Lake Anne Village Center... isn't Cafe Montemarté there? I used to love Pho AND French Pastries for lunch. Didn't get much work done afterwards.
I can't say that I've eaten there since 2000 (I moved to Denver, then, but I come back often to the city), but my memory of the meal was good. I didn't notice the service being bad by any means. I do remember Richmond having as issue with the restaurant but, alas, the review is no longer on the Post web site and is probably no longer relevant if it was.
However, I did go to The Washingtonian, the DC magazine with the most accessable restaurant cheat sheet (
www.washingtonian.com), which, of course, rated Pho 75 as a Top 100 Cheap Eats (for like the millionth year in a row).
However, it writes about our topic:
La Côte d'Or Café
French
[Expensive]
[Very Best]
[2 stars]
Arlington
6876 Lee Hwy.
Arlington, VA
703-538-3033
Open for lunch and dinner daily. Wheelchair accessible.
This restaurant sits amidst motels, garages, and entrances to I-66. Its charming exterior and French-provincial interior make patrons forget the surroundings. One negative: The tile floors and stucco walls can make for noisy dining.
The cooking stays close to classic French but adds a distinctive touch or two. Good cold-weather starters are the soups, especially a lobster bisque, a velvety garlic soup, and a traditional vegetable soup. Other appealing starters are the shrimp Provenˆßal, a terrine of salmon, and a terrine of foie gras. Dishes change rarely.
There are several fine main courses. Dover sole meunière and swordfish steak on a bed of leeks with lobster sauce are enticing seafood dishes. Or try the thinly sliced calf's liver; the filet of beef with mushroom sauce; rabbit Dijonnaise with a mustard sauce; and the classic cassoulet with sausage, duck, and beans. Warm plates are a good thing, but some of the plates coming out of the kitchen are very hot. Desserts are traditional and good.
La Côte d'Or Café, 6876 Lee Hwy., Arlington; 703-538-3033. Open daily for lunch and dinner, Sunday for brunch.
— David Dorsen
Not saying I agree on everything, but I hope some of the other suggestions are useful.
