L’Assiette is composed of several adjoining rooms with lots of interesting decorations, an old wood floor and elaborate ceiling in the entry room. Some of the tables are quite small but most of of moderate size and reasonably spaced. There are no table clothes but nice linen napkins. The menu is a la carte with a chalkboard of specials and lunch special. There are also wine specials and a dessert of the day. Chef Rathgeber was in the house and frequently seen taking a look over the dining room to make sure all was going smoothly. I know his cooking was responsible for the wonderful aroma that greeted me when I walked in the door.
The tables are given a slice of pâté to snack on with the chewy crispy bread while you make your menu and beverage selections. It was quite nice.
We started with a meaty confit pork that was made of shank meat mixed with foie gras and served with a small bowl of mustardy lentils in some kind of vinaigrette. Both were delicious, particularly the pork which was filled with different bits of meat and seasonings. One order was plenty to share and based on our main course selections the waiter suggested that was all we order to begin with – he was right!
The duck pie was on a totally savory sauce and served with cooked endive underneath and a couple raw leaves on top. The filling was tender and full of flavor from the wild duck and foie gras fillings. The lightly gamey taste assured it was a wild bird, but so did the bit of shot in the meat. And don’t forget that flakey, buttery crust that was divine.
The house cassoulet was a huge serving chocked full of pork, various sausages and beans cooked to a perfect tenderness. It was a melding of lovely flavors and a popular selection, as I saw many being served to customers. A winner here too.
For dessert we tried the creme caramel that was topped with a huge layer of delicious liquid caramel with a sweet creamy custard underneath. It was to die for – yum x3 here!
The rice pudding was another good one, adorned with caramel and almonds. Don’t get me wrong, it was really good and nice but the cream caramel is the hands down winner here.
We ordered coffee and they brought some light meringue like cookies to go with it. I didn’t need them after I licked up every bit of that amazing caramel sauce.
