L and I finished shopping in South Granville. Before spending the afternoon at Granville Island, I suggested we have lunch at one of my old haunts – Café Salade De Fruits. I’ve been dining here since it first opened, back in the early 2000s. For this post, let’s listen to “Les Champs Elysees“ by Chantal Chamberland.
Located inside a French school, the atmosphere is cozy and quaint. The music is soothing yet energetic. The French speaking staff are professional and warm. The day I visited, I recognized one of the original chefs and owners – Antoine Bonard – in the kitchen.
We sat on the patio. I wanted a light lunch, so we shared a regular order of Moules Frites ($19). I ordered a glass of La Vielille Ferme ($10.50) while L predictably ordered a sleeve of beer ($10).
The fries were cut thin and short, with a crackling of salty goodness. I encouraged L to fork his fries and let it saturate in the broth. Friggin delicious. The fries remained crispy despite its creamy bath.
The temperature of the broth was steaming hot and remained so throughout our meal. The broth was rich and fragrant with what I thought could be wine, cream, butter, shallots and lemon.
The baguette was just as excellent as the mussels and broth. The crust was crisp yet chewy. The bread tasted clean, with soft, springy tissues. I loved how beautifully the bread soaked up all the flavours in the broth. Our server saw that we finished all our bread and without any prompting, dropped off another serving.
Despite how hot the broth was, each mussel remained soft and sweet until the very end. It’s hard to find a restaurant that can cook mussels properly. Too often, I find mussels are like rubbery bullets. You won’t find that here. This isn’t Salade de Fruits first rodeo.
The regular order was like a magical never ending pot of mussels. We were stuffed. L raved our seafood lunch at Cafe Salade de Fruits. I’m pleased that some things don’t change. I hope this cafe is around as long as I keep coming.
Hitting the Sauce 