Tuesday, 02 September 2008
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La Vie - Rosemead, CA
Now I heard of this place on many food blogs as well as yelp. But really, asian mom n paps making french food? the idea scared me a little. But the apparently affordable price and close location made me think its worth satisfying my curiosity.
Upon arrival on a friday night, this place was packed! with.... OLD ppl that is. We went early around 7. And it was like the early bird special night lol. Hey, I hold no prejudices, I still had my high hopes. I saw a newspaper clipping in the glass door, an LA times featured article about La Vie, which reassured me. The place was very old school, sort of a dinky little place to be honest. But I would go anywhere any little shack for good food, so this did not stop me either. I was ready!
One can not go to a french place without trying the french onion soup. This one was.....not what I wanted it to be. There is a good layer of cheese, with nice burnt top. But the soup was way too light in flavor and depth( this coming from me, the taiwanese girl who loves light flavors....) Just was not up to par and not satisfying.
The menu looked good with a variety of options. However, when the server presented with the night's special - chilean seabass, I couldn't pass it up. This is probably my favorite fish, if prepared well. When my dish arrived though, first I was a bit taken back by how thin the fish piece was. When I took a bite, The fish was well seasoned, but a bit overly salty and oily . It was crispy on the outside, also with a touch of nice citrus/caper sauce. But since the fish piece was so thin, the bite of sweet/fattiness of chilean seabass that I love was not quite there.
My friend's salmon was honestly.... quite unremarkable bordering on bad. The fish again, thin sliced, which really isn't how quality fish should be served. Then taking a bite verified this - fish was not fresh, and also overcooked. The fish was drenched in this unremarkable sauce that could not cover up the poor quality of fish. Would not order this again.
Grilled lamb chops. This was one of the favs of ppl's on yelp. I was nice how it came separated from the chop bone. And the dish was beautifully presented. But again the quality of meat was not there, the lamb tasted a bit old. And the exterior lacked the crispiness I was looking for.
Finally, the souffle. I have never had a bad souffle, so this unfortunately was a first. The souffle was light, but too light in a way that it tasted almost like....nothing! and towards the bottom it was very watery, sort of like it should have spent at least 5 more minutes in the oven.
During the dinner, there was a party of 20 asian ppl next to us. In a tiny tiny restaurant, you know how that goes. It was so loud that we can barely have a decent conversation with each other. The food, not to be brutal, but personally I think it tasted just one notch above the typical cantonese cafe food. If I got this food at a cantonese cafe I would be impressed, but it is definitely no where near standing alone as a "gourmet" french restaurant. The prices are very reasonable. But I would much rather pay a bit more for better quality ingredients, and a decent ambience.
La Vie
2547 San Gabriel Blvd
#A
Rosemead, CA 91770(626) 571-1180
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