New Tastes...

Francs, Altrincham

As I was still at university when it was my Dad's birthday last month, we decided to have a belated meal out to celebrate it. We went to Francs, a French restaurant in Altrincham, Cheshire. We chose to go on 14th July, which is Bastilles Day, a French national holiday.

The restaurant is one that we have been to as a family a few times, but the last time I went was about eight years ago, so I was looking forward to going back with a more mature appreciation of good food. We chose to eat off the Prix Fixe menu, where two courses cost £12.95 if you eat before 7.30pm, but for a wider choice of food there is also the £18.95 option available anytime except Sunday lunch.

To start I had the Cigares de Crabe, which was served with a salad of mixed leaves, red onion, tomato and orange in a light dressing. The crab was lovely and delicate, with a very fresh taste, and the combination of the crispy filo pastry that it was wrapped in with the soft crabmeat produced a wonderful texture in the mouth. It said on the menu that it contained coriander, which I was wary of as I dislike the taste of the herb, but it was subtle enough that it didn't ruin the dish for me. The salad on the side despite being simple, provided a little extra flavour and jazzed up the plate so that it was pleasant on the eye.

I followed my crab starter with another seafood dish for my main course, Saumon au Cresson. The cajun spice seared salmon was served with sauteed potatoes, which were deliciously crispy on the outside; on a bed of rocket, with lardons and boiled egg mixed into it. The saltiness of the bacon lardons and peppery rocket went well with the salmon, which I often find quite bland, but it wasn't so overpowering that the taste of the salmon was smothered. I personally felt that the egg didn't really add anything to the plate, but then I am not a huge fan of boiled egg to begin with.

It was a generous portion, which I couldn't finish, the salmon steak was huge! I was actually quite surprised that a good quality restaurant like Francs gave such large quantities of the food; my mum and sister shared a mixed paella that was meant for two people, but there was easily enough to feed all four of us! It wasn't just bulked up with rice either, there were lots of prawns, scallops, chorizo, catfish, salmon and chicken pieces, even right at the bottom of the bowl.

The only disappointment for me was the fact that the house wine was Isla Negra, which is Italian, so not what I would have expected to be served in a French restaurant! It was nice wine though, so it didn't really affect my overall experience, and I would definately go back again, as I liked the sound of plenty of the other dishes that were on the menu.