Restaurant Week #2 - The French Room

French Room
1321 Commerce Street
Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 742-8200
http://www.hoteladolphus.com/adolphus_dining.aspx/
Price: $$$$+

Ahhhh….so I FINALLY get to go to the French Room! I’ve been wanting to go for like 2 years now just never could afford it. So when I found out that they were participating in Restaurant Week, I totally jumped on the opportunity. I called them the morning the list was posted at like 10am! Hahaha. :P I was shocked when I was able to book my party of 10 at the time I wanted! Niceeeee!

The French Room is located downtown at the Adolphus Hotel. It serves modern American cuisine using classical French cooking techniques. The décor was also very traditionally European with the arched and painted ceilings and sparkly chandeliers. The host/hostesses were extremely friendly…part of the group was running late, but they went ahead and seated us anyways. The service was very good…it’s the type of place where they place the napkin in your lap, pull out and push in your chair, and keeps the water glasses filled, etc. Our waiter was an older European guy, very nice, unfortunately I couldn’t really understand his thick accent, and also the restaurant was quite noisy.

While we were waiting for the rest of the group to arrive, they gave us some bread baskets.







Now it’s time for the food! I’m going to talk about what I ordered first then on to other people’s dishes.

For the appetizer, I got the Dominion Farms Pork Belly (Five Spice Glaze, on a bed of Beluga Lentils).

If there’s pork belly on the menu, then I must order it. Hehe. LOVE LOVE LOVE pork belly! The French Room certainly did not disappoint. The pork belly was perfectly cooked…so silky and velvety. The glaze added a little sweetness and the lentils added some contrast in texture. I ate it very slowly so I could savor it… :)

I got the Red Snapper (with Spinach Risotto and Romesco sauce) as my entrée. The fish was cooked very nicely. The colors on the plate were beautiful…with the orange sauce and the green risotto. The risotto had lots of flavor and was cooked nicely as well…al dente…just the way it’s supposed to be. I enjoyed the dish…I’m not a big seafood person so I wasn’t as excited about it as like a pork chop or steak, but it was very good.

For dessert I was initially gonna go for the chocolate, but I asked the waiter what he recommended and he insisted on the Popcorn Pot du Crème (with Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce). I took his suggestion and was very pleased. It was basically like a cup of flan/crème brulee type custard...insanely silky and creamy and full of milky caramel flavor. Caramel covered popcorn topped the custard and added a nice crunch to the creaminess of the dessert. The caramel ice cream on top just made it all the more creamy and luscious! YUM!!

I was incredibly full after the meal…the portions didn’t look very big but they were definitely filling.

Now here are all the other dishes around the table…

APPETIZERS:
Texas Yellow Corn Soup (with Duck Pot Stickers, Crimini Mushrooms and Paprika Oil). I got to try a little sip of the soup. OMG. Soooooo freaking delicious. It was rich and creamy and smooth…plus the sweetness of the corn. Mmmmmm… I almost wished I had gotten that instead…but I liked my pork belly too!

Jumbo Lump Crab Cake (in Lemon Grass Lobster Sauce and Tomato Jam ($5 additional). This was also very good. It’s FULL of crab…unlike most crab cakes that have a bunch of bread crumbs as fillers.

ENTREES:
Atlantic Salmon (with Green Peppercorn Whipped potato and Parsley Sauce). This was cooked very nicely and the flavors all worked together very well. And just like the snapper, the colors on the plate were vibrant and pretty.

Herb-Roasted Pheasant Breast (with Saffron Linguini and Champagne Cream Sauce). This was the biggest entrée, portion wise. I didn’t get to try the pheasant but I did try the linguini. I think it was made in house which is good…but I thought it was just slightly overcooked. It was softer than I like my pasta to be, but still very good.

DESSERTS:
Peach and Amaretto Cheesecake with Raspberry Sorbet.

The cheesecake was sooo good. It was more light and fluffy instead of normal cheesecakes that are denser. The pairing between the raspberry sorbet and the cheesecake was also very good.

Mocha Espresso Torte with Coffee Ice Cream. This was very good as well. Super silky…like really fine mousse. The coffee flavor really adds a kick to the dessert. I was happy with my dessert choice but either one of these would’ve been good as well.

So overall, the appetizers and desserts were wonderful. The entrees were good (the Butterfish at Roy’s still has to be my favorite fish dish of all time though). The service was great, very friendly and attentive. But I think I had such high hopes for the restaurant that I was a little underwhelmed... But in the future, when I can afford to go there for regular menu, I will most definitely go again.

Bon Appétit!

Quality of Food:

Service:

Cleanliness:

Value (for Restaurant Week):

Overall Experience:



~~CHOMP CHOMP~~