Food review: La Vache! in Central

La Vache!
48 Peel Street, Central
Tel: 2880 0248
Open: 6pm to late
Cuisine: French
Price: HK$258 (steak, salad and fries)

casual, noisy and friendly.The room, which has a large bar at the centre, is decorated with colourful cartoon murals of Paris landmarks and streetscapes. Tables are set with red and white checked tablecloths and packed quite close together.

if you're going to serve only one main course, you had better make sure it is good, and it is.

you'll go hungry if you're vegetarian.

the HK$258 price gets you salad, steak and all-you-can-eat fries. The salad was flecked with chopped herbs, such as tarragon, chives and chervil. The medium-rare steak was tender and succulent. Some of the steak was served on the plate while the rest was kept warm on a metal plate set over a tea candle, which continued to cook the meat slightly. The béarnaise sauce the steak came in was so good that I drenched the fries in it - it's much better than ketchup. Our waitress came around frequently to refill customers' plates with hot fries. The dessert cart had all the French classics you'd expect, such as mille-feuille, Paris Brest, and (our choice) a tarte tatin packed with soft, large chunks of deeply caramelised apples.