La Crêpe Michel

The French eat a lot of butter and consume a lot of wine, but they are thinner than us Americans because they tend to set up and eat. Meaning they take their time and enjoy their food so they're not eating at a fast rate. I normally don't go out too often for French food, but whenever I do get a chance to eat it, it's normally pretty good. La Crêpe Michel (LCM) has been in Albuquerque for a few years, but I had never been. Part of it is due to location, Old Town, which I don't frequent and I don't think to go. Recently a friend of mine was celebrating her birthday and a her friend suggest that we go. This establishment is truly a hidden treasure. This restaurant is tucked away off of the plaza and you cannot see it from the road. I've read some of the reviews of this place and I agree, do not go here if you are in a hurry like we Americans normally are. Again, the setting up and eating thing. When you first arrive this place you see only about four tables and you think were am I eating, but the place has more tables through the waiter station/hallway. Old town tends to be quaint and this place fits into Old Town. When my fairly large party of eight arrives I was pretty concerned when I only saw the front dining room. It only had capacity for about twelve people and about four tables. We were seated in the back dining room through the waiter station/hallway. We are seated in a fairly nice table, but this is an old structure that was probably a house that became a restaurant so the layout is odd. I quickly notice that there is no background noise, but there were some small speakers that are close to the ceiling on a shelf, but are not on or making sound. I mention to my party that this is odd and we'll have to entertain ourselves or be pleasant company to each other. Others notice the silence later on in the meal.

The presentation of the food was great; each dish we ordered could have been in a food magazine. We ordered a variety of food for our courses and all the dishes I tried were great. We began our meal with two appetizers: the Brie en Croute Brie and escargots. The Brie en Croute Brie is brie wrapped in puff pastry and baked. It's served with a salad underneath. The escargots was half a dozen snails in a garlic-butter sauce and mushrooms. I had never eaten snails before and the person who ordered them was kind enough to share. The texture of the snails reminded me of chicken hearts. The snails were prepared in garlic and butter which would make my arm taste awesome, so the seasoning or flavors of snail were not too interesting to me. They were served in a cooking pan similar to the one in the picture to the right. I was surprised that there was a lot of meat on such a small animal. The brie crust was a nice flaky crust and was great on bread. The salad was just a bed of greens under the brie. I don't recall a dressing on the salad, but the salad was OK. The greens were of good quality, but the salad was not anything extraordinary. It was more like a fancy garnish that I did eat.

Some of the party ordered the French onion soup which was great combination of flavors and textures. The cheese was melted onto the soup with a great brown crust. I think the cheese was a Gruyere Cheese. It was a really rich flavor for just being broth, onions, and cheese.

For my main course I ordered the Filet de Boeuf Beef with a rich Roquefort cheese sauce. I think the waiter misspoke when he said it was blue cheese sauce, but the cheese sauce was served on a well prepared fillet minion. I ordered my steak as rare as possible and it was cooked to order. My dish was served with scalloped potatoes and some mixed veggies. The portions were not too large, but again a reason the French tend to be thinner than us Americans.

For desert we had Les Crème Brûlée and a chocolate dessert which I cannot remember. This was a really nice meal. I would give LCM a rating of three and a half stars out of five.

http://lacrepemichel.com/