CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Trio of cold fish platter; Salmon with homemade pasta in cream sauce; Salmon with fettuccine pasta and cream sauce; Honey duck breast with sweet spices; and Creme Brulee
In the end we called a draw on the best of the three - the pate and the tartare were both excellent and it seemed unfair to relegate the salmon to third spot. So by mains time we were already enjoying our meal. Could it get any better? Yes! Duck is a notoriously easy dish to get wrong, even in some of the better restaurants I’ve dined in around Asia. So it has become a bellwether for me in determining the skills of a French chef. All too often I’ve been served tough, chewy, undercooked duck, which is, well, not a meat best served raw. On other occasions it’s been overly fatty, leaving an almost glutinous, furry mouth feel that no amount of red wine seems capable of expunging. Alexandre excelled. The duck breast was served with perfect tenderness, not the slightest bit chewy, and medium (as duck should be served, although I accept that’s a subjective opinion) - not too raw, and not overcooked to reduce the distinctive duck meat flavor. The spices gave it a unique slightly sweet flavor - these are European spices, not the hot Asian style of spice. It was served in portions with cubed new potatoes tossed in herbs and a generous helping of salad. It was one of the best duck dishes I’ve eaten in Saigon. My partner’s salmon was equally rewarding, the serving larger than she could handle due to the large portion of fettuccine pasta in cream sauce. A large fillet baked to perfection, golden brown on the outside and soft and pink inside. Salmon, in contrast to duck, is possibly the most difficult meat to ruin in a kitchen - let’s face it, undercooked it remains entirely edible, provided it’s fresh. But here it was cooked to the center yet still moist, soft and full of flavor. The cream sauce in which it rested was decidedly French; thick with butter but delightfully moorish and decadent, balancing salty fish flavor with sweetness and adding to the smoothness on the palate. Despite feeling well nourished and satisfied, we knew we couldn’t leave a French restaurant without sampling desserts. So we accepted the waitress’ recommendation and chose the Crème brulee (VND80,000) and Fine apple tart (VND90,000). The tart was delightfully Parisian yet served with a smile-inducing zigzag of berry coulis with twin slices of star fruit at its head, a cute Vietnamese touch. The apple was thinly sliced over the pastry and again cooked to perfection: moist - not dried out - and flavorsome and as fresh as one could expect. But the Crème brulee was the pièce de résistance: served in a deep ceramic bowl, with a slice of star fruit and a fresh raspberry on top, the sugar surface slightly charred, it looked as delicious as it tasted. Crack the brittle surface and we were rewarded with soft, sweet, rich custard beneath. As a hybrid venue, The Mach House mixes fashion and fine food at affordable prices given the modern decor, central downtown location and impeccably prepared food. 55