Le Central, Denver, Colorado

I've never been a big fan of French cuisine, come to think of it, this is probably my first post on French food. Somehow, the idea of dining French conjures an image of undersized and overpriced portions and flavors too subtle for my liking. However, this place was highly recommended so I decided to drop by whilst I was in Denver.

We started off with some refreshing wine.

The first starter was a salad with smoked duck breast. The nutty flavor of olive oil infused with a slight citrus and tangy dressing paired well with the salty smoked duck. The salad leaves were also crisp and fresh with gave a nice textural contrast.

Steamed mussels in white wine and spicy chorizo were next. A dish that can't really go wrong provided your mussels are fresh. Fortunately, these were fresh and plump. The sauce was great for bread dipping.

The escargots served in a mini brioche on a creamy saffron sauce were also pretty good despite the smaller portions compared to the rest of the appetizers.

Baked fish with a blended salsa dressing. Not sure how this is really French but it tasted pretty decent and the fish was sizable chunk.

The baked lobster was a bit of a let down though, I'm not sure if this crustacean wasn't exactly fresh or if it was overcooked but the flesh was more mushy than firm.

The crispy roasted duck leg was actually pretty good despite being drowned in a sauce that was way too overpowering in flavor and saltiness. Once you scrap off some of the sauce and savor the flesh of the duck, it wasn't too bad.

Since Thursday is souffle night, we had to try some. The chocolate souffle was executed beautifully. Light and fluffy in texture with enough chocolate richness.

The citrus souffle was just as good. In fact, I actually preferred this over the chocolate as it had a lighter and more refreshing taste.

We also ordered a slice of their chocolate cake which was really only average. Well all in all, there were some hits and misses here for sure. The biggest let-downs seem to be the mains, the appetizers (especially the mussels with the free flow of shoestring fries) and the desserts were their redeeming factors.

D