Rendez-Vous Bakery and Bistro

It's a little touch of France on Oakland Park. Even the staff and guests were speaking French....I started looking for my passport.

We decided to try a Rendez-vous for a late lunch, around 2pm, although they do serve lunch until 5, with a dinner menu after 5pm. The menu featured many of the classic staples of French bistro repertoire. In addition to the menu there was a feature board highlighting the day's specials several of which I may have to come back and try ( beef bourguignon!).

We both decided on a guilty pleasure - Ham Croque Monsieur. For those un familiar with this little gem, it's basically a grilled ham and swiss filled and topped with béchamel sauce. Well it was 2pm and they were out of ham, so we tried turkey...oops, they only had one....ok I'll try something else....oops, change of plan our lovely server (name unknown, she's new) negotiated for us both to have turkey.

First things first, it's odd that they were "out" of something, but then it turns out they had it but just didn't want to make it fresh. Big strike. What ever the reason it comes across badly. Anyways - we had the turkey and it was quite good, maybe a little more nutmeg in the béchamel but it was tasty none the less (as a side note, this is a knife and fork sandwich).

While we both had the same entree , we started with different soups. I had the tomato basil, while my companion had the French onion. The verdict is they were both outstanding. The onion soup was full- flavored with a heaping portion of melted cheese on top The Tomato soup was thick and rich, it almost verged on tomato sauce thick, but that is a welcome change from the thin watery soups I've come to expect in local restaurants. There was just enough sweetness and cream to balance the tomato acidity. A success on all counts.

Before we left, we decided to check out the dessert case which was full of pastries, cakes and other goodies and according to the Frenchman behind the counter, everything is made there. Maybe next time will be soup and dessert...,maybe some beef stew...hmmm, too many choices.