Meet in Paris

Fortunately, you don't really have to go to Paris to eat at this wonderful place called "Meet in Paris" at 9727 Culver Blvd. in Culver City, California. The place is not easy to spot as it is small and the sign just says Bistro with a red awning. They have street parking and valet.

We took advantage of the DineLa week and celebrated my husband's birthday last night.  I brought along a bottle of 2000 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Their corkage fee is $20.00. Mussels are their specialty.  Although they were not included in the 3 course special, I was determined to order mussels to see what the fuss was all about. I asked our server, a pretty young actress named Caroline which of the numerous mussels she would recommend and she right away said "Dijonnaise". So, a bowl of Dijonnaise it was. It came with a tin cup of incredible fries. Those fries were the best I have had especially when I soaked them in the dijonnaise sauce.  We finished the fries and there was still  lot of the sauce....not to worry....more french bread was on the way which took care of most of the sauce. Otto, Erik and I could not get over how really wonderful the sauce was.  I almost wanted to ask for a straw to empty the bowl completely!

Otto and I ordered the French Onion Soup for our first course. It was very good, cheesy, loaded with onions and just the right flavor. Erik ordered the escargot which he liked. I tried it and I thought it needed more flavor. The 8 oz. prime flat iron steak w/Bearnaise sauce served w/ pommes frites was excellent. The steak was so tender I thought I was eating filet mignon. I later told the handsome French owner, Sebastian, that with the wonderful mussels and soup, I expected the main course not to be as good, a little pessimism ...but was pleasantly surprised.

Dessert was profiteroles for me, and creme brulee for Otto and Erik. My profiteroles satisfied me. I tried the creme brulee and it was very good but I would have preferred mine to be more burnt; not everyone has my taste....we can't all be perfect! When they brought out Otto's dessert, it looked like the entire staff came over to sing Happy Birthday. I have never heard it sang by what seemed to be a professional choir! They were good!

I cannot wait to go back to try all the different mussels.  Aside from the Dijonnaise, they have Roquefort mussels with garlic, shallots, chives and cream, Country mussels with leeks, bacon, mushrooms, beer and cream, Baja mussels with chipotle, garlic, shallots,tomatillo, cilantro and Tequila. to name a few. They have 16 ways to serve them.

The great news is:  On Tuesdays, they have all you can eat : Moules Frites (Mussels w/fries) for $25.95. Where else can you find a bargain this good?
I suggest you go to their website, http://meetrestaurantla.com/as as they have a lot of specials on different days of the week like "Incroyable" which is an all inclusive for $33.95, Tuesday to Sunday from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm....$45 with a bottle of wine for two; includes appetizer, main course and dessert.

Can't wait to see how much mussels I can consume.  Only one way to find out!