Le Refuge Restaurant

Many years since I last dined at Le Refuge and I was delighted finding the same masterful quality of classic French country fare dropping in for lunch yesterday. I did not really drop in, I called first. Many other things have changed in over 3 decades of visiting LR but not the food nor the visual ambience.nnWhen I first dined at LR in the 1980’s you could barely see from the front door to the back of the dining room through the haze of cigarette smoke and it is a short distance. The restaurant seats 42 people at full capacity having a handful of 4 top tables and the rest are tables for 2 all tables having 2 table clothes, red wine color cloth with a white one angled on top of it. The interior air cleared with the smoking ban in restaurants in 2009 and now customers are required to wear a mask to come through the front door.nnThere was only 1 couple dining enjoying lunch when I was seated at 1:00 PM. They finished and left by the time my entree arrived and there were 3 people who came in picking up take out orders during my visit so it is not reasonable to comment on service being the only diner having the exclusive attention of the server.nnI started out having a Kir Royal, moving to a glass of White Bordeaux with my entree and Remy accompanying a shot of espresso with dessert. My food order sequence was baked onion soup with Swiss cheese followed by trout with mushrooms and almonds in lemon butter sauce entree and puff pastry with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and freshly made whipped cream. All dishes were made with fresh quality ingredients masterfully prepared. Onion soup and trout hit my table top piping hot which is a distinction of fine dining restaurants. Artfully plated elevated flavors are served here.

We had the most delightful birthday dinner at Le Refuge! It seems it's a bit of a hidden little gem, the decor whisks you to a far away town in France. We started with the French onion soup which was cooked to perfection. The cheesy top had a crunch to the top and the stewed onions below were delicious.

Quaint restaurant with French decorative charm!nThoroughly enjoyed our meal - food and service was exceptional!nAsk for Linus to be your server! He has the BEST personality!

My date had the salmon en crout which she was not fond of and waiter went out of his way to get her second option which was the sauteed shrimp and it was very good! Great service from the waiter with no hesitation taking care of us! I had the duck breast which I also thought was very good.

We had take away for our anniversary dinner. Delicious county pate, and a duck liver mousse pate for our starters. Both were delicious, and beautifully presented. Followed by pork tenderloin in roquefort cream sauce. And beef fillet in a brandy peppercorn cream sauce. Both entres were cooked to perfection.