Emporium Grand Cafe

Hats off to Emporium's interior designer; this place looks fab.

Alas, the menu _ dominated by generic Western fare _ fails to match the impressive setting (except for desserts, which are brilliant).

Croque Monsieur, a turkey ham sandwich, coated with bechamel sauce & topped with gruyere cheese. Not bad (at least it was freshly prepared), but not something we'd order for dinner if there were more enticing options.

Steak sandwich, with a 150-gram sirloin minute steak from Uruguay, served on foccacia with rocket salad and tossed with balsamic dressing & garlic-scented olive oil. We had never tried Uruguayan beef before this. Turned out to be fairly flavorsome, but also tough and chewy.

Wasabi-scented salmon fillet drizzled with sesame miso sauce, served with Japanese rice & Tsukemono pickles. Bland fish, weak sauce. On the positive side, prices here are relatively reasonable (comparable to, say, Alexis).

Thankfully, desserts rescued the meal. We loved the tiramisu, a creamy but fluffy concoction, nicely infused with the flavor of green tea. This has been done elsewhere, but it really worked here. If only it contained booze, it might have been perfect. Accompanied by black pepper strawberry compote.

Dark chocolate tartlet. Its marvelous, bittersweet taste and thick, rich texture would be reason enough to recommend this, but the caramelized marshmallow topping was magnificent, adding a pleasant chewiness that made this seem like the best candy bar ever. Served with vanilla ice cream & berry compote.