Au Rendez-vous is much more reminiscent of a hole-in-the wall Buford Highway Asian restaurant than any French Bistro I can imagine. The interior is classic clutter, with used sour cream tubs and used beer and wine bottles apparently serving as storage containers. Unfortunately, the garage sale motif extends to the food. French food is classically all about technique and ingredients. The food here does show some cooking expertise, but also has many shortcuts and shortcomings. The salad seems to be store bought mixed greens with a single slice of Roma tomato and an above average very balsamic vinaigrette. An expertly sauteed Sole is added to the top for one of the appetizers. The pea soup tasted like canned English peas that had been pureed (not strained) and mixed with spices and cream. While the flavor was good, it was terribly reminiscent of my mom's heated canned peas from my childhood. The lamb stew had a strong taste of the classic Asian five spice, served with a dollop of chilli garlic (Rooster) sauce and couscous from a rice cooker on the counter. Lamb and white beans was a few pieces of slightly gamy lamb served in what tasted like canned pork and beans; again a flashback to the canned bean days of my childhood. Bread and butter cost an additional $1.20 and was four smallish slices of slightly stale and reheated store bought French bread served with a generous chunk of excellent European style butter. While elements of the meal showed promise, other shortcomings overshadowed them. I'm a big fan of mom and pop places where it's all about the food, but for the money cannot recommend Au Rendez-vous.
Pros: Mom and pop hole in-the-wall
Cons: Too many shortcuts; certainly not classic French.
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