La Bro­cante is a small french restau­rant located on Hous­ton ’s west side in the Royal Oaks area. The inside has an early 20^th cen­tury Frech look which is sur­pris­ing since it is located in a small strip mall – which is very com­mon in Hous­ton . The restau­rant is run by well known local chef Chef George Guy and his wife; she serves as both host­ess and head server. The food is pre­sented daily on a chalk­board, with a few off the board dishes.

We were there for lunch on a Fri­day after­noon. Sur­pris­ingly there was only 1 other table occu­pied, which seems a shame since I felt like all this good food was wait­ing for some­body to eat it. We started with the ritelle (a sort of duck con­fit hash) and pâté canard, which was done ia a force-meat style. I am not sure where they source their baguettes, but I would like to know; they are deli­cious. The ritelle was ten­der with nice hints of juniper berries, but think I’d pass on the pâté, which was bland in taste. I ordered the duck con­fit, which is served with thinly sliced pota­toes, rather than the tra­di­tional cas­soulet. The pota­toes are almost like potato chips, very crispy but ten­der and al dente inside. The duck con­fit had a thin layer of cracker meal bread­ing on it which could have been left off. I like my duck con­fit with crispy skin. You know the kind that is salty, crispy, and melts in your mouth.

My com­pan­ions had a duck con­fit and goat cheese salad and the salmon gran­ti­nee. The duck con­fit and goat cheese salad is a salad with an herbed vine­grette and a phyllo dough purse con­tain­ing duck con­fit meat and soft goat cheese. The goat cheese is creamy and slightly sweet, which helps to bal­ance the cured salti­ness of the duck. Pre­sen­ta­tion and taste wise, this is a bet­ter entrée to replace the duck confit.

The salmon grati­nee was the star of the day. It is served cooked with pota­toes, swiss cheese, and freshly house smoked salmon chunks. It is creamy but not too much so. Hints of cumin pro­vided a deli­cious earthy taste which pre­vented the dish from tak­ing off into the French super­cream sky.

The restau­rant will not thrill non-French food eaters, but could very well keep a good croud of those over 30.

La Bro­cante

2825 S Kirk­wood Rd
Hous­ton, TX 77082

(281) 556‑0606