Cosmo and I were very disappointed in this restaurant. It is owned by the same couple who ran Cafe Delice on the far East side and which recently closed. Nicole, the wife, does all the pastries.
The space is inviting and large and roomy and the windows look out onto the courtyard of Plaza Palomino which is very attractive. They are open for breakfast and lunch and on Fridays and Saturdays they also serve dinner.
I ordered a croque monsieur which is ham and cheese and bechamel sauce on bread. This was served with a small green salad with a tart creamy dressing. The sandwich was very very dry. The bread, though fresh, was way too thick for the skimpy insides plus the ham tasted and looked more like a pressed ham loaf. I could not taste the bechamel sauce at all. When i asked for mayo to add some moisture, i was told by the waitress (who was efficient but hovered speechlessly by the side of our table for endless minutes one too many times) that they have NO mayo!!
So she brought dijon mustard but it still needed some wetness. I think the fact that the bread was toasted added to the dryness. I then got a side of the salad dressing and lathered that on the sandwich. and that made it fairly pleasantly edible.
Cosmo got a Monte Cristo which was also lacking in filling quantity, breading, classic shape and the accompaniment of what was advertised as being strawberry preserves.
We shared an apricot galette which was the best of our lunch repast. However, even this wasn't outstanding and the pastry could have been flakier and more luxuriously buttery. Isn't this the hallmark of French pastry?
Oh, and one last thing. the owners wanted all the black padded chairs to be on one side of the room and the dark green ones to be on the other. These are metal tipped chairs on a tile floor and this task was done with much interruption and clangor for about 15 minutes straight including the changing of the chairs at the table we were sitting at. This was very disruptive.
I won't be back.
My understanding of a Croque Monsieur is that it is a good ham, cheese and sometimes a fruit, sandwich pressed into a special grill pan with a shell imprint, grilled over a gas flame with LOTS of butter..... The Monte Cristo sandwich , at the very best, was a faux Cristo...dry and tasteless...too bad, the restaurant is very inviting..they won't see me again ! My money's on Maggie - she'll find the best for us .....
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