My first post of 2012 and it’s #400! Wowee! It’s only right that such a milestone is about my meal with my PIC and Mr. R. The traveled far and though I wasn’t their final destination, it was nice to serve as a resting place. Since Mr. R is a fan of French (but not expensive French) I figured Chez Lucienne in my ‘hood would be a great place to dine. It’s been open for a couple of years, but I’ve never managed to make it there. The décor is uninteresting, aside from the semi open kitchen. I always like taking a peek at what’s going on back there. We started with a few appetizers. PIC ordered the Saucisson en croute.
A roasted pork sausage wrapped in a pastry shell, served with lentil salad. Leave it to him to order something I can’t eat. He enjoyed it and tied to stop himself from finishing it so he could save room for his entrée. Mr. R and I shared two appetizers. The Escargots De Bourgogne Paysanne arrived first.
Lovely little snails cooked in garlic and butter with a mix of spinach and tomatoes served on a toasted baguette. It was heavenly!! The flavors were incredibly rich and the addition of spinach added a nice weight to each bite. We also ordered the Mussels Hot Hot Hot.
They were fantastic! It reminded me of my trip to The Mussel Pot. Now I can get delicious spicy mussels without leaving my neighborhood! The appetizers were definitely a win. Unfortunately, the rest of the meal was less so. Mr. R ordered the Bavette a l'echalotte.
It didn’t quite live up to his expectations. He described the Grilled herb marinated skirt steak as pedestrian at best. He wasn’t the only one left disappointed. PIC ordered Coq Au Vin.
PIC was very disappointed. He noted that it was not very good and leaves a lot to be desired. The only thing that he though acceptable were the pearled onions. After tasting it, I must say I agree with him. Since Thursdays are Fish Night, I ordered the Truite Arc-en-ciel.
The Seared Butterfly Rainbow Trout was served with a salad. The beauty of fish night is you get to pick which sauce you want them to serve your fish with. I chose Provencale. What was supposed to be a blend of tomato, basil and olive ended up tasting like tomato paste. I used just a little bit before I gave up on using the sauce. The fish tasted good, but nothing special about it. Perhaps it would be better with a different sauce.
I will certainly return to Chez Lucienne, but will probably stick to the appetizers and mussels. The entrees were lacking. By no means were our entrées bad, the appetizers just overshadowed them. Perhaps it’s because we ordered as the kitchen was getting ready to close, but I suspect they just do a better job with some dishes than others. I look forward to returning on fish night for $12.95 mussels!
Hungry yet?
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