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(Login ArthurHebert) from IP address 70.179.248.217
OUT AND ABOUT
Asia
L’Auberge du Lac
777 Avenue L’Auberge
Lake Charles
Monday - Friday 4:00 PM - 2:00 AM $2 - $60
Saturday - Sunday 12:00 PM - 2 AM
While smaller than the other venues on site it is the brightest. You can actually see what you are eating. It of course possesses an Asian feel from the bamboo canes of various heights on one wall to the rectangular wood forms and shelves elsewhere. They have no booths but several bars and counters where you pull up bent wood chars with light yellow green seats for a meal. The tables consist of wood also.
During my two visits with my sister and friends we went through every appetizer except one. The Spring Rolls consisted of lettuce, rice vermicelli, boiled shrimp and herbs in rice paper wrappers. Served uncooked with a spicy peanut dipping sauce. As good as any I’ve ever eaten, light, crunchy and tasty. The Vietnamese Egg Rolls were tiny, fried, and crisp and contained mainly meat. My niece makes much better ones. They come with lettuce leaves and nuoc cham. You wrap the roll in the lettuce and dip in the sauce. Grilled shrimp on Skewer were a light variation of satay. A slightly sweet and spicy sauce glazed them with chopped peanuts on top. Duck sauce and pickled ginger accompanied them, excellent flavor. Fried Dumplings (Pot Stickers) consisted of dough pockets with that finely ground meat filling. Pan seared then steamed. Its dipping sauce was just soy. I’ve had better.
We partook of two of the soups. My sister ordered Roasted Duck Noodle Soup. She received a huge bowl of excellent broth with greens, rice vermicelli and half a bone-in roasted duck chopped into pieces. Somewhat difficult to eat but worth the effort. I went with Fish Maw and Seafood. A smaller bowl of a slightly gelatinous and bland broth with what I assume to be fish cheeks and scallops. I like textures like this but I added a bit of Sriracha sauce to perk it up.
My royal friend ordered Duck and Pineapple for her entree. The description made it sound as if you were going to get duck breast. However bone-in chopped roasted duck stir-fried with pineapple chunks in a sweet and savory brown sauce appeared. She liked the flavor but not dealing with the duck. My bite proved very tasty indeed. My enthusiastic friend and I both got Grilled Honey Braised Shrimp. This dish has all the components of a dish, Bun, which I love. However you tackle it differently. Sweet tender medium shrimp lay on a bed of rice vermicelli. Pineapple, carrot, cucumber, cilantro, mint, and mung bean sprouts lay on lettuce leaves. To eat it, take a lettuce leaf and make a bed of noodles topped with the shrimp. Then you add whatever vegetables and/or fruit you want. Roll it up and dip in the nuoc cham. Eat with gusto like I did. Nuoc cham consists of fish sauce, water, lime juice, sugar, shredded carrot and red pepper flakes. This one is extremely mild. All these flavors worked for me and I enjoyed it.
I liked both the food and atmosphere here. Some severs spoke very little English but I muddled through. Most of the clientele seem to be Asian. What I did not like was that their menu contained more Chinese than Vietnamese cuisine and virtually none of my favorite home-style dishes. The prices seemed high also. The $60 items were such things as Bird Nest and Shark Fin soup plus some Lobster and Abalone dishes. Well I guess I will have explore new tastes and try some of the more interesting dishes.
