Catching Up Over Dinner at Les Fils A Maman

Taking a break from the posts about the protests, I went to dinner with some friends at Les Fils A Maman last week.  Located at 75 Hollywood Road, the restaurant is actually deviously hard to find because the storefront is not on the street.  Instead, you have to look for the little sign, then know to walk down the rather dark alleyway.

Dark and gloomy

Shockingly, the small alleyway opens up to a huge space - a public park!  and the restaurant, adorably outfitted and lit up warmly from within.

We ordered an assortment of starters.  The cheese croquettes were probably my favorite, although

this camembert with herbs and chopped garlic was divine...

Garlic stir fried shrimp (this was only so so ):

Fries!  Yum.

 It was a rather meat heavy meal...beef bourguignon, lamb patties, pork cheeks and steak figure prominently on the menu. I was surprised there was no chicken - I had expected the famous home cooked chicken which I had read about when Les Fils A Maman first opened.

My friend and I thought that the entrees were okay, but perhaps not as exciting or as unique as we had expected.  It's not really meant to be fine dining though - it's meant to be what your mom (if she were French) would cook.  Although I would like to be politically correct and emphasize that if your dad were French he would cook this stuff too, thankyouverymuch.

And finally, dessert: mango mascarpone, creme brulee, and french toast with ice cream.  I tend to think creme brulee is not all that special.  The same goes for this one - though it was very light and creamy.  The french toast paired with ice cream was really really good, probably my favorite.  The mascarpone and mango tasted more like mango and whipped cream, so I would say that one is a skip.

When the bill comes, they bring you a huge jar of beautiful and colorful candies: