(no subject)

[charlottezweb]

For our anniversary, we went for lunch at Rue de Jean, one of the more famous french restaurants in town. It was a late lunch, about 2pm, so the place was mostly empty, so we didn't have to wait for a table or worry about anyone overhearing our oh so romantic conversation. The other diners were a mix of tourists, business travelers and another table of locals taking advantage of the between meals lull.

We sat at a booth near the kitchen, which I worried was going to be loud and busy with waiter traffic, but the booth walls were high enough to protect us from restaurant noise. The waiter was quite nice and personable (he warmed up after he asked us where we were from) and brought us a large carafe of water which he replaced several times over the course of the meal. We decided not to order any other beverages, as the meal was going to be expensive enough.

The lunch menu had a nice selection of brasserie food, along with a surprising sushi section. There was no fois gras at lunch, but the appetizers did include steak tartare, french onion soup, escargot, and various cheeses. We ordered the truffled potato soup and escargot, but decided to save the house duck roll for another time. For our main course, we considered the mussels, which could be prepared six different ways, including in cauliflower cream, but decided to order from the rustic sandwich menu. I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich and asked for frites instead of salad, and my partner ordered the steak sandwich which also came with frites.

A basket of crusty bread arrived, just in time, with a little pot of butter, but no bread plates. We ate anyway, since we were starving, waiting for the first course which came not too long after. The truffled potato soup was an extremely thick, creamy soup with dollops of creme fraiche and ribbons of truffle oil floating on top. My partner loved it; I thought it was too thick and rich, more like a cheese sauce than a soup. The escargot were baked with butter and garlic in a metal escargot pan, without a pastry top. They were a little chewy--I've been spoiled by the snails at Cru Cafe--but nicely flavored, and the sauce was perfect for bread sopping.

The servings were large and about half-way through the first course, we realized next time we could order either an appetizer or an entree and be perfectly happy. We forged on, however, and dove into the next course.

My grilled cheese sandwich was composed of swiss and goat cheese mixed with basil and sun-dried tomatoes between two buttered slices of thoroughly toasted bread. Wow. It was sublime--so simple and yet so layered and complex. The swiss provided the meltiness needed in a grilled cheese, while the goat cheese and the sun-dried tomatoes provided the tang that lifted the sandwich from its mundane tomato soup surroundings.

The steak sandwich was also lovely with rare slices of steak, caramelized onions, and a sweet hot mustard, on a fresh soft roll. The steak was cooked as requested and held up well to the tang of the mustard and the sweetness of the onions.

The frites were ok. Not great, a little soggy, and perhaps sitting around the kitchen since the lunch rush. We asked for mayonnaise which was a much better companion than ketchup. Good frites don't need any sauce but these could have used some work. I've heard the frites at La Fourchette are the best in town; we're heading there next.

At this point, we've licked the plates and decided against dessert, even something wafer thin. However, the waiter mentioned creme brulee, my partner's kryptonite, as he's clearing the plates. We order the creme brulee, the pots du creme chocolate, an espresso and a decaf latte.

My partner described the creme brulee as having a weird consistency and an overly thick sugar layer. He ate it but said he's had better. The chocolate pot, on the other hand, was one of the best desserts I've ever had. The waiter described it as a very simple dish, just milk chocolate baked in a ramekin. Simple, yes, no whipped cream, no raspberry sauce, only the thickest, smoothest, most luscious chocolate dish ever. I would go back for that, even if all the other food had been awful.

Eventually, we stumbled out in a food coma and headed home to recover.

Overall, the service was professional and pleasant, while the food was a bit uneven. The good dishes, however, were delicious enough to outweigh the bad.

7.5 out of 10

Comments

[hkbear.livejournal.com]

I remember Rue being good but being aggravated by the totally inappropriate tourist families that were there for a Friday night dinner service.

And the sushi menu is just odd.