Le Gavroche (Coal Harbour)

As many of you know, my birthday was on September 19th, and JT takes me out for dinner every year. This year, he told me “you can choose any restaurant you want… it’s YOUR birthday, after all!”. Normally, we would have gone to Water Street Cafe (which holds great memories for both of us), or the always awesome Crime Lab. This year, I wanted to try Le Gavroche. I have spent extended periods of time in Paris and thus French cuisine always holds a very dear place in my heart. The location of Le Gavroche has always puzzled me – a house within an area that is now pretty much condo territory. But the place is absolutely beautiful.

We arrived to Le Gavroche for a 5:00pm reservation, and were promptly served a tasty amuse bouche. I’m never too fond of amuse bouches but this one was pretty good (a vegetable-based mini-square).

We ordered a four-courses meal ($55 per person) without any wine to pair (I wasn’t feeling up for wine and JT doesn’t drink). My hors d’oeuvres was a lobster soufflé with gravy (I would never have ordered a soufflé as I hate cheese, but this was absolutely amazing). I also ordered a Spiced Vegetable Gazpacho, with an Avocado Mousse (delightful) as a premiere assiete. The gazpacho would have been better for a summer day, but it was delicious nonetheless.

For my main meal, I ordered a pasta with lobster and prawns that I totally should have written down the name of, but I forgot. And it was unbelievably good. I couldn’t finish it off.

And the dessert was as much to die-for as the rest of the meal – a flour-less chocolate cake that had me at “hello”.

While JT and I had a minor kerfuffle with Groupon (as you may remember my tweets), I’ve clarified the situation both with Groupon and Le Gavroche, and at some point in the near future, will come back to do a second try. I’d definitely recommend Le Gavroche for a romantic or celebratory meal.