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Madeleine Bistro - Tarzana

I’m a carnivore, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  A leg of lamb, studded with garlic?  Delicious.  A juicy steak, cooked to a perfect medium rare?  I’m in.  But, in the end, I’m a food lover.  Period.  I love all food, and my only criteria, truly?  It’s got to taste good.  So when I got a chance to have a Vegan meal, a “gourmet” vegan meal at that, I was in.

I must have driven past Madeleine Bistro in Tarzana a hundred times since they opened in 2005, the sign in front is easy to miss.  But in a strange confluence of events, this restaurant was brought to my attention several times over the last couple of months.  When all the signs point in a certain direction, wisdom dictates you follow.

I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I walked through the doors. 

What I found, was a simple, classic decor, of wood tables, white linens and muted green walls.  All very soothing ,in an earthy way.  Except for one other table we were the only ones in the place.  I’m assuming they must get busier at dinner, since they have been in business for 2 years.  Anyway, we were seated promptly and we order a couple glasses of wine and looked over the menu.

It wasn’t a huge menu, but I think it’s better to do a few things really well, then to have so many offerings that you can’t possibly do them all justice.

We started off our meal with soup.  Asparagus soup, easy to do Vegan style, was vibrant in color and flavor.
   
I reached for the salt, expecting I would need it and was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t.

We also got the French Onion soup.  Now I really wondered how they were going to pull this one off!  I mean, the best part, for me, about French Onion soup is the thick, crust of cheese on top…
 
Alas, no crusty cheese.  Instead, rather sad bits of stringy soy cheese floating near the bottom.  But, the news gets better from here.  Although it didn’t look like your classic French Onion soup, it actually had a really nice flavor.  The broth was rich, dare I say meaty tasting? 

Next, we ordered a Club Sandwich and their Burger.  Half of the fun of this meal was seeing how they would interpret these classic lunch choices in a Vegan fashion.

I thought the club sandwich looked pretty darn good. 

The “chicken”  was actually breaded seitan, which I have since learned is a pretty name for wheat gluten (or wheat meat, or just plain gluten).   The flavor was really yummy, but I will say it got a little mushy as the meal went on.  There was also, tempeh bacon, which is soy based, but again, it tasted pretty meaty to me!

We also tried their “Bigger Maque.” 

Again, it looked very delectable.  The no meat patties were highly seasoned, in a good way, and the bun light, but sturdy enough to stand up to the “meat”, tomatoes and sauce.  I’d order one again for sure.  But the best part about the dish?  The fries and the ketchup.   These were the most perfect little crispy pomme frittes I’ve had in a while.  Yum!

How often does a carnivore like me end up at a Vegan restaurant?  Not often.  So, with that in mind we decided to go all the way and order dessert.

Sorbet seemed like a pretty safe bet.

There were three kinds, raspberry, lemon and kiwi.  I won’t lie, these were fabulous.  Tart and sweet all at the same time and creamy too.  The fresh strawberries and raspberry sauce drizzled over the top was a nice touch.

Now ,the Creme Brulee I was a bit more skeptical about.   Creme Brulee is all about the eggs,  how in the world would they get around that little hitch?

It looked great, it even had the nice sugary brown crisp on top, I was feeling hopeful.  But for me, sadly, it was no match for the original.  In the desserts defense, my friend, who’s never had real creme brulee, loved it.  But I, sadly, was a tad disappointed.  It lacked the creamy, eggy consistency that make the dish so decadent and delicious. And the flavor, although good, wasn’t creme brulee.  But hey, if you live in a world where eggs are a no, no…then this is a keeper.

Vegan, or not, Madeleine Bistro served us up a tasty and very satisfying lunch.  I truly would go back.  The prices are a bit high, but when  you consider the time and effort the chef takes to make these ingredients taste as good as they do, it doesn’t seem so bad.  I’m looking forward to going back and trying out their dinner menu.

Madeleine Bistro
18621 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA 91356
818.758.6971

   

By Erinn (see more of her posts). You can find more of Erinn's writing at her own website Sunday Dish.

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