Since O was in earnest to lose weight, our friends wanted to take us out to a vegetarian restaurant. It was an experiment, considering O has a reputation of being a 'meat and potatoes' man.
Madeleine Bistro restaurant is located in Encino on Ventura Blvd. If you blink, you could miss it on account of the dark brown glass storefront. The entrance is nothing to write home about. The interior is plain Jane.
Once we walked in, we were greeted by two very nice waiters. We were excited to try some new and different food and perused the menu for quite a long time. Our friends had a list of the best dishes recommended by their friends who kindly set up the reservation for us. The list was practically the menu. We wanted to try everything so it was hard to decide.
Chef Dave Anderson treats every dish like a gourmet dish. He's also an award winning chef. Yet the prices are extremely reasonable. An average dish costs around $10-13. The service was wonderful.
Appetizers started with Kaisespaezle (German mac'n cheese) (photo); The Bigger Macque (two no beef patties, special sauces, lettuce, cheese...) (photo shows 1/4 missing as our friend dug in before I could take the picture) and Red Beet Tartare.
Main course consisted of Philet no Phish (Filet of Fish in a bun); Chicken-fried Seitan with Mashed Potatoes (photo), Lemon-rosemary Seitan with a delicious grilled Asparagus Crepe (photo), Chopped Raw Summer Vegetables Primavera with Cucumber Capellini (photo).
Dessert closed the meal with Strawberry Shortcake with Peach-lemongrass Sorbet and a Chocolate Souffle and Vanilla Sorbet, compliments of our friends' friends.
Everything was delicious with one exception, the red beet tartar being bland. The food was surprisingly filling and some sauces creamy.
However, all of us did come to the same conclusion: We felt that a menu made up signature of dishes trying to emulate meat dishes seemed rather unoriginal. We were hoping to sample tasty dishes that were unique to the flavors of vegetable oriented ingredients. The closest one was the Raw Summer Vegetables Primavera. Although we did not try the Green Papaya Salad, it looked very original from across the table.
All in all, I would recommend the restaurant for first timers, experimenters and vegetarians. As for us, it was a fun and delicious try and I would go back with other vegetarians. But it didn't sway my taste buds to return frequently to this restaurant. And definitely not O's or our friends.
18621 Ventura Boulevard
Tarzana, CA 91356
Tel: (818) 758 6971
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