Cafe de l’Orangerie is a nice little Japanese style cafe restaurant, located in the Marpole area, with a French twist.  The owner and chef is Japanese, and has worked several years in France, hence the French flare.  The cafe offers various soups, sandwiches, desserts, and coffees, as well as several cooked entrees for lunch and dinner.  They also have a few weekly specials on top of their regular menu.

So, since it was dinner time, Kris and I decided to try a couple of their hot entrees.  I ordered the Herbs and Parmesan Cheese Chicken Cutlet ($12.5).  This was pretty yummy.  The chicken was very juicy and flavourful, though I probably would have liked a bit less batter.  But the cutlet was really nice and crispy, without being too greasy.  The herbs and parmesan cheese really gave the chicken a lot of flavour.  The dish also came with a side of Tomato Ratatouille (here’s the French twist!), and a bed of penne pasta.  The ratatouille was very yummy and complemented the crispy chicken very well!  Perfectly seasoned and cooked just like the French.  I also liked how the pasta was slightly crisp from the oven.

Kris ordered one of the weekly specials, the Japanese Style Curry with Hamburger Steak ($10).  The Hamburger Steak was extremely moist and tender, and tasted like homemade meatloaf.  And to complement this was the sweet and savoury Japanese Style Curry sauce.  Yummy!  The dish was served with a generous portion of Japanese white rice and a side of green salad.  Enough to satisfy Kris’ hungry appetite!

Although we were already pretty full from our entrees, we were told that we had to try their dessert!  So, we decided to order the Fondant Chocolate ($4.95).  This was essentially a chocolate lava cake in a little ramekin.  It’s made to order, so make sure you give them 15 minutes to prepare.  The dessert comes out piping hot from the oven, with a nice crispy chocolate cake top dusted with icing sugar.  And when you dig your spoon into the dessert, you are pleasantly surprised with some liquid hot chocolate sauce.  Really yummy!  And although most chocolate lava cakes we’ve had are usually really sweet and filling, this was not the case here.  I only wished the ramekin was bigger!

And to finish it all off, we ordered a large hot Matcha Tea Latte ($4.85).  This was pretty good as well.  The creaminess of the milk complemented the bitterness of the Matcha Green Tea perfectly.

Overall, Kris and I will most likely be back to try some of their other entrees and maybe even some of their soups and sandwiches.  So, if you are craving for some Japanese comfort food with a bit of French twist, Cafe de l’Orangerie is definitely a place for you to try!

Info:
Cafe de l’Orangerie
8636 Granville Street, Vancouver
604-266-0066
Cafe de l’Orangerie Map

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