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7905 Norfolk Ave., Bethesda, Md.
(301) 986-0707
Hours of Operation and Prices
Lunch: T-F 11:30-2; Entrees: $9.50-$13
Dinner: M-Sat 6-9:45, Sun 5:30-8:45; Entrees: $17-$23
Closed: Sun in August
Other Information
• All major credit cards
• Reservations recommended
• Nearest Metro: Bethesda
• Valet parking (fee) for lunch and dinner
• Handicapped Accessible
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While countless French restaurants have come and gone, La Miche has stayed for almost two decades, a restaurant that evokes the French countryside with its baskets hanging from the ceiling and cozy provincial furniture. The menu is long, the list of daily specials is longer, and over the years the style has been adjusted to today's lighter tastes. No longer does puff pastry dominate the appetizer list, though it prettily garnishes many dishes.
Yet lightness isn't carried very far. The appetizer list features creamy, eggy mousses and flans made of spinach or foie gras, and sauces are plentiful. La Miche remains distinctly old-fashioned.
In many cases that's to its advantage. If you want to find a traditional lobster bisque, with the intense flavor that can only be extracted from the shells, this is the place to find it. And if you like your spinach enveloped in creamy custard and enriched with butter sauce, the spinach flan here will leave you dreaming of more. Along with today's simple grilled fish, La Miche still prepares yesteryear's coq au vin (unfortunately, it exhibits yesteryear's habit of overcooking the chicken). Seldom does lamb taste so distinctly and wonderfully like lamb as when La Miche serves its long, thin tenderloins infused with garlic and poised on a bed of pale green flageolets. And where else nowadays could you find a plate of canapes available among the appetizers?
The menu is sumptuous. But the cooking isn't always so. La Miche often pleases but seldom excites. It attempts so much but carries the cooking out as if in a rush. When I order next time I'm there, maybe I'll just ask: What does the chef really feel like cooking tonight?
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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