Ever since I've watched Disney Pixar's Ratatouille, I've been craving to try this traditional French dish. In French, touiller means ‘to toss food’ and I can't think of a better and healthier way to enjoy a pot of vegetables tossed and stewed the French way.
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 brown onion
1 red capsicum
2 medium zucchini
400g of diced tomatoes
50ml olive oil, plus extra if needed
4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
4 sprigs thyme
Handful pitted black olives
1/4 cup baby capers
1 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Method:
Chop all the vegetables into 1cm cubes. Heat oil in a large non-stick pan and cook eggplant until golden on all sides, remove from pan and set aside
Heat oil and add onion and capsicum to pan and cook until softened. Add zucchini, garlic
and thyme and continue to cook for a few minutes. Add olives,
capers, tomatoes and cooked eggplant and heat through. Finish off with
fresh herbs, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately and enjoy
Deliciously sinful chocolate French Crepes at Au Petit Creux,
Paris - the land of delicious but sinful desserts. If you choose to visit Paris, forget about your dieting plans, it can wait.
The French are so known for their desserts that many actually flock to Paris just to savor all the well known desserts at their native land.
Located at Sacre Coeur, is a little cafe that serves the famous French Crepes. You can choose from a variety of crepes, from crepes that are oozing with melted chocolate to crepes that are packed full of fresh fruits to savory crepes. All crepes are available for takeaway so that you can continue your tourist adventure while savoring the delicious crepes in the busy tourist streets of Montmartre. :D
Look at the chocolate oozing out at the bottom!
This is the famous and breathtakingly beautiful Sacre Coeur and the streets of Montmartre- a free attraction, but make sure you go early to avoid large crowds
Ranked #563 out of 4957 restaurants in Paris, Le Grenier de Notre-Dame offers exquisite vegetarian dining just 5-minutes walk away from the world famous Notre-Dame cathedral.
Grenier de Notre Dame is a tight little restaurant, but it is supplemented by the attentive and friendly service by the waiters. We were shown to our table on the ground level almost immediately and we were very glad that they had a table for us, despite not making a booking beforehand. However, we did arrive early (6-ish), so you should not follow suit by not making a booking prior to your visit!
Complimentary nut platter as an appetizer. We both ordered Red Wine and a Champagne that was infused with raspberries to give it an extra berry kick (Kir Vin Blanc-Euro 4, Kir Royal- Euro 5.50)
The french and their plats (english translations: dishes)
This dish, is by far the most tasty, wholesome and natural vegetarian dish I have ever had in my life! No offence to Asian vegetarian eateries, but I always find the veggie restaurants offering more mock-meat than vegetables in their natural form. I also have never imagined myself saying, "This tofu served in a French restaurant actually tastes much better than the tofu served in any Asian restaurant!", but this is a FACT. The lightly grilled tofu was so tasty that I did not need any sauce to go with it and found it mouthwatering-ly indulging to the palette.
Assiette Gourmande - Euro 17.95
Baked apples stuffed with tasty fillings to go with a piping hot casserole. Highly recommended!!!
Assiette Berbere - Euro 16.95
Address: 18 Rue de la Bûcherie 75005 Paris, France Phone: 01 43 29 98 29 Reservations: Recommended
Balthazar - French food in the very heart of New York City
Located in the very heart of Manhattan's Soho district, Balthazar offers a French menu prepared by chefs de cuisine Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson. Opened by Keith McNally in the spring of 1997, Balthazar has been a popular dining bistro for both New Yorkers and tourists.
The building which Balthazar is currently operating in was converted from a leather wholesaler's warehouse to an airy space that can accommodate over 200 people in the dining room and at the zinc bar.
French cuisine, in my opinion, is one of the healthiest option. I really hope that more french restaurants will open up in Malaysia!
something from the Les Sandwich section
Roasted eggplant sandwich
with peperonata, arugula and shaved Parmesan on rosemary ciabatta bread
This is one of the most satisfying meal I have had in ages. The crispy and flavorful rocket definitely gave the sandwich an extra kick.
San Pellegrino on the side
BREAKFAST
Mon to Fri: 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Sat & Sun: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
(continental only)
BRUNCH
Sat & Sun: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
LUNCH & LATE LUNCH
Mon to Fri: 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM
DINNER & AFTER HOURS
Mon to Thu: 6:00 PM - 12:00 AM
Fri & Sat: 6:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Sun: 5:30 PM - 12:00 AM
A pampering lunch at Nathalie's Gourmet Cuisine, Solaris Dutamas
We have been dying to go to an authentic french cuisine, and after reading all the good reviews about Nathalie's Gourmet Cuisine, we decided to tantalize our taste buds. After Ratatouille, I have been dying to try out the now famous french dish, I was a little disappointed that I was not able to get that at Nathalie's. However, as their menu changes every month, I may get lucky!
A thing to note when you are visiting Nathalie's is that you must not be in a hurry to going somewhere as the food do take a bit of time to get to your tables. It was quite a 'torture' while we were waiting for our food as the sweet aroma from the kitchen kept us salivating at the edge of our seats. Thankfully the famous french loaves with generous amount of butter kept us busy. We spent about 3 hours in total to finish the 3 course meal. Since we do spend quite a long time at the place, I would like to make a small suggestion: to improve on the seating comfort as the hard high stools were a little uncomfortable.
French loaves with lots of butter, cappuccino and a very unique salt and pepper "shaker"
Crispy Tomato, Sweet Pepper and Basil Tart (RM24) This dish look so appealing that one part of me just want to admire it and the other part could not wait to sink my teeth into them. The capsicum was baked to perfection and was sweet just like the name of the dish suggests. However, the pastry was a little bit burnt.
Tomato and Cheese Ravioli, Tomato Broth (RM32) Very filling dish, and the tomato sauce consistency was just right, though we find french food a little too salty for our liking. This is the first time I have had vegetarian raviolis outside Malaysia as raviolis tend to be filled with minced meat instead of vegetarian fillings.
Raspberry Souffle, Pistachio Dacquoise, Pistachio and Raspberry Coulis (RM20) Selection of small desserts (Tatin Apples in a Verrine, Berry Tart and Coulis, Caramel Macaron) with cappuccino (RM18) I would go back for the frozen souffle anytime. It was perfect. This is lighter than the Italian gelati and does not have a heavy and guilty feeling afterward. It is certainly the highlight of this visit. The fresh raspberries made me miss Melbourne a lot. (Read about my raspberry picking adventure here
Nathalie's do get busy at times. So be sure to make a reservation in advance!
Address: A-4-1-5 Dutamas Solaris, Jalan Dutamas, 50490 Kuala Lumpur. Contact: 03 62079572 Website: http://www.nathaliegourmetstudio.com/ Opening hours: Monday - Saturday (9am - 6pm). I was told that they do open for dinner on certain days of the month, but patrons would have to call up in advance.
Two avid vegetarians are here to share some insights to the world of vegetarianism.
Hopefully, through this site, the lives of some animals can be spared. Always remember, animals have feelings too, they are our friends not our meal.
Crispy Tomato, Sweet Pepper and Basil Tart (RM24)
Tomato and Cheese Ravioli, Tomato Broth (RM32)
Vegetarian Party
Pot Luck Party