Customers dine at Le P'tit Paris in Coconut Grove. Photo: Alex Kolyer.
Related Links
The big review: Le P'tit Paris **
By Victoria Pesce Elliott
At the corner of Main Highway and Commodore Plaza in Coconut Grove, one could throw a crouton in any direction and have it land in a hot bowl of onion soup au gratin.
At Le P'tit Paris, the most authentic and reliable experience at Le P'tit Paris, so far, is breakfast, when you will find patrons clamoring for the fresh, crusty, super-buttery croissants with a lovely café au lait.
Lunch and dinner are iffier. Afternoon servers are kind but clueless and dishes are uneven. A thin slab of tuna suffers from an overly creamy green peppercorn sauce that has already formed a thick skin by the time it hits the table. Individual quiches are cheesy and rich but a bit flabby.
Tiny black mussels are as petite as I like, fresh and plump but soaked in a salty, bouillon-cube-like broth. Bread is slightly stale and sodden salads are composed of weepy bagged lettuce weighed down by heavy dressing and sorry cucumber rounds. Pastas are rich if overcooked, and crepes are thick and leaden baked deals with too much greasy cheese and heavy filling. We had an especially bad experience one night when the kitchen was clearly in crisis. Tiny, black and crumbling crab cakes tasted of propane, as if they had been scorched by an amateur grill jockey. In fact, nearly everything that evening was dramatically over- or undercooked.
The seafood we tried, including snappy grilled shrimp, was fresh enough and tasty but uninspired. Steaks are a better option, including a big, meaty filet nicely marbled and gently scorched but still juicy and red in the center. Thick, golden, perfectly crisp pommes frites promised to save the evening if only a surly waiter hadn't ignored and argued with us by turns. Waits for entrees extended to half an hour or more -- a trial that might have been eased by a refilled glass or at least an acknowledgement that the kitchen was having difficulty.
And it was. A visit to an unkempt, oddly out-of-the-way bathroom gave us a view of a true hell's kitchen, engulfed in smoke, where sweating staffers screamed at each other. Even our petite hostess could be seen elbow-deep in soapy water, trying to help out.
A glass of wine from a cheap, French-dominated list is a simple pleasure not easily spoiled. Rosé, cote du rhone and rugged Bordeaux are worth sipping for the price. Lunch specials offer drinkable house wines for as little as $3 a glass that, along with a simple sandwich such as a sweet and eggy croque monsieur, can ease a crazy day. Follow it with a straightforward chocolate tart and life is good.
On a bad night, though, this sliver of Paris is about as enjoyable as being stuck in a Eurotunnel traffic jam in a Renault.
Le P'tit Paris, 3464 Main Hwy., Coconut Grove; 305-445-7331. 7:30 a.m.-1 a.m. daily. Appetizers and salads $7-$15, sandwiches and pastas $7-$10, entrees $13-$22, desserts $7-$9
FYI: Reservations accepted but walk-ins welcome. Wine and beer only; corkage $10. Metered street parking; valet $5. AX, DN, MC, VS.
Published: 11/08
Eaten here? Leave a review!
| Average rating based on 3 reviews. |
|
- Current 86 °F
- It's an indoor fun day
- Head to Bird Bowl
Still hungry?
-
Read reviews, catch up on cheap eats and plan your next meal in Restaurants.
Related Guides
- Talkin' Turkey: Thanksgiving Day Guide
- Oceanaire Seafood Room
- Eat here: Myung Ga Tofu & B.B.Q.
- Dine-o-mite: tips for Miami Spice Month
- Chowing for charity: Taste of the Nation
- What We Wish We Had (and the alternatives)
- Father's Day Food
- The Big Review: Por Fin ***1/2
- Eat here: Buena Vista Bistro
- Cuban delights
I received the same argumentative and unapologetic service as the Herald.
My wife and I saw this place a few weeks ago when we went to have brunch at GreenStreet (our usual brunch spot). It looked interesting, so we decided to have our next brunch there, which happened to be this past Sunday.
The hostess and one of the waiters told us to sit wherever we would like. We wanted a table on the Commodore Plaza side, so we stood near one that was being cleared by one of the waiters.
To our surprise, the guy turned around and started yelling at us that we had to wait and to stay away from the table because it was being cleaned. We found it quite odd and shocking. We had made no attempt to either sit or even hurry them, we had simply stood near it. I guess that should have tipped us off right there.
Full review...Posted by: EliasG on Mon, 2008-12-01 14:58