Restaurant Review: Royale Brasserie

I’ve been really feeling the travel itch lately. We love traveling and have tried to make it a part of our lives, but with the birth of our son this year traveling has been limited. Since we couldn't leave the city to celebrate our wedding anniversary we decided to enjoy it here at home at a wonderful new French restaurant called Royale which opened up in Corbeaux's old space.

Atmosphere: They’ve updated corbeaux's decor by making it their own with added French touches to warm up the space.

Price Range: mid $10s - $20s

Food & Wine: I always have trouble deciding on what to eat since I want to try everything! It’s even harder when it comes to French cuisine because everything sounds delectable. We decided to try some dishes that are our favorites including the Tartare de Boeuf or Beef tartare. The tartare came with the egg and mustard to the side, which is then mixed in to the beef itself. This provides the dish that extra creaminess that makes it just right.

We also tried the Escargots a l’Ail, nothing is more quintessentially French then some escargots. We had some crazy ones in France! The ones at Royale are a lot more manageable and smothered in a delicious garlic herb butter, only way to eat escargots in my books. I even dipped my bread in to the butter. If you’ve never had escargots before, they have a distinct chew to them but not too much flavour to them, which is why the garlic butter is perfect in this dish.

For my main I had the Joues de Fletan en Papillote, Halibut checks steamed in parchment served with mixed vegetables. The fish was nicely cooked and the accompanying sauce was a perfect compliment. The whole dish overall tasted amazing and is a nice healthy choice for those who are looking for something a bit lighter.

The hubby ordered the Cote d’Agneau Grillees aka Grilled lamb chops with herb de provence. It was definitely a hearty serving. The lamb was cooked to a perfect medium well and came with green beans, mushrooms and potato gratin. I had a couple bites and really liked the sides as well as the lamb itself. It’s the French version of meat and potatoes and was definitely filling.

After a quick look at the dessert menu I knew I wanted the Profiteroles especially since they came with house made vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Anything that has ice cream is a must for me. The profiteroles are light and airy, it does become a bit hard due to the ice cream filling but you just need to give it a couple mins to warm up once you take a bite. It was the perfect way to end the meal for me.

My husband ordered the Tarte Fine Aux Pommes, a light apple tart with salted caramel sauce and ice cream. I couldn’t resist and had to try it as well. The apples were nicely spiced and the salted caramel provided an extra depth of flavour. The ice cream was literally the icing on the cake. My husband said he liked it even more than the profiteroles. I don’t know if I agree with that, but rather I’d say it was hard to pick between the two.

Our wine for the evening was the Domaine Begude pinot noir. It’s a light bodied red with cherry notes and made for a nice sipping wine. It was also perfect for both our seafood and red meat dishes. It was a bit lighter than the reds that we normally order but it worked well with our meal.

My Picks: Escargots a l'Ail, Tarte Fine Aux Pommes

Overall: Although we couldn't leave the city I'm glad we live in a place where we can dine on cuisines from around the world. The food at Royale has roots in French cooking but still encompasses the unique qualities of Alberta. I hope to be back to try more dishes and am eyeing the foie gras for next time. The food here will definitely hold me over until our next scheduled trip!

Royale Brasserie
730 17 Avenue SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 475-9457
Website: royaleyyc.ca

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