Maitre Karl, High St, Willoughby

Maitre Karl, High St, Willoughby

Saturday 5 May, 2007

Maitre Karl is one of my favourite local restaurants and the last time I visited was for dinner. Today's lunch was to catch up with my China buddies and talk about our upcoming (and very exciting) holiday.

As a local offering Maitre Karl hits the mark. It's relaxed with indoor and outdoor dining and as a lovely touch offers bowls of water for dogs out the front. Karl greets every customer with a warm and friendly booming 'hello friends'. He gave us a choice of tables and we opted to sit in the conservatory.

A glass of sparkling to kick off our celebrations and Karl came over to enquire about what we were celebrating. When we shared our holiday plans with him he was full of enthusiasm, which is hard to imagine as he is so enthusiastic anyway.

We started with the house speciality Tarte Flambe originates from Alsace, France. Alsace is a region located at the German border. Tarte Flambée has a thinly rolled yeast free base spread with flavoursome fromage blanc (fresh cheese) and scattered with various ingredients. We selected the Strasbourgeoise - German sausage, onion and sauerkraut.

For mains we each chose one of their salads - I chose the Salade Croisette - Warm roasted pumpkin and beetroot salad with rocket, goat’s cheese, pine nuts and honey-lemon dressing and my China buddies selected the Salade Méditerranéenne - Spiced chicken salad with rocket, artichoke, olive, capsicum and mint yoghurt. They each arrived at the table on an enormous white plate and looked sensational. My salad had large chunks of roasted pumpkin and beetroot, a massive dollop of goats cheese and a honey lemon dressing drizzled over the rocket. It was just perfect for this warm afternoon and I enjoyed every mouthful.

We were enjoying the afternoon sun and ordered coffees to finish off. Maitre Karl is relaxed and perfect for a lazy long lunch (although the wooden chairs aren't that comfortable after a while).

Maitre Karl - 197 High Street, Willoughby - (02) 9958 1110

http://www.maitrekarl.com.au/