Cafe Michel - Ze Bistro

Late May brought with it a very special time for my girlfriend -college graduation. A brief back story for context, my girlfriend and I attended two different schools in the same small town of Lexington, Virginia, but I was a year ahead of her. So I returned to the town of my Alma Mater to witness her own graduation...and to work in a blog post har har. Lexington is a very small place pretty far removed from any larger cities or even towns, so the dining options aren't exactly myriad. There are a few restaurants regarded as fine places to dine in the area, and they like to fancy themselves fine dining establishments. Of this handful, the only one I hadn't been to was Cafe Michel, a restaurant serving up mostly traditional French bistro fair. Based on my experiences at the other restaurants, I can't say I got my hopes up for this particular venture, despite French food possessing all of my favorite ingredients in abundance - butter, cream, meat, mushrooms...it's just that...well, it's Lexington. My girlfriend and her family decided on this restaurant for the big graduation dinner though, so here it goes.

Bread was waiting for us on the table, accompanied by butter and an herbed olive oil mix. Pleasant overall, but the white bread and its simple companions seemed a little basic for a restaurant in this price range.

To begin, My girlfriend's parents both decided to indulge in the lobster bisque. It looked pretty good and they said that it was a very tasty example of the ever popular soup. They were also happy that it actually contained great chunks of lobster, something missing from far too many bisques. Bravo

My girlfriend's older sister started with coconut shrimp. Coconut encrusted and paired with a ginger dipping sauce, these little guys turned out pretty well, with a crisp exterior and creamy - not mushy interior, a far cry from the all too common soggy deep fried seafood

The girl of the hour began with a ceasar salad topped with fried oysters. While the salad wasn't particularly thrilling, the fried oysters on top were absolutely delicious, possessing great flavor and pleasing texture.

I started with escargot. The little snails were bathed in a sauce of butter, herbs, garlic and mushrooms...need I say more? Well, I will. It was very tasty, as the flavor combination basically has to be (if you don't like butter, garlic and herbs, I think there's a good chance you don't have a soul) and it was my girlfriend's first experience with snails, but she has now been converted to the ways of the escargot.

Her little sister just stuck with the plain ceasar salad for the night, but it was a bit dry, lacking in dressing. When she asked for more, she was given additional dressing but then regretted that decision because the dressing was an incredibly thick, odd tasting concoction...not good.

For a main course, her parents both ordered the backfin crab cake with remoulade sauce. Mostly crab and not filler, these ckes turned out quite well and my girlfriend's parents were very pleased.

The elder sister ordered the duck, which was a pan fried boneless breast drizzled in a raspberry sauce. Cooked medium rare, the duck was pretty good and the sauce wasn't bad either, if almost too sweet. As an aside, I just don't think restaurants serve duck in its glorious savory nature enough, it's always being doused with fruity sauces...I want heartier preparations!!!

My girlfriend ordered the filet mignon, which was supposed to come with a burgundy mushroom sauce, but instead was presented au naturale. While a good steak can stand on its own, a great sauce always helps a steak in my opinion, and this cut could've used the sauce. She seemed to enjoy the meat, but my taste was not particularly great at all...lacking in flavor, somewhat dry, and tough for a filet.

I ordered the veal, pan-fried and smothered in a rich button mushroom gravy. Tasty for sure, but hardly worth the cost. Too often these dishes lack refinement and finesse to make them the truly delicious dishes they can be, and this is one such example...just a generic mushroom sauce over the veal in the end. This dish, and all of the other plat principals came with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley of carrots and lemon grass. Decent examples of their kind, but nothing more.

For desert, Creme Brulee made it's way to the table in short order, as everyone except for my girlfriend and myself ordered it. I didn't taste it, but everyone seemed very happy with it.

My girlfriend and I decided to grab the chocolate volcano cake...let's just say it was very disappointing...bland flavor, and no molten interior...meh.

We split a bottle of wine for the evening, and I'm no oenophile, so I won't pretend to know every last nuance of our bottle, but suffice it to say that it went well with the meal and everyone enjoyed the taste it provided. What more can you really ask for in a wine?

Service was a little slow, but it was an incredibly busy night...our waiter actually looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment, but otherwise we never felt ignored or anything. Ambiance was OK, but nothing special, just a pink room with white tablecloth adorned tables and a couple of paintings of the French countryside hanging from the walls. Overall, a very middling experience, for me anyway. It seems that some items on the menu are much better than others, so you have to be careful of what you order and be prepared for disappointment...but that just makes the good dishes even more of a pleasant surprise then I suppose.