places too that I am not aware of yet :)

indah nada said...

wonderful recipe i love it http://riana.doodlekit.com/blog/entry/4055650/baju-muslim-dengan-motif-wayang
http://kisforketchup.blogspot.com/2015/09/indahnya-menggunakan-jilbab.html
http://alunscollectionsboutique.blogspot.com/2016/11/model-baju-maxi-muslim-yang-modern.html
http://kisforketchup.blogspot.com/2016/11/model-kebaya-muslim-lengan-panjang.html
http://pinkiie-strawberry.blogspot.com/2015/10/gaya-hijab-casual-yang-menarik.html

Post a Comment

Related Posts with Thumbnails