David F.
Yelp
How could we have not known about this restaurant, practically in our backyard?? Thanks to a birthday gift certificate from our adult kids, we visited Amélie Café for dinner recently. We asked for an outside table (inside their sheltered area, complete with space heaters and music), and got it.
The server was very pleasant and spoke with a French accent, which definitely put us in the mood for their French-inspired menu. He was very attentive, as were the other servers, and we felt well taken care of.
We ordered Brussels Sprouts as an appetizer (deep fried walnuts praline-lemon), and they were delicious. Only problem, we mostly got loose leaves rather than sprouts. Bottom of the fryer? I don't know. But they were really good anyway.
Along with the sprouts, we ordered their famous homemade bread with French herbed butter ($6). I could have just ordered a half dozen of these loaves and gone home happy. The butter with herbs was delicious. Just enough salt too (see photo).
For my main, I ordered the Coq Au Vin (red wine reduction-king trumpet mushroom-lardons-baby carrots-potatoes). Exactly what I was hoping for, with a wonderfully rich sauce and tender chicken.
My wife ordered the Raviole (shitake-brown butter sage-butternut squash). We were both delighted with how small they were, several could fit on a spoon (see photos). They were good, but my wife felt they were one note... and got bored eating them after a while (though that meant we got to take them home as leftovers).
I think the only downside was how tight the tables were set to each other in this outdoor space. It was easy to be touching the chair of the customers behind us. There was also someone celebrating his 40th birthday with three others, and they were having an uproariously good time. In tight quarters, this made talking to my wife difficult. But the party guy made up for it by offering birthday cupcakes to everyone in the restaurant. They were really good, and that more than made up for the loudness. Too bad for us and the restaurant, though, since we didn't need to order a dessert from them.
We ordered hot tea with our dinner (did I say it was cold?), and the total bill with tax and tip came to $101.
We will absolutely be back. Maybe next time for brunch, since it's only a 5 minute drive from home.
(I apologize for the color cast of the photos. Since it was outdoors, we were mostly lit by the signs of the nearby shops. I guarantee the food was more appetizing than the photos.)
Edit: I read this review to my wife. Because she wasn't a fan of her main dish, the ravioli, she would have given the restaurant a lower rating. She also felt we should have been served more bread for the $6 we were charged.