On our first night in Paris it was Raymond's birthday so I wanted to take him out for a nice dinner. I chose Gentle Gourmet Cafe as we had stayed there when it was a bed and breakfast and the food was amazing. While waiting for the first course they brought out some pre-dinner treats. These were a tapenade roll which was alright, and a sausage roll which was really tasty. It almost tasted like field roast in a lovely pastry.
I had a pumpkin apple soup to start with apple croutons. This was had very light flavors but I really enjoyed it. I think the apple mellowed out the pumpkin flavor but it was still a little sweet and tasty.
Raymond has the mushroom rolls to start and they were...well I could not eat them as it was way too much mushroom (which I don't like), but Raymond enjoyed them. He said they were really fatty and he thought it was supposed to be like foi gras. The vinaigrette on the salad was delicious though.
I let Raymond pick the mains and he chose the tart fillet - potatoes sliced thin and layered with vegan cheese, smoked tofu (to be like ham) and caramelized onions. This was really creamy, the cheese was amazing and the tofu did give it a hamey flavor and I absolutely loved it. I wish they would have served more of it as it was in quite a small dish with a tiny bit of salad on the side (without the delicious dressing that was on the mushroom rolls salad). I still loved it and it was one of the better things I have eaten, I just with I would have gotten a larger portion.
The second main was Temple Cajun - Breaded Tempeh rounds with Cajun spices served over rice and greens. This was... disappointing. The Tempeh was good, but the breadcrumbs just tasted like my standard and like I make in my kitchen at home so..nothing fancy about it. The most disappointing thing however was that it was served on a large pile of rice that had no flavor. I am sure they put something in it, but it just tasted like nothing and it was most of the dish so....it was not good. Raymond thought the greens were tasty, but again I felt they lacked flavor. Overall very disappointed in this dish.
For dessert I had the creme brulee - I always order this if it an option as I rarely see vegan versions of it. This is the first that is actually like the non-vegan version. The sugar on top cracked nicely and was amazing, the creme underneath was really tasty. Raymond said it looked like cottage cheese, but it tastes much better than it looks.
He ordered the chocolate mousse. This was a huge amount of food. This was really chocolatey and coconuty and was too much for me. I am not a big coconut fan so it was too strong of a flavor for me, but Raymond really enjoyed it. I think it was the best part of the meal for him.