La Grâce/大八法式創意牛排館（已走入歷史）

La Grâce/大八法式創意牛排館（已走入歷史）

Rating: NOT Authentic, but Exceptional Value, Worth a Shot
評等：不夠道地，但超值到破錶，很有誠意，很用心，值得一嚐

高雄市左營區裕誠路486號(博愛路口)
訂席專線: 07-5569791 / 傳真: 07-5562496
外賣區專線: 07-5590311
Web Site/網站：http://www.daba.com.tw/daba02-6.htm

日期：2010年4月24日
Date: April 24, 2010

本來不想推薦這家餐廳的，但是因為他們實在太用心、太有誠意，而且我還跟他們有緣，所以就推薦了。請您務必耐心看完這篇食評，否則請乾脆別看。

在自由時報上看到他們的折價券就剪了下來。而路寒袖新書發表會的消息正好印在折價券的背面。因此我A到了路寒袖的親筆簽名。實在爽爆了。不得不給他們吃吃紅。如果他們像窯烤披薩那樣自認是山寨，我推薦起來會比較心甘情願。但是那麼一來，他們的Fiu就沒了。所以我就當他們已經認了。

You would be pissed if you come to this place thinking it is a French bistro. However, if you would view this experience from a different perspective, and consider it uniquely Taiwanese, then it would be worth a while. Especially if you would take the price tag into the consideration.

在推薦之前，先看看我在雞蛋裡挑到的骨頭：

Before my recommendation, here are me being picky:

首先，門口沒設置等候座位。啊他們是沒有滿座的自信，還是就要罰客人的站？我就站了半小時左右。如此久候，沒有獻上報紙、雜誌；沒獻上飲料。失敗！

First of all, there is no seat at the entrance. Either they have no confidence to have a full house, or they intend to let their guest stand waiting. I waited for around half an hour. No newspaper, no magazine, no refreshment, big failure.

其次，這是我不大可能會再上門的主因：定位不清。到底是大餐廳還是小酒館？要氣派還是要親蜜？非牛非馬。我覺得他們的定位像是瞄準了不喜歡吃西餐，不想砸大錢，又想要開洋葷的田僑仔。

Secondly, their positioning is not clear. Are they trying to be a bistro, or big restaurant? Do they want cosiness or grandeur? Make up the freaking mind!

不在旁邊的邊碟/The side dish not on the side

邊碟(side dish)應該放在左手邊。可是因為桌子太窄，而碟子又太大，旁邊塞不下，就被放到中間來了。要講氣派，桌子就要夠大。這副德行，像是暴發戶在附庸風雅。桌子不是不能小。小桌能提升親蜜感。要走小酒館親蜜路線的話，光線得暗些。最好暗到只憑蠋光照亮，同時邊盤也不能大成那副德行。弄個面包籃，奶油另外擺，邊盤能暫放一個麵包就可以了。

麵包是偏甜的臺灣味。你要說這是法式，我就要說你山寨。

此外，法式麵包是餐後上。餐前上麵包，是北美洲的搞法。

The table is too narrow to host the giant side dish. If they were trying to be a bistro, then they should use a smaller side dish with a bread basket and a separate butter dish. Oh, BTW, turn off the light and use some freaking candles instead.

The bread is sweet Taiwanese style. You would feel much better if you would ditch the word "French", and remind yourself this is a unique Taiwanese experience.

In addition, bread is served at the end in France. Serving bread this early is North American.

桌子雖然窄，但長。這種搞法，八成是想效長桌的顰。小酒館的優點在拉近距離，小倆口兒可以輕聲細語地咬著耳朵說悄悄話。啊這麼玩是怎樣啦？是要扯開了喉嚨吼，還是要自備大聲公啊？桌面上鋪了紙。假高尚破功。

Although the table is narrow, it is freaking long. With this kind of length, I need to date a half giantess if I want to get any footsie. The sheet of paper on the table brings the class down more than a notch.

胡椒罐的開口太小。黑胡椒粉撒不出來。我乾脆擰開蓋子，先把黑胡椒倒在掌心，再合掌搓到湯裡。估計是用了白胡椒罐。越南連路邊攤的黑胡椒都是現磨的，讓服務生用胡椒研磨器，能大幅提升派頭。

The holes of the pepper shaker  are too tiny to allow black pepper to pass through. They must have used the shaker for white pepper. It would be nice if the wait staffs would bring over a pepper mill.

服務很臺。俗擱有力。高級西餐的服務，要避免打擾客人用餐、交談。最好是讓客人感覺不到服務生的存在，而卻讓客人心想事成，無所匱乏。比方說，倒水時要趁客人不注意時偷偷完成，讓客人不知道水杯是何時被倒滿的。

The style of the service is Taiwanese. Instead of trying to avoid being intrusive, the servers declare their mission every single freaking time.

還沒吃完主菜就上甜點/Dessert was served before I finished the main course

罵得差不多了，開始講些優點吧：超值！這樣一套，原價499。這是夜市價耶！再回去看看我剛剛罵的，那是對一流西餐館的要求耶！我那些要求就算是漢來的池畔餐廳我都挑得出刺兒。漢來要是開出這種菜單，起碼要價一千五。也就是說，這裡的品質只落後漢來一點，但價錢卻只要三分之一。雖然不夠道地，但在臺灣，已經算是相對道地的了。啥好東西，尤其是川菜，到了臺灣就走味。對沒品味的死臺巴子來說，這家已經算是很忠於原味的了。您要是覺得這家餐廳不好吃，那很可能是法國菜根本就不合您的胃口。網上居然看到有人嫌這裡的噎死卡狗（Escargot, 蝸牛）“太鹹、不新鮮”拜託... 啊你是要怎樣啦？在國外，尤其是北美洲，通常都有法律禁止餐廳廚房裡有活體。因此，餐廳裡的噎死卡狗通常是用罐頭的。都是那個味道。要新鮮的，上哪兒弄？怎麼弄？要人家在廚房裡放堆死蝸牛？倒是給我長長見識。真不知道那位“食神”之前吃沒吃過噎死卡狗？

擺盤很正。

Enough bitching already. Now is time for praising: Excellent value! This prix-fix is only NT$499, regular price. This is about as expensive as the stuff from street stands. Now please have a retake of what I have just bitched. Those requirements are for top notch restaurants. In the city of Kaohsiung, I can find faults even in five star hotel restaurants. If this set appears on their menus instead, the price tag is for sure going to be tripled. In other words, this restaurant had almost created the illusion as if I were in a five star hotel.

Nice presentation.

Cold Appetizer/冷開胃菜

The cheese is so mild that it falls into the category of plain. Think Taiwanese.

起士淡到會氣死人。不過反正大部分的臺灣人受不了起士的臭味。

我超愛他們的餐具。中看又中用。那曲線拿在手裡，順手、舒服極了。

I love their utensils. Those curves are elegant and handy.

如果不是點了海陸餐，我會想嚐嚐他們的紅酒。海鮮碰上紅酒的味道超惡的。

Would have sampled their red wine had I not ordered Surf and Turf.

Soup是濃湯。清湯是broth。雖然蝦與蛤蜊帶殼比較上相，但是我比較喜歡去殼的。

This is broth, not soup. I would prefer the shirmp and clam shell removed before served, though it does improve the presentation.

This is abalone, not Escargot/鮑角，不是蝸牛。

清嘴用冰沙/Sorbet

魚刺沒剔，如此一來，這疊疊樂玩得很沒意義，因為不能一刀多味。偷偷告訴有話說的人：吃西餐時，從嘴裡拉東西出來，是非常失禮的行為。鮭魚、圓鱈：太老，沒火候可言，失敗；裡面的牛肉我要求要七分熟，而且再三叮嚀千萬別搞到全熟，結果：失敗。但是失敗為成功之母。因為我那時還決定不了要不要推薦這家餐館，所以我就給他們一個機會：我給服務生看牛肉的切面，問她：“如果這叫七分熟，那怎樣算全熟？”服務生請示了經理後，經理說給我重做。這次等了很久，但是那等待是有價值的。

The fish bones were not removed. Hence it was meaningless to pile them up, except for the presentation purpose. For the beef, I asked for medium well. I specifically asked them not to over cook the beef. Everything were over cooked to the state of rubbery, including fish steaks. I showed the cut of the beef to the hostess, and asked her "If you call this medium well, how would you define well-done?". The hostess asked the manager. The manager asked the kitchen to take it back. The wait was long, but worth it.

這一大坨，不叫牛排。這個，叫做“誠意”。這種誠意，重新定義了這家餐館的定位：它賣的不再是產品，而是服務。賣產品的，頂多補回原先那一小片就算負責了。搞這麼一大片，連擺盤都不馬虎，這不叫誠意，那要叫啥？因為他們賣的是服務，所以我剛剛對他們產品的所有抱怨統統要作廢。就算他們的服務再不完美，因為這種誠意，他們永遠值得我再給他們N次機會。就是這種誠意與服務，讓這家餐廳超值到破錶。

This, is NOT a piece of steak. This, is a piece of heart. It is their passion for service. This kind of dedication redefines the positioning of this restaurant. If they were selling products, it would be enough to replace the original slice of beef. A steak this size with all the trimming and complete presentation, this is dedication. This restaurant no longer sells products, instead, they are selling services. Since it is services they are selling, all my complains toward their products are scrapped. Whatever imperfection of their service deserves a second chance for the sake of this dedication. It is this kind of dedication and service that elevates their value to sky high.

因為被他們之前的“七分熟”嚇到，所以重做時我要求要五分。

For I was not impressed by their "medium well", I asked for medium on the remake. They did not screw it up. In Taiwan, this is medium. It is rarer than North American rare, almost bleu.

紀念品/Souvenir



我瞎猜，負責創造、設計這家餐廳的那位，年約35。女性，若是男性，則具女性特質。做事認真、用心，有責任感、有榮譽心。苦學成材，不是富家子弟。有品味，細膩、嚴格，但不發飆。就算罵人時，也是就事論事冷靜地要求，不會謾罵。沒有國外經驗，或少於半年。

這是這家餐廳的軟、硬體設計，及人員訓練給我的印象。如果有人知道答案，我會很想知道我猜的有多準／離譜。

延伸閱讀：
Augustin: Cuisine Francais/法式料理
Bangkak: Oriental/曼谷：東方文華酒店
大八飯店-潮坊港式飲茶
Ga Ha Noi的LP (Françoise Hardy: Puisque Vous Partez en Voyage)

La Grâce du Ciel:


Le Ciel 是法文的“天堂”。