Lulu's Creperie Cafe
24781 Alicia Pkwy.
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Oh, the perils of restaurant week! You must peruse menus, find time to go to the restaurants, and then make reservations so you will not be shut out of all the good food. Okay, so it is not really so much a chore, but it is one of the best times of the year for a food blogger!
How is it for the restaurants themselves? First, they have to put together a menu that people will want to partake of. Next, they have one shot to make a great impression. Lastly, they have to hope that it will create a return business. The pressure has to be less for established restaurants in high-traffic areas. Still, local, out-of-the-way restaurants hidden in strip centers must feel this is their one shot to impress customers who would typically eat elsewhere.
This brings us to Lulu's in Laguna Hills. I have driven by here for over ten years and have never stopped. I don't know why. I have heard good things about it. They have great reviews on Urbanspoon and Yelp. I have been told that the breakfasts are excellent. Even Katie's sister, Sara, had one of her wedding showers here and loved it. So when we saw that this would be a restaurant week spot, we had to go.
We had reservations at 7 on a Tuesday night. The restaurant is small, and the decor is frilly, like a country cottage. The place was bustling when we walked in, but that was just the end of the dinner rush because when we left, we were just one of five parties left in the joint. While we were there, a singer belted out a mellow tune with her extraordinary voice. We were informed that they did not have their regular menu tonight and only served their OC Restaurant Week menu. That was fine for Katie and me, but Kevin and Sara prefer to be open regarding food, so they had a hard time coming up with something to choose from. More on that later. Let's check out the food.
Here is a quick shot of the breadbasket. Your basic baguette is sliced up. The bread was fair, but for some reason, the butter here was very creamy. It was served in pads, but they were too cold to spread. I know places have to keep butter refrigerated, but if you are crowded, stick a bunch of butter packets out to get close to room temperature for easy spreading. Sorry, I got a little sidetracked there.
We all got the same appetizer, the Lobster Ravioli, proving that great minds think alike. These odd-looking ravioli had a delicious sauce, and the ravioli itself was filled with lobster. Cooked well, I devoured these.
Katie and Sara went with the Mixed Green Salad with Strawberries and Walnut Oil Dressing. Katie felt that this salad was plain tasting, while Sara could not hide her disdain for this earthy salad.
Both Kevin and I opted for the French Onion Soup, a no-brainer in a French cafe. This soup came out scalding hot. I was so hungry that I burned my mouth because I could not wait to try it. The soup was very good and featured lots of onions. The cheese on this was good as well. It was not too salty. I would definitely get this again.
We will start the main dishes with Katie's choice for the night: Crepe La Mer, which features shrimp, scallops, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and shallots in cream sauce. The bite of this that I had was okay, and Katie did admit that this dish was "a little off." There were also temperature issues with this dish; it would be best described as lukewarm.
I had my choice between the duck and the lamb. I chose the Braised Lamb Shank. The taste was average, but the real disappointment was the lack of meat on the shank. I only got about five bites of meat off of this thing. Very fatty piece. The veggies and mashed potatoes did not help this plate out at all. They, like Katie's meal, came out cold. The mashed potatoes lacked flavor and could only be eaten with the remainder of the sauce on my plate. Should have gone with the duck.
Remember when I said that Kevin and Sara do not like to be pigeonholed into food choices? Well, this is what they both came up with pasta with vegetables. This plain-looking dish did not impress either of them, but how could it? There was no fault with Lulu's here, except that the pasta came out cold. It seems like a theme to me.
Now for the grand finale dessert. We each got a different one to pass around the table. Out of the four, the Bananas Flambe Crepe was the best. Excellent banana flavor, the crepe cooked perfectly, and the sauce was good without being too sweet. Delicious dessert. No one except me was that excited over the Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee. I liked the smoothness of it, and the top was caramelized well. The cheesecake was a crowd favorite as well. It was very dense. Lastly, Kevin was happy after having the Chocolate Ganache Cake. This decadent cake would satisfy anyone's chocolate cravings.
I could have been more impressed with Lulu's. The main dishes all left something to be desired. One of the problems with Restaurant Week is that you have a choice of four meals, and if you do not pick the right one, you probably will not return. I would go back to Lulu's, though. I would give them another shot because they seemed a little overwhelmed by the crowd here that night. I could see flashes of why they get good reviews online, and I would like to try their breakfast as well. But for now...
Out of five cyclecars (because Kearn's Car Company put out a cyclecar named the Lulu in 1914), five being best and zero being worst, Lulu gets two cyclecars.
Lulu's Creperie does not have a website, but you can find more information about them on their website here: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lulu-caf%C3%A9-laguna-hills
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