Indian Harbour Beach restaurant brunch defines French style, flavor | Restaurant Review
Mention you’re headed to a French restaurant and chances are someone will pipe up about how ornate, how complex and heaven knows, how expensive Gallic cuisine is.
But food prepared by the people who brought us organized commercial kitchens and showed us how to cook the things we eat every day also can be gloriously simple and straightforward, not to mention reasonably priced.
Such foods are served each Sunday brunch by the people of Le French Restaurant in Indian Harbour Beach.
Le French is a small venue, the successor to the late, great Trend Kitchen, with a small bar for beer and wine consumption. It is sunny, cheerful and eat-off-the-floor immaculate, certainly not overdecorated, and service is immediate and professional.
The menu is sectioned five ways: Eggs, Appetizers, Entrees, Sweets and Desserts. Yes, escargots ($18) and boeuf Bourguignon ($29) are there, as are vol au vent ($28), France’s puffy, richly dressed-up version of chicken stew; croques madame and monsieur; onion soup; and croissants.
But “omelet” also is a French thing, having come into use in the 1500s, well before Alexandre Dumas wrote about it. Here, it is done with cheese ($10) or with ham, cheese and mushrooms ($12).
We started with a French-Italian combination: a basket of bread ($5) for the table plus a good-sized ball of burrata with pesto and a mixed salad as well as heirloom tomatoes rendered creamily delicious by the cheese.
Eggs à la Benedick was named that by a French-minded chef at Delmonico’s in Manhattan, the breakfast specialty having been served there since the 1860s; at Le French, they are made in the traditional manner ($10) and “Norwegian”-style, with salmon ($15). Add that to the trend that just keeps going, avocado toast ($14), served with poached or fried egg, and you have quite the choices.
The Eggs a la Benedick (eggs Benedict) were splendid, probably the best version of them available in the area, with pale, lemony, house-made Hollandaise (If it’s bright yellow and steaming, it comes from a packet or jar. Send it back.) and perfectly poached eggs, served not cutely but well, with a sprinkling of green. Seriously: you could eat that Hollandaise like a soup, so richly flavored was it.
Croque monsieur also was exceptional, served on pillowy bread with slightly smoky ham, bechamel to rival the Hollandaise, and cheese, all well-browned and served with fresh haricots verts and carrots.
No one complained about the avocado toast, which was ordered with a poached egg and prepared so that it was chunky and substantial rather than smooth or pasty.
Two of us ordered omelets, and we assume because the first person to mention it asked for it to be well browned, both were. It was one of the few overcooked (in my opinion) omelets I’ve had that was not the worse for it, and the cheese, ham and mushrooms were just grand. It was accompanied by a mixed salad drizzled with an excellent, creamy Dijon vinaigrette. Bottle that dressing, Chef Antoine.
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Café Gourmand, ($12) a demi-tasse surrounded by miniature desserts was lovely too, though upon return, profiterole probably will be the choice. The wine list, by the way, was well-considered, its selections less expensive than interesting, and French. God bless restaurateurs who do not fear French wines, or diners who order by appellation rather than strict grape variety.
Flaws? Well, maybe that slightly overdone omelet. And that “Le French” name, which is a little disconcerting. Otherwise, rien.
Friends, in two weeks, Francophiles everywhere will celebrate la Fête nationale. Reserve brunch seats at Le French for the previous or following Sunday, or for dinner July 14. You may see us there.
Le French Restaurant
Four and a half stars (brunch only)
Address: 1924 Hwy. A1A, Indian Harbour Beach
Hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. SundaysCall: 321-622-8977
Online: lefrenchrestaurant.com
Other: Beer and wine served, as are specialty beverages like Kir Royales and Bellinis.
Le French is open 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday for dinner and 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday for lunch. The restaurant hosts monthly wine dinners.
About our reviews
Restaurants are rated on a five-star system by FLORIDA TODAY’s reviewer. The reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and take into account quality of the restaurant’s food, ambiance and service. Ratings reflect the quality of what a diner can reasonably expect to find. To receive a rating of less than three stars, a restaurant must be tried twice and prove unimpressive on each visit. Each reviewer visit is unannounced and paid for by FLORIDA TODAY.
Five stars: Excellent. A rare establishment to which you’d be proud to take the most discerning diner.
Four stars: Very good. Worth going out of your way for. Food, atmosphere and service are routinely top notch.
Three stars: Good. A reasonably good place with food and service that satisfy.
Two stars: Fair. While there’s nothing special about this establishment, it will do in a pinch.
One star: Not recommended. Don’t bother.
Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne. Join the conversation at facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Love Eggs Benedict? This Indian Harbour Beach restaurant has the best
