Birthday night out at The Marc...

I am struggling at how to approach writing this food entry because this is the first time I have had French cuisine in Edmonton. Many years ago, my parents and I went on a tour to Montreal, Quebec and Toronto. Unfortunately, the memory of what we ate there, what we did, what we saw completely slipped my mind... Anyways, it was my best friend's birthday that week so I decided to take him to the Marc. Neither of us have been here before, but I saw many good things about this restaurant on urban spoon. The Marc is located in an interesting location and unfortunately they do not have a parking lot. Finding parking along the road was a bit tough so be prepared to walk! The interior of the restaurant was simple yet elegant, warm and relaxing. Upon arrival, we were pleasantly greeted by Mrs. Saurette (Doris Saurette) who is the owner of the restaurant. She offered to take our coats and hang them up for us (how nice!). The server for the night was informative, explained the specials of the night and suggested complementary wines to go along with the meal.

 We started off our dinner with an appetizer - Plat du Charcuterie (cold cut, terrine - which is a meat mixture/meatloaf that is cooled, tomatoes, cheese..).  An interesting appetizer, I never had  pâté before so I had no idea what to expect. The terrine had limited taste, it was salty but perhaps that is what it is suppose to taste like? There isn't much I can say about this because of my limited knowledge of french cuisine. But it was a nice first time experience.





For our mains, I went with the lamb shank- it came with mashed potatoes and white turnip. The turnip was tender and added a nice addition to the dish. The mashed potatoes were definitely mashed well.. It was extremely creamy, incorporated with the right amount of butter and flavorful. Except, it was soaked in the lamb reduction so it was a little runny. Now on to the lamb! The lamb was cooked to perfection, it was extremely soft and melted in your mouth. The whole dish had the right amount of spices and flavor, everything came together very well.

Raymond (the boyfriend's name), went with the popular Entrecôte with frites. It was a 10 o.z rib eye steak that came with a side of fries. He said the steak was cooked perfectly to his request (medium- had a nice pink center) and was extremely tender. The fries were crispy and salted to perfection. He said they were one of the best fries he had so far. On the downside, he said the side salad was bland and had no taste. He also mentioned the steak could have used some more spices. 

Overall, it was a nice dining experience. The restaurant is a nice place to relax your mind after a long day of work. The service was excellent and the food was delicious. No complaints. I will definitely be back to try the changing specials of the night!