Lenôtre Paris

This evening, I dined at Lenôtre Paris in Villaggio Mall with Tante Rosi and Nabila. As I expected from a French restaurant, the place is very luxurious and high-class-like. Black dominated the color of the dining place, nonetheless the lack of lighting emphasizes the rich atmosphere. Chairs and couches were available for those who have specific preference. The restaurant is very big, it even has its' own dessert display on the left side of the dining area. Good Lord, those petite cream puffs and cakes looked very beautiful and mouth-watering, and they were not-surprisingly expensive. 

Most of the waiter and waitresses are from the Philippines. They were very nice and polite when they served us, yet there were some who were not fluent in English, making in difficult for us to place our orders. 

Lenôtre Paris in Villaggio

Le dining area

Wide selection of sweet treats

I was going to order myself a glass of either Cafe Latte or Cappuccino, but I changed my mind and had a glass of sour Lemon Mint instead. Nabila had the same thirst-quenching beverage as me, while Tante Rosi had a bottle of mineral water. The Lemon Mint was super sour in a good way and it made me feel good about consuming it, because all of the fat that I ate will be washed away with a gulp or two.

A glass of refreshingly sour Lemon Mint

A bottle of Evian

The dishes were surprisingly served super fast! We only have to wait for around 10 minutes after we placed our orders for the food to be served on our table. The waiter gave us a complementary bakery basket set, consisted of 6 kinds of dinner rolls. The bakery basket was served with three different side toppings, which were Smoked Cheese, Fresh Tomato Sauce, and Garlic Butter. I love the butter the most, followed by the tomato, then the cheese. Combine those three all together in one toast and you will get a combination of unique flavor, just like how Remy from Disney's Ratatouille describe.

Complimentary bakery basket set

Clock-wise: Fresh Tomato Sauce, Smoked Cheese, Garlic Butter

The Onion Rings tasted unexpected in a good way! I'm not a person who is fond of onion rings, but it turned out that the deep-fried rings were delicious. Instead of the usual frying-a-layer-of-onion-in-savory-batter, the chef grind the onion beforehand and mix it with other ingredients, shaped them similar to ear hoops, dipped them into a bowl of savory batter, and fried until golden brown in color. Those onion rings were crispy and savory, and it didn't taste like onion, nor reek like one at all.

Onion Rings

Tante Rosi had a plate of Sauteed Vegetables. Consisted of broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and snow peas, those greens had a balance flavor according to her. "The amount of salt that the chef used was perfect," she said, followed by, "Oh my, the snow peas are deliciously sweet!". 

Sauteed Vegetables

Nabila had a bowl of Baked Macaroni Chicken and Mushroom, while I had a set of Philadelphia Steak. We share our meal together, so technically I had both dishes for dinner. 

Nabila's Baked Macaroni Chicken and Mushroom was very delicious and creamy! Served sizzling hot, best eaten when it's still warm. The macaroni were nicely boiled, not too mushy, nor too stiff. Topped with cream sauce and melted cheese, the flavor is just amazing! Hating the mushroom, like always, thank God the flavor didn't blend with the entire dish.

Baked Macaroni Chicken & Mushroom

My Philadelphia Steak, on the other hand, was not as fantastic as I thought it would be. In the menu was written, "Sesame bread, beef filet, onion, capsicum, mushrooms, mayonnaise, mozzarella cheese, salad, spiral potato". I was hoping for a couple of stiff European bread sandwiching a generous amount of shredded beef bathe in sweet sauce decorated with melted cheese. Instead, I got a warm puffy buns with less than a handful of sliced beef, a couple layers of cheese, and mixed sauce which flavors I could not distinguish. Don't get me wrong, the sandwich was tasty, but it was not as jaw-dropping and lip-smacking as I thought it would be.

Philadelphia Steak

Not as fantastic as I thought it would be

It was a great experience to dine at Lenôtre Paris. The food were great, the service was good, the ambience of the dining place was nice. All in all, I had a nice time at the French restaurant and is looking forward to pay another visit when I get the chance. 

P.S. make sure you bring an awful-lot of Riyals when you dine at this restaurant. Do you know how much does a box of Macaroons, with 20 pieces each, costs? 160 Riyals!

Lenôtre Paris
Villaggio Mall, High End Section

Phone: (+974) 4450 7255

Opening Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 8 AM - 11 PM

Shake Shack

A chain of Shake Shack, a fast food restaurant in which originated from the USA, has recently going on business at Doha, Qatar. It is located at Villaggio Mall, only 15-minutes away from my Dad's place if we were to go there by car. I was visiting Villaggio one day, with no awareness of the existence of the restaurant, and there was a banner with cute drawing of green burger on it and the words, "NOW OPEN!". My Dad's friend and his kids were very interested about this Shake Shack, so was I, hence we decided to pay this burger joint a visit. 

Locating the restaurant was a bit of a challenge because we were not that familiar with the mall. After half an hour wandering around like a pack of lost sheep, we finally arrived at Shake Shack. We were welcomed by a long queue of Qatari lining up to place their orders. On my left was the restaurant's wall, decorated with blackboard with writings of the dishes available in the fast-food corner. It took me a while to choose my dish, all of them looked delicious. In the end, I went for the Shack Burger and Strawberry Banana Triffle. 

Menu board

The open kitchen at Shake Shack

High-tech gadget of Shake Shack

I had a hard time in choosing what to have for lunch

After you place your order in Shake Shack, the lady from the cashier will hand you a thin square gadget to inform you wether or not your food are ready to be taken. This is how it works: When our food is ready, one of the staff will push a wire-less button that will light up the gizmo to signal us that we can approach the counter to get our food. The high-tech stuff will be like a Christmas tree, as in having red lights blinking all over the place. 

"When I'm shakin' come on up to the shack!"

About half an hour after we ordered some burgers and trifle, the gizmo lit up. Oom Katili, went to the counter to grab our tray of lunch. I was mesmerized by the sight of the dishes of course!

Ain't they look gorgeous and appetizing? 

Wrapped in a transparent paper, the burgers were big and chubby. They were stuffed with meat and veggie until they looked like they were about to explode. Overall color of the burger was excellent - brown burger buns, fresh-looking bright-colored lettuce and tomato, dark yellow melted cheddar, dark brown meat patties with black spots at random places due to the effect of being in a griller. How can one not drool at such sight?

In my opinion, having greens in a burger will destroy the deliciousness of the meat patty and the buns, so I took the liberty to eat them first. After the lettuce and the tomato were out of sight, then I proceed in penetrating my canine teeth into the fluffy bun and savory meat. Then, suddenly.. AN EXPLOSION OF FLAVORS IN MY MOUTH!

The grilled meat and the melted cheese were very juicy! The juice drips from the patty and soaked itself into the buns, in which made them tasted superb. The buns were soggy from the juice, resulting a more soft and fluffy texture. That is what I called a great burger!

On the other hand, my Strawberry Banana Trifle were soft pink in color, with hints of dark yellow objects in it. Made out of crushed Vanilla custard, Strawberry pure, fresh banana, and shortbread cookie, the Strawberry Banana Trifle was fantastic - mildly sweet, dominated by the flavor of the banana, soft and creamy, cold and chilly. If only they add a bit more of those shortbread cookie, I would definitely settle down for another round.

Strawberry Banana Trifle

Cheese Burger and Double Shack Burger

Cheese Burger, minus the veggie

My Double Shack Burger

What kind of a daughter I am for not bringing some of those epic burgers for my Mom and Dad? I ordered a couple of Double Cheese Burgers, minus the veggies, for Mom and Dad's dinner. Each burger costed 35 Qatari Riyal, but I don't care because they define the word "Epic". The take-outs were placed in a brown recyclable paper bag, with adorable drawings of fast food. Again, the burgers were wrapped in transparent eco-friendly papers. I brought them home and my parents love it. I will definitely visit Shake Shack again the next time I go to Villaggio Mall!

Take-outs for Mom and Dad

Eco-friendly take-out bag

Two Double Cheese Burgers for Mom and Dad

Shake Shack
Villaggio Mall
Gate 4, Aspire Zone
Al Waab Street, Doha - Qatar

Phone: (+974) 44135395

Opening Hours:
Saturday - Thursday: 12 PM - Midnight
Friday: 1 PM - Midnight