Fraiche - disappointing
my pictures for this review are here: http://gourmetpigs.blogspot.com/2008/...
This is a long overdue post on Fraiche in Culver City, the reason being I wasn't really crazy about it. Disclaimer first, I only went here for an office holiday party, and we had a pre set menu etc, so it may well be I didn't get the representative dishes to convince me that Fraiche was as awesome as I had heard.
It was a three-course menu, and for starters I ordered the beets with goat cheese and pistachios. I have to first say I have heard many many good things about this dish, which was why I ordered it. Upon first glance, the beets weren't as colorful as I am used to. But I won't judge based on that, bright colors may not be everything.
The first few bites of the beets were good and enjoyable, but I could not finish the dish. As I was eating each bite made me feel somewhat ... queasy? It was like the beets were, well, anemic! The beets were a bit bland than I would like, and to top that off with loads of also-rather-bland goat cheese was too much. I stopped eating so I won't feel sick. Is this normal? Or is it one of those let's-give-the-office-party-ppl-second-rate-ingredients?? Maybe it was just us, maybe some people like it way better that way. Dont' know. But no one around my seat finished their beet dish. It was 'good' at first few bites, then 'okay', then on to 'ugh' ...
For the main course I had the duck with black rice. This dish was pretty good but the duck was overcooked and, hence, dry. I did like the black rice though.
I had the chocolate bread pudding for dessert. This was also a bit dry, especially as far as bread puddings go.
The other choice for dessert was the lemon meringue pie. I tried a bit from someone else's plate, but it was way too sweet even for my sweet tooth.
For all the hype I've heard about this place, I was rather disappointed. Is it just because what we got were not as good as a normal Fraiche meal? Tell me, should I go back and give it another try?
burumun
Feb 24, 2008 06:04PM
It's actually beets with homemade ricotta cheese and hazelnuts. Those beets do look bland in your pic... maybe they were over cooked? Too bad it seemed like you were there on an off night.I've enjoyed my meals there.
Permalink | Reply
A group of 6 of us ate at Fraiche this past Saturday night. It was my second time in over a year and I must say the service has vastly improved and the food is still excellent.
On our last visit, we had about a 40 minute lapse between appetizers and entries. However, this time all of our courses (apps, a pasta tasting, entrees, dessert) were nicely paced. We had an 8:30pm reservation and left a little after midnight.
As for the food, the farro salad (which we loved the first time) was kind of bland. I had steak tartar that was quite good; Comme Ca makes the best version I've had so far.
The pastas (pappardelle with oxtail, tagliatelle with braised rabbit) were excellent, especially the risotto (with morels and bacon).
The best entree was a phenomenal lamb spezzatino; chunks of lamb braised in a savory tomato broth/sauce until the lamb was fall-apart tender accompanied by four, pillowy and decadent ricotta gnocchi. The steak frites, snapper and pork chop also got high marks.
I'd go back...
Permalink | Reply