The newly opened Cafe Montmartre on Xiangyang Nanlu may not be as romantic or artsy as those in Montmartre, France, but it gives you an opportunity to taste French delicacies and coffee in the comfort of your own hometown.
Entering the restaurant, you can hear people speaking French as the chef and bartender are both from France and have brought with them genuine French cuisine and wines.
The goose liver pate in French style is the most popular appetizer here.
Burgundy snails, onion soup and the chicken in wine sauce, of course, are dishes that can't be ignored in a French restaurant.
However, the vanilla "creme brulee" is a specialty of the restaurant. A large layer of sugar coating covers the creamy, sweet and soft mixture of egg and cream, which is a classical French dessert and is a necessity in a French meal.
Aside from the pleasant delicacies, the restaurant also has simple yet chic ambience.
The ground floor is separated into two parts by the bar, one for having dinner and the other for drinks.
A four-meter moving shelf of wine inside the bar attracts people's attention to the second floor.
Walking up the stairs, you will find that baskets of fresh garlic, pepper, onion, radishes and carrots have become the ornaments, which can easily be seen in restaurants in France. As a whole, the restaurant was simply decorated except pictures hanging on the walls and the big arrangement of flowers on the spacious second floor.
The restaurant is relatively quiet, perhaps because it opened just two months ago.
Prices here are not so high and each dish is about 40 yuan (US$4.8), the same as that of a glass of imported French wine.
However, if you go there at noon on weekdays, you can try the set meals, which are at a lower price.
Brittany-style squid or chicken in wine sauce with a glass of wine, Coke, Sprite or coffee costs 45 yuan (US$5.4).
The small blackboard at the door will introduce a new dish to you every day.
(Shanghai Star 05/10/2001)
