Mim’s Meals: Hoppin’ around in my belly
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
(3 out of 5 hot dogs)
Loading ...Le Veau D’or
129 E 60th (btn Park and Lexington)
Time: Everyday (Closed Sundays)
Price: Breadbasket, Appetizer, Entrée, Dessert, $25+
For the third installment of Mim’s meals, we wanted to switch it up, so we went to (surprise!) a French restaurant on the upper east side. When we opened the front d’or, it was like opening a time capsule, where the décor and food hasn’t changed since the 1930’s when Le Veau opened. Robert, the elderly owner sits in the front both overseeing, while his daughter (played by Juliette Binoche in ‘Mim’s Meals: the Movie’) cheerfully works the floor. Mim and I both started with the onion soup. I don’t consider soup a real food, and don’t usually waste my time with it. But the this soup… Out. Of. This. World. I could eat it seven days a week. I leaped at the opportunity to order frogs’ legs ($28) for my entrée, and they didn’t disappoint, all sauteed and garlicky and such. Mim had the coq au vin ($25), which was also top-notch. For dessert we had parfait au rhum, which was coffee ice cream with rum in it. We, of course, told our server to go heavy on the rum, so he brought us the whole bottle to pour as we pleased.
Yes, this meal is a little pricier than a typical special, and I was fully prepared to dish out two, or even one hotdogs, but the service and cuisine was so generous, I also must be.
I was very excited to have an affordable fresh Maine lobster right here in NYC. I ventured to Beach Café to check it out (which by the way isn’t very beachy, in menu or décor). They offer 1 ¼ lb lobsters, which turned out to be pretty small with very little meat inside (scrumptious though). Luckily there is a bread basket, and baked potato to fill you up. Lobster isn’t usual fare for a cheap foodie like myself, so I was perplexed and a little revolted by the green stuff that covered most of the body. When I asked my waiter what it was, he said that he didn’t know, but that I should probably just eat it. I sampled a little bit, and it tasted like lobster poop. Hmmm fishy. When I got home, I did a little internet research and found out it’s called tomalley, and it acts as the digestive system for the lobster (that explains the taste…) AND it probably should not be eaten because high levels of toxins. Cool. A bottle of Listerine and a couple shots of tequila later, I felt cleansed of crustacean crap, but I don’t think I’ll be doing the Baywatch run back to 70th street any time soon.
Mim warned me that the crowd at this French bistro was ‘vintage,’ which was true, but it’s also true that seniors love their bargains. And this prix fixe is a pretty good secret kept from the young folk. Mim also warned me that early bird dinners are frequented by ‘owls,’ (apparently the male counterpart to the ‘cougar’) who swoop down on their unassuming prey. So we both kept an eye out, and put up the necessary defenses. I started with the mesclun salad, while Mim started with the vegetable soup, both of which we decided were far too healthy, so we requested extra butter to make up for it. For our entrees, we both had the brook trout almondine, which was expertly sautéed atop a bed of carrots and broccoli. We finished the meal with a dab of ice cream. It was a charming dinner, and we even managed to steer clear of incoming owl pellets.
