My wife and I chose to begin our 9th anniversary with breakfast at Clafoutis. I love the baguettes with jam and their sweet cream butter — it’s an indulgence I afford myself ONLY on special occasions because I simply cannot resist that bread. I pretty much stick to the Croque Madame and usually, my wife does the same. However, she saw the specials and one, the Oeuf Cocette, caught her eye. Rather, the way our server described the dish, she was nearly drooling at the idea of eggs baked in cream. She imagined a dish similar to a quiche or a soufflé. What arrived was far from what she imagined.
First off, it came looking like pieces of bacon floating in cream-colored water. My wife stirred it a bit,but didn’t see anything resembling eggs so she stuck her fork into the soup. And then it happened — whatever she hit LITERALLY exploded! Bacon and hot cream-water coated her face and singed her eye. Really, the soup covered the people sitting at tables to her left and right. It was like she poked a bomb — it awakened the entire place. Accidents happen and this was clearly a freak accident. But the way Clafoutis staff responded, or should I say, DIDN’T respond is the reason for the “Terrible” rating.
See, while the food is usually quite stellar, on an average day, the place is so busy that service often lags. I can usually overlook that lax service, but when other patrons are hailing servers to clean the mess, I have to wonder if the staff’s attitude has become blasé. I mean, my wife was covered in cream-water and her eye was red. Yet no one even thought to clean our table. My coffee and water didn’t escape the egg bomb’s wrath — yet the servers didn’t think to get new ones. While the food was its usual high-caliber, the service never really improved. I ate, but was extremely disappointed.
I discussed my grievance with the owner and she listened and expressed her concern. But, for me, it was a matter of too little, too late. My wife and her family will still eat there, but I NEVER will again. I cannot recommend Clafoutis, as for as great as the food may be, the service is lax on a normal day, but on the morning of the egg-bomb, it was downright awful. Service is much a part of a great dining experience as the food is and Clafoutis has A LONG WAY to go before the servers equal the food.
