Creamy Lobster Risotto at Sandrine's Bistro

 The first and the last time I was at Sandrine's Bistro  was in 2011 when I tasted rabbit for the first time. Since that exquisite dining experience, I have been meaning to visit again, but because Sandrine's Bistro is not the most affordable restaurant, I have kept away from my promise. Before I leave Cambridge for the summer, though, there was one item on the menu that I really wanted to try. I decided to dine out here on my last Friday night for a while.

My friend ordered the first item on the menu: Magret de Canard a I'Orange Sanguine ($28). In plain English, that means roasted peking duck breast with pea risotto and blood orange reduction. I am not a huge fan of duck because of its natural fattiness, but I read somewhere that duck fat isn't that bad. I tried a little bit of the pea risotto, and it was seasoned quite nicely.

Without any dilemma, I chose the Lobster Risotto ($32) with spinach and cognac lobster sauce. I asked the waiter if it would be possible to skip the cream, cheese, and any other dairy products to accomodate my lactose-intolerance. The waiter came out a few minutes later, telling me that the Lobster Risotto is the only dish that they can't make dairy-free because the lobster is already cooked in cream. Nonetheless, because it was the dish that I had been wanting for a while, I decided to suffer from stomach cramps later and enjoy the dish.

...and I had no regrets! The lobster risotto was so savory, and the cream wasn't overwhelmingly nauseating either (though I still would have preferred it without cream...). The spinach added nice bitterness to the otherwise creamy risotto. The rice was cooked just the right amount to have enough texture without tasting too mushy.

 There were plenty chunks of lobster for my $32 worth of money. I wished the seasoning of the dish had been richer. Perhaps a dash of salt would have done the magic? Sadly there were no salt & pepper on the table.

I ate everything on the plane, even the decorative greens on the top! Inevitably, my stomach was growling at me all night, but the 45-minutes of euphoria in my mouth was totally worth it :)