Le Deauville
Review guidelines:
1 Fork = I would rather eat dog food.2 Forks = I would eat there if I was starving.
3 Forks = Not bad; someplace I would occasionally consider eating.
4 Forks = A good place to eat; I will put it into my rotation of places I dine frequently.
5 Forks = One of my all time favorites!
One caveat to note – I am allergic to fish and seafood, so if you are looking for those recommendations, you will have to consult someone else.
Because I have a daughter-in-law with Celiac and a really good friend who is Vegetarian, I will try to point out whether those options are present when I review a restaurant.
May 2, 2016
Le Deauville
199 N Limestone St.Lexington, KY 40507
859-246-0999
The reason I got into the restaurant review hobby initially was to provide a balanced view of local eateries based on the perspective of a Lexington native and foodie. Many times in the past I have strongly disagreed with the Herald-Leader restaurant reviewer. This recent visit to Le Deauville came about as a result of a H-L review where the writer raved about the food, including a plug for “All You Can Eat Crepes” night on Mondays. I love a good crepe and have missed the Magic Pan Creperie tremendously over the years since they departed Lexington and their Rupp Arena location, so the prospect of AYCE crepes at a local “fine dining” restaurant was too good to pass up. Joining me for the evening was my reviewer sidekick, Andrea, and co-worker from New Jersey, Catherine.
We were seated before the restaurant got crowded, which, in hindsight did us no good whatsoever. We were greeted by the very French owner. We each ordered a drink. I asked about getting some bread and was given a small dissertation about “every good French restaurant has bread.” Theirs turned out to be good, and I assume homemade. For starters, we each ordered a soup. Note that the AYCE Crepes price did not include anything extra such as soup or salad, but we were hungry so that was fine with us. I chose the Butternut Squash soup. My companions chose the French Onion soup. All were pronounced delicious. As it turned out, the soup course was the highlight of a very long and trying evening…
At least 30 minutes passed before anyone came back to check on us and take our order for the AYCE Crepes. The selections were divided into Savory and Sweet offerings. I chose the “Fernandel” – eggs, ham, and cheese. My companions chose the “Pagnol” – seafood, rock shrimp, mussels, bay scallops, and béchamel. We waited another 30 minutes for the food to arrive. My crepe was an epic fail. The “ham” consisted of one paper thin slice about 2 inches square – to fill a crepe that was the size of a large round dinner plate. The cheese was missing, and a tiny fried egg adorned the top of the crepe. The over-easy egg was promptly off-loaded to a companion’s plate. After waiting another 20 minutes, someone finally came back by our table so that I could send the crepe back for the rest of its ingredients. My companions’ seafood crepes were equally disappointing. The ingredients consisted of a small amount of shrimp, but none of the other advertised seafood. They were finished eating their first selection before my re-worked crepe made it back to the table. The second time around, the crepe did contain a sufficient amount of ham and cheese. For our second savory crepe, I chose the “Scooter” – tomato, mozzarella, and basil. It was horrible. My friends’ second choices were equally dismal.
Hoping for a reprieve, we moved on to dessert. Surely, the sweet crepes would redeem the chef. Not so much…I chose the “Suzette” – grand marnier and orange. One friend chose the “Barbara” – fresh lemon and sugar. The other friend chose the “Louloutte” – vanilla ice cream and chocolate. She got the only winner of the first dessert round. The orange and lemon choices consisted of nothing more than a little liqueur drizzled over the crepe dough. No filling of any kind. My second sweet selection was “Montand” – chocolate and almonds which was at least adequately filled and tasted pretty good. My companions liked their second sweet choices better also.
By this time, exasperation had set in. We were 3 ½ hours into a dinner that would have tried the patience of a saint. There were equally long waits between the sweets as for the earlier savory course. To my amazement, this place was hopping. Apparently, other diners do not mind paying a fortune for terrible food and excruciatingly slow service. Our check for the three of us was $143.00 before tip.
Parking is on street (metered and un-metered) only.
Gluten Free Options – none advertised.
Vegetarian Options – none advertised.
If you are a glutton for punishment, check out their menu and hours of operation at: www.ledeauvillebistro.com
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