I'll try anything once!

This week I was offered the opportunity for dinner with my in-laws at a traditional French restaurant here in Houston, Bistro Le Cep. I immediately jumped at the chance to experience authentic French food (as while vacationing in France, due to budget constraints, I was only lucky enough to sample the bread, water, and phenomenal crepes that the amazing country had to offer)

At first glance, I was blown away by how adorable the inside of the restaurant was, then I was impressed by the waiters coming around passing out individual pieces of fresh French and raisin bread. We started the meal with duck pate, avocado stuffed with crab and shrimp, and.... escargot. For the entrees, we ordered a wide variety and passed our plates around. I chose the Coq Au Vin (chicken cooked in red wine). Among the others that I sampled were pot-roasted rabbit and duck.

My reviews:

Duck pate: horrible consistency, tasted like mushy meat

Escargot: definitely didn't want to eat this, but I figured I'd never be in the situation to try escargot again. I'd have to say that originally the little guy sitting at the end of my fork looked slightly like a butter covered eyeball and flashes of old Survivor episodes ran through my head. Once it was actually in my mouth, the flavor of the seven herb butter sauce was very tasty and the consistency was similar to that of a mussel. Glad I tried it.... don't want to do it again. Plus, as I kept chewing, all I could think about were snails crawling across the floor trying to escape.

Rabbit: very very yummy. But as soon as I started thinking about little thumper, I denied any future bites.

Duck: Yum. I love duck (and I imagine eating the really ugly ducks that chase you in the park, not the cute adorable ones). I'd definitely go back to Bistro Le Cep just for the duck.

The best part of the evening? The part that took little thought to decide on....dessert! We tried a carmelized apple tart, creme brulee, quenelle de ganache au chocolate (my favorite! the most amazing chocolate dumpling!), and a lemon cake with fresh strawberries.

My favorite moment of the night: My father in law (who is known for never sharing anything off his plate) snuck me a small slice of his cake during dessert while nobody was watching. :)