NZ and its "Creme brulee", Umbria cafe, Number Five Fine wine restaurant review..
Hmm.. Now.. I have a rant... It is very difficult to get GOOD creme brulee.. In the past week, I've had it twice in two different places. Granted. Most people just.. suck at making creme brulee because it ain't an easy thing to make, but what IS exactly the right sort of creme brulee? How is the texture of the custard supposed to be? Is it meant to hold together or is it meant to be runny. Just like thick cream?
Most creme brulees I've had were rather custardy and smooth in texture which kind of held together. That's the way I like it. Maybe that's not the way it's meant to be (any comments anybody who knows abt creme brulee?). Heck, I'm just going with what I've tasted so far. So, to me. Creme brulee is meant to have a nice smooth texture like custard.. but more creamy than custard. Again, I could be wrong on this.
Doing a quick google search as well as on answers.com, I can't help but feel cheated. Considering that I pay on average NZ$12-13 for one serving of this delicacy, I expect a reasonable amount of standard! Let me first give you some background on this dessert which has me hooked.
Here is a definition from recipetips.com:
"Creme Brulee
A chilled dessert custard that is rich in flavor and creamy in texture. The dessert is removed from the refrigerator and topped with sugar that is then heated under a broiler or with a small flame cooking torch to affect only the surface. The sugar caramelizes and hardens into a brittle form on the top of the custard, making a rich and flavorful coating with an appealing appearance over the creamy texture of the custard. "
And this is from Answers.com:
"Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; IPA: [ˌkɹɛm bɹuː ˈleɪ] in English, [kʁɛm bʁy le] in French) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins."
and just as a reference,
(also from answers.com)
"Crème caramel, flan (U.S.), or caramel custard (U.K.) is a kind of rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top.
Crème caramel is a variant of plain custard (crème) where some caramel syrup is poured into the mold before adding the custard base. After the custard has set, it can be turned out, leaving a caramel sauce on top."
I believe that should be enough of background info for now.
Well, let me begin my rant then.
First, a week ago, my bf and I went to Number 5 to have our 6th month anniversary dinner together. Yep.. One of the main reasons why I chose to go to no.5 was because it had.. deng deng deng... "Creme Brulee"! Moreover, it was listed as its "house specialty".
Dinner was delicious. Service was so-so.. Oh.. I have more rants for this restaurant. let me deviate a bit. After we'd been sat down, lady obviously comes and asks us what we'd like to have for drinks. Since we were in a wine restaurant, we decided to have a glass of wine. So, the conversation pursues as such:
Waitress: So what sort of wine would you be after?
Me: Something not too heavy and easy to drink.
Waitress: Okay, so it would be two glasses for the two of you?
Me: Oh no... Just one because I'm driving.
Waitress: Alright.. *takes away the glasses laid out on the table and goes away*
A few minutes later...
Waitress: *puts a glass on the table and starts talking* So this wine is a rather light one and blablablabla and it's really easy to drink blabalblaa..
SHE BLOODY POURS ME AN ORDER OF WINE!!!!
Me: ?!"?!?!?!?!?!?!O.o WTH WTH WTH!!!! I DIDN'T ORDER ANYTHING *screaming in my mind*...
AND SHE BLOODY EFFING GIVES ME THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINE ON THE BLOODY LIST!!!! WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FAIL! Where in my conversation did I say that I wanted something?! I was merely asking for some recommendations as I clearly had the bloody wine list open in front of me.
Okay.. back to the main topic.. I ordered creme brulee.. Duh.. Cause I went there fore that.. What more.. it couldn't be that bad right.. It's the damn house specialty!
Okay.. I was.. wrong..
Firstly, the custard.. was .. soft.. and runny.. and a little too lumpy for my liking.. It wasn't custardy enough. But this is debatable as I cannot determine what exactly the texture of creme brulee ought to be.
Secondly.. the sugar layer? It wasn't a , and I quote, "a brittle form". It was bloody rock hard.. Like.. like.. toffee. THe kind that my dad bought from some European country that you had to use a provided mini axe to crack!!!!! No wonder the lady at the next table was whacking at it SO HARd!!! My bad for thinking that she was crazy to be cracking everything so hard etc etc and that she was tipsy! Bleh.. AND THE SUGAR LAYER WAS BURNT. I could clearly taste the burnt sugar. The sugar layer was TOO thick.. Thickness may not be of a problem. But it was so freaking hard I could've cracked my tooth or something(warning.. this may be an exaggeration). Still.. It was HARD. Mainly because it was a tad overdone and the layer of sugar was too thick
strike ONE!
Moving on..
Umbria in Chancery.
THis one.. EVEN better..
They advertised "Creme brulee" on their menu...
I got a fricken "Creme CARAMEL".
Need. I. Say. More?
Even if it WERE creme brulee.. Why... I ask you.. WHY.. would you turn the nice sugar-y CRISP top to be at the bottom... Isn't the whole point and part of the joy to CRACk through that uber delish layer at the top to reach the oh-so-yummy custard at the bottom?????
Not wanting to make a fuss while I didn't really have much knowledge as I usually like to be sure of what I argue about, I decided to come home and do my research. Ergo, this lengthy ranting post about creme brulee.
So... NOW, I want to print out a copy of creme brulee and creme caramel info from answers.com, put it in an envelope and write to Umbria telling them to RE-NAME their dessert. Let me think how first. Maybe be nicer. Just complain to consumer rights.
Shucks.. I forgot to take a pic of the creme 'brulee' I had yesterday as proof! Whatever. Yean can be my witness..
Although, credit has to be given to Umbria as the creme 'brulee' a.k.a creme caramel in disguise does deserve some accolade because it was quite yummy.
Nuff said.. for now.
Most creme brulees I've had were rather custardy and smooth in texture which kind of held together. That's the way I like it. Maybe that's not the way it's meant to be (any comments anybody who knows abt creme brulee?). Heck, I'm just going with what I've tasted so far. So, to me. Creme brulee is meant to have a nice smooth texture like custard.. but more creamy than custard. Again, I could be wrong on this.
Doing a quick google search as well as on answers.com, I can't help but feel cheated. Considering that I pay on average NZ$12-13 for one serving of this delicacy, I expect a reasonable amount of standard! Let me first give you some background on this dessert which has me hooked.
Here is a definition from recipetips.com:
"Creme Brulee
A chilled dessert custard that is rich in flavor and creamy in texture. The dessert is removed from the refrigerator and topped with sugar that is then heated under a broiler or with a small flame cooking torch to affect only the surface. The sugar caramelizes and hardens into a brittle form on the top of the custard, making a rich and flavorful coating with an appealing appearance over the creamy texture of the custard. "
And this is from Answers.com:
"Crème brûlée (French for "burnt cream"; IPA: [ˌkɹɛm bɹuː ˈleɪ] in English, [kʁɛm bʁy le] in French) is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar under a grill or other intense heat source. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins."
and just as a reference,
(also from answers.com)
"Crème caramel, flan (U.S.), or caramel custard (U.K.) is a kind of rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top.
Crème caramel is a variant of plain custard (crème) where some caramel syrup is poured into the mold before adding the custard base. After the custard has set, it can be turned out, leaving a caramel sauce on top."
I believe that should be enough of background info for now.
Well, let me begin my rant then.
First, a week ago, my bf and I went to Number 5 to have our 6th month anniversary dinner together. Yep.. One of the main reasons why I chose to go to no.5 was because it had.. deng deng deng... "Creme Brulee"! Moreover, it was listed as its "house specialty".
Dinner was delicious. Service was so-so.. Oh.. I have more rants for this restaurant. let me deviate a bit. After we'd been sat down, lady obviously comes and asks us what we'd like to have for drinks. Since we were in a wine restaurant, we decided to have a glass of wine. So, the conversation pursues as such:
Waitress: So what sort of wine would you be after?
Me: Something not too heavy and easy to drink.
Waitress: Okay, so it would be two glasses for the two of you?
Me: Oh no... Just one because I'm driving.
Waitress: Alright.. *takes away the glasses laid out on the table and goes away*
A few minutes later...
Waitress: *puts a glass on the table and starts talking* So this wine is a rather light one and blablablabla and it's really easy to drink blabalblaa..
SHE BLOODY POURS ME AN ORDER OF WINE!!!!
Me: ?!"?!?!?!?!?!?!O.o WTH WTH WTH!!!! I DIDN'T ORDER ANYTHING *screaming in my mind*...
AND SHE BLOODY EFFING GIVES ME THE MOST EXPENSIVE WINE ON THE BLOODY LIST!!!! WTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
FAIL! Where in my conversation did I say that I wanted something?! I was merely asking for some recommendations as I clearly had the bloody wine list open in front of me.
Okay.. back to the main topic.. I ordered creme brulee.. Duh.. Cause I went there fore that.. What more.. it couldn't be that bad right.. It's the damn house specialty!
Okay.. I was.. wrong..
Firstly, the custard.. was .. soft.. and runny.. and a little too lumpy for my liking.. It wasn't custardy enough. But this is debatable as I cannot determine what exactly the texture of creme brulee ought to be.
Secondly.. the sugar layer? It wasn't a , and I quote, "a brittle form". It was bloody rock hard.. Like.. like.. toffee. THe kind that my dad bought from some European country that you had to use a provided mini axe to crack!!!!! No wonder the lady at the next table was whacking at it SO HARd!!! My bad for thinking that she was crazy to be cracking everything so hard etc etc and that she was tipsy! Bleh.. AND THE SUGAR LAYER WAS BURNT. I could clearly taste the burnt sugar. The sugar layer was TOO thick.. Thickness may not be of a problem. But it was so freaking hard I could've cracked my tooth or something(warning.. this may be an exaggeration). Still.. It was HARD. Mainly because it was a tad overdone and the layer of sugar was too thick
strike ONE!
Moving on..
Umbria in Chancery.
THis one.. EVEN better..
They advertised "Creme brulee" on their menu...
I got a fricken "Creme CARAMEL".
Need. I. Say. More?
Even if it WERE creme brulee.. Why... I ask you.. WHY.. would you turn the nice sugar-y CRISP top to be at the bottom... Isn't the whole point and part of the joy to CRACk through that uber delish layer at the top to reach the oh-so-yummy custard at the bottom?????
Not wanting to make a fuss while I didn't really have much knowledge as I usually like to be sure of what I argue about, I decided to come home and do my research. Ergo, this lengthy ranting post about creme brulee.
So... NOW, I want to print out a copy of creme brulee and creme caramel info from answers.com, put it in an envelope and write to Umbria telling them to RE-NAME their dessert. Let me think how first. Maybe be nicer. Just complain to consumer rights.
Shucks.. I forgot to take a pic of the creme 'brulee' I had yesterday as proof! Whatever. Yean can be my witness..
Although, credit has to be given to Umbria as the creme 'brulee' a.k.a creme caramel in disguise does deserve some accolade because it was quite yummy.
Nuff said.. for now.
Comments