Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The siren call of Café Bleu

Whew. Just hiked up West Washington from the Washington Street trolley. Quite a climb. Crazy traffic. No sidewalk.

Then I spot this beautiful li’l French bistro. I know I shouldn’t go in. Too sophisticated, too damned attractive, too upmarket.

But, Café Bleu calls like a siren. People look so cozy. Wine glowing red in winking glasses, sounds of laughter, but not barroom laughter. I’m trying to read the menu they’ve stuck up on the window. Ayee... Entrées around $16–$20. But, hey, only live once. Gotta be a way of skating ’round the edges.

So, I haul the door open, privately give myself a max of $20, take a deep breath, and head in.

The five-stool bar is all but taken — the one seat that’s empty is squished between two other people — so I sit down at the nearest table. Round. Nicely polished solid wood, with matching curved wooden chairs. Classy. This place is intimate, comfortable, and it has that thing. That French thing. Dunno how else to say it. There’s the name, of course — Café Bleu — and the wall of wine, the fat candles glowing in sconces on maroon walls, the three-lamp chandeliers, the dark-plank floor, the cool little table candles in cut-out metal containers, the long-aproned waiters... And people seem to respond. Couples lean into each other to exchange, “Do you remember when…?” jokes, the men seem more flamboyant here than in other eateries, the women have more life in their eyes. They use their hands and arms more.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I’m thinking all this as I’m head-down in the menu. It’s 7:30 now. Happy hour finished at 6:00. Pity. That’s when they have $6 brie cheese “en croute,” a mushroom vol-au-vent for $6; mussels for $8, a $9 bleu burger, and $5 wines.

But now? I’m seeing that the bleu burger — a half-pound of all-natural Kobe beef — is $10.95. That’s not a bad mark-up for prime time. And that’s with fries (French, of course) included, unlike, say, at Burger Lounge, where you pay $3–$4 extra for the little pomme de terre sticks. Figure it’s $11–$12 there.

But who comes to a French outpost to have American food? I keep scanning. Oh, man. Coq au vin. “Café Bleu’s signature dish…classic French specialty of wine-braised chicken with chef’s house-smoked pork belly, crimini mushrooms, pearl onions, Yukon potato gratin.” It’s, uh, $13.95.

What I end up with costs even more, because I can’t resist the French onion soup (six bucks), and steak tartare. We’re talking raw steak, “knife-cut, all natural filet mignon, fresh herbs, shallots, soy and lime juice, crostini, balsamic reduction, parsley, $8.95.”

Drinkwise, I resist all temptation and just have iced water. (I know, French restaurant, no wine?)

I’m really impressed with how much I get. Plus, Javier, the waiter and one of the owners, comes around with a small plate with a golden mound in the middle. I see he’s also done this with the table behind me.

“Compliments of the chef,” he says. “An ‘amuse bouche’ — a taste tickler: braised beef in pastry topped with Dijon mustard and fine herbs.”

It’s a nice, herby ball, with crisp, thin pastry outside and sausage meat inside. It sure does tickle my taste buds. And, free’s good.

I can’t resist the French onion soup (six bucks) and steak tartare. We’re talking raw steak, “knife-cut, all natural filet mignon.”

Then, you want my opinion? This is flat-out the best French onion soup in town. It comes in a curly little brown ceramic bowl with a thick skin of golden, slightly burnt cheese covering the top. The reef of grilled cheese, the slurry of onions, the taste of lots of sweetish wine in the soup all make beautiful music. Javier brought me a baguette, too, with butter and a bowl of a kind of Caprese tomato-parsley mix. Great for contrast and great for dunking into the way-hot little cauldron.

It’s filling — almost. So, the plate of steak tartare is a good add. It has these crostinis, hard-baked baguette slices served on the side; a round, upright barrel of raw meat, lots of chopped green herbs sticking out of the mound, and a little puddle of…blood at the bottom? Well, it’s probably sauce. And, yes, it’s modest enough. Javier warned me it was only three ounces of meat.

But there’s more to it than you’d think. It’s substantial. And tasty. I get the raw-meat taste, but the flavor mainly comes from vinegary capers, herbs (especially parsley), and shallots. It’s good to smear it through the arty stripes of soy sauce–ish balsamic reduction before you stick a forkful in your mouth.

(Crostinis are actually so hard-baked they’re tough to crack, but they help counter the meaty thing once you do crack ’em.)

Why’s it called steak tartare? Turns out, it used to have (like, in the 1800s) tartar sauce served with it. Except, some folks say tartar sauce may have been called tartar sauce only because it was a sauce to go with steak tartare, and that the whole custom of eating meat raw goes back to the Tartars, the wild-horse people of the Asian steppes. Guess they needed fast food when they were on the gallop. No time to cook. The legend is they’d put a slab of horsemeat under their saddles in the morning, and after a hard day’s riding, they had the perfect, tenderized steak to eat raw in the evening.

Gets your imagination going. What it must be like, dinner getting better and better every step of your galloping day. You wonder what you were in previous lives…

Then you look around. Glowing, cozy, civilized. We’re a million miles from the wild steppes. Javier says Café Bleu has been in business since 2007, first up at Fifth and University, and then, for the past three years, here on Washington. “We couldn’t have picked a tougher time to start,” he says. “But we’re still here.”

Amen to that. With a little more cash I could fall in love with this place. As it is, I get out with a bill of $16.09. For the experience, worth every cent.

Now (sigh), got to face that wild walk down through the black hills to the Washington Street trolley stop. Wish I had my Tartar horse.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Next Article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1

Whew. Just hiked up West Washington from the Washington Street trolley. Quite a climb. Crazy traffic. No sidewalk.

Then I spot this beautiful li’l French bistro. I know I shouldn’t go in. Too sophisticated, too damned attractive, too upmarket.

But, Café Bleu calls like a siren. People look so cozy. Wine glowing red in winking glasses, sounds of laughter, but not barroom laughter. I’m trying to read the menu they’ve stuck up on the window. Ayee... Entrées around $16–$20. But, hey, only live once. Gotta be a way of skating ’round the edges.

So, I haul the door open, privately give myself a max of $20, take a deep breath, and head in.

The five-stool bar is all but taken — the one seat that’s empty is squished between two other people — so I sit down at the nearest table. Round. Nicely polished solid wood, with matching curved wooden chairs. Classy. This place is intimate, comfortable, and it has that thing. That French thing. Dunno how else to say it. There’s the name, of course — Café Bleu — and the wall of wine, the fat candles glowing in sconces on maroon walls, the three-lamp chandeliers, the dark-plank floor, the cool little table candles in cut-out metal containers, the long-aproned waiters... And people seem to respond. Couples lean into each other to exchange, “Do you remember when…?” jokes, the men seem more flamboyant here than in other eateries, the women have more life in their eyes. They use their hands and arms more.

Sponsored
Sponsored

I’m thinking all this as I’m head-down in the menu. It’s 7:30 now. Happy hour finished at 6:00. Pity. That’s when they have $6 brie cheese “en croute,” a mushroom vol-au-vent for $6; mussels for $8, a $9 bleu burger, and $5 wines.

But now? I’m seeing that the bleu burger — a half-pound of all-natural Kobe beef — is $10.95. That’s not a bad mark-up for prime time. And that’s with fries (French, of course) included, unlike, say, at Burger Lounge, where you pay $3–$4 extra for the little pomme de terre sticks. Figure it’s $11–$12 there.

But who comes to a French outpost to have American food? I keep scanning. Oh, man. Coq au vin. “Café Bleu’s signature dish…classic French specialty of wine-braised chicken with chef’s house-smoked pork belly, crimini mushrooms, pearl onions, Yukon potato gratin.” It’s, uh, $13.95.

What I end up with costs even more, because I can’t resist the French onion soup (six bucks), and steak tartare. We’re talking raw steak, “knife-cut, all natural filet mignon, fresh herbs, shallots, soy and lime juice, crostini, balsamic reduction, parsley, $8.95.”

Drinkwise, I resist all temptation and just have iced water. (I know, French restaurant, no wine?)

I’m really impressed with how much I get. Plus, Javier, the waiter and one of the owners, comes around with a small plate with a golden mound in the middle. I see he’s also done this with the table behind me.

“Compliments of the chef,” he says. “An ‘amuse bouche’ — a taste tickler: braised beef in pastry topped with Dijon mustard and fine herbs.”

It’s a nice, herby ball, with crisp, thin pastry outside and sausage meat inside. It sure does tickle my taste buds. And, free’s good.

I can’t resist the French onion soup (six bucks) and steak tartare. We’re talking raw steak, “knife-cut, all natural filet mignon.”

Then, you want my opinion? This is flat-out the best French onion soup in town. It comes in a curly little brown ceramic bowl with a thick skin of golden, slightly burnt cheese covering the top. The reef of grilled cheese, the slurry of onions, the taste of lots of sweetish wine in the soup all make beautiful music. Javier brought me a baguette, too, with butter and a bowl of a kind of Caprese tomato-parsley mix. Great for contrast and great for dunking into the way-hot little cauldron.

It’s filling — almost. So, the plate of steak tartare is a good add. It has these crostinis, hard-baked baguette slices served on the side; a round, upright barrel of raw meat, lots of chopped green herbs sticking out of the mound, and a little puddle of…blood at the bottom? Well, it’s probably sauce. And, yes, it’s modest enough. Javier warned me it was only three ounces of meat.

But there’s more to it than you’d think. It’s substantial. And tasty. I get the raw-meat taste, but the flavor mainly comes from vinegary capers, herbs (especially parsley), and shallots. It’s good to smear it through the arty stripes of soy sauce–ish balsamic reduction before you stick a forkful in your mouth.

(Crostinis are actually so hard-baked they’re tough to crack, but they help counter the meaty thing once you do crack ’em.)

Why’s it called steak tartare? Turns out, it used to have (like, in the 1800s) tartar sauce served with it. Except, some folks say tartar sauce may have been called tartar sauce only because it was a sauce to go with steak tartare, and that the whole custom of eating meat raw goes back to the Tartars, the wild-horse people of the Asian steppes. Guess they needed fast food when they were on the gallop. No time to cook. The legend is they’d put a slab of horsemeat under their saddles in the morning, and after a hard day’s riding, they had the perfect, tenderized steak to eat raw in the evening.

Gets your imagination going. What it must be like, dinner getting better and better every step of your galloping day. You wonder what you were in previous lives…

Then you look around. Glowing, cozy, civilized. We’re a million miles from the wild steppes. Javier says Café Bleu has been in business since 2007, first up at Fifth and University, and then, for the past three years, here on Washington. “We couldn’t have picked a tougher time to start,” he says. “But we’re still here.”

Amen to that. With a little more cash I could fall in love with this place. As it is, I get out with a bill of $16.09. For the experience, worth every cent.

Now (sigh), got to face that wild walk down through the black hills to the Washington Street trolley stop. Wish I had my Tartar horse.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At 4pm, this Farmer's Table restaurant in Chula Vista becomes Acqua e Farina

Brunch restaurant by day, Roman style trattoria by night
Next Article

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, Love Thy Neighbor(Hood): Food & Art Exploration

Events November 2-November 6, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader