Bites: Bistro Guillaume Pt. 2 @ Crown, Burswood

Promising a return to Bistro Guillaume after a disappointing first visit, I am back here just two days after .   Some say “once bitten, twice shy”, but in this situation, it is a case of “don’t try, don’t know”.  Coming at 10pm, we were promptly seated and served unlike the first visit.  From there it was clear that the atmosphere at the Bistro has calmed down a  whole lot.  The crowds were more settled, the floor less frantic and everything has seemed to have slowed its paces.  In fact, even the waitresses are more composed and able.  For example, our waitress for the night very enthusiastically explained to us their dessert menu and accompanying hot drinks unlike the first time when we were just left with the menu.Just the restaurant half empty which for me was a perfect setting for a relaxing end to my Friday night.

 

Having felt disappointed at the complimentary bread initially, I had really hoped to see something worthy produced in this place tonight as part of the renown Guillaume franchise.  For dessert tonight, the little darling and I ordered the petit fours and a chocolate soufflé to share.The first three are the cocoa dusted chocolate truffles, aniseed cake, and caramel candy.  The petit fours were priced at $5 which was extremely cheap considering the variety we had.   And of course curious readers might be wondering why 5 varieties for something called Petit Fours, that is because the terminology actually means small oven in French and nothing to do with the number of mini desserts.   The chocolate truffles were one of the best I have ever eaten with its bitter cocoa dusting complementing the creamy velvety smooth chocolate filling.   The aniseed cake tasted very familiar but yet delicious.  As for the caramel, it was fantastic.  I am a big caramel fan and I cannot help but enjoy the  buttery rich flavors of a caramel candy!

 

At the other end, the pistachio macarons and fruit jubes were probably my highlight of the lot.  These sugary morsels were top notch.  Macarons had the right balance of sweetness with a hard shell which slowly develops to a chewy consistency through.  Pistachio flavors were obvious and for me, it was lovely.  Lastly were the fruit jubes which I have compared many times across my fine dining experience.  Fortunately, this is an extremely redeeming feature for the pastry kitchen who had initially failed to ‘wow’  me with their complimentary bread offering.  The jubes from my taste buds felt very fruity.  If I am correct, it was guava passionfruit flavor which had a good balance of sweetness and sourness.  The jubes had a good bouncy feel through it too.  This easily tops Jacksons and Amuse while sitting comfortably with the jubes offered by Le Atelier de Joel Robuchon.

 

The next dessert was the chocolate soufflé @ $22. Digging in, I was treated to a luscious warm spoonable chocolate that felt so light it was unimaginable.  More importantly, it was rich yet it did not feel cloying.  Pistachio ice cream felt spot on in term of texture and in terms of flavor it had a good pistachio fragrant too.  Judging by the number of these that were coming out of the kitchen, it was clear that this is a house specialty.  And from what I had that night, this will continue to be one of the most highly sought after desserts in town.  However though, I was slightly disappoint as I was imagining a small chocolate lava filling in there as well.  Nonetheless, this was delicious!

 

Having finished our drinks, we were very happy.  Whether it was a comparison to our dinner two days ago or to our dining experience at previous fine dining establishments, this is how my first meal here should have turned out.  I enjoyed the service we received as the waitress showed passion at doing her task and performs it well.  More importantly, she picks up the little things such as being able to tell that diners are shy for asking more and does it automatically to help us make our decisions. Absolutely helpful.  Even the little darling felt that the service we received was impeccable!  But how do you make a great night even better?  Why not have a picture with the owner Guillaume Brahimi himself? :)! It was super good! I think I can safely withdraw my negative criticisms now.  But even then, there still exist a certain doubt in mewhether we were treated better because they can or because Guillaume was in house or was it just because the crowd was lesser.  Anyways, it was a good start to my weekend! I am pleased!

 

WenY

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