LM Cafe

I was craving a toasted cheese sandwich one cold March day. I had a vague idea that I would like to partake of this sandwich at the French Market and, after doing my research, decided that LM Cafe's 1/2 salad and 1/2 sandwich (traditional Croque Monsieur) would fit the bill nicely. I should have known something was afoot when I stepped up to LM's stall and there was no one standing in line ahead of me, especially as the market gets packed on a Friday around lunchtime, which is when I ventured here. Red flag #2 came when I queried the woman behind the counter about the 1/2 salad + 1/2 sandwich special that was mentioned on the cafe's web site. She looked at me blankly, but mentioned (with no small amount of fatigue) that she would be happy to oblige. I was surprised when a few minutes later a container of soup was plunked into a brown bag. I mentioned (neutrally, I felt) that I had ordered the 1/2 salad (I will add here that there were pre-packaged salads in a case, within my line of sight). The woman was very affronted, said "no one told me this" (even thought I had stated "salad" on a couple occasions during this ill-fated transaction). She ultimately lifted the soup out of the bag (with no small amount of sighing on her part), to replace it with one of the containers of mixed green salad from the display case.

I thought my drama here was over, until I encountered red flag #3-- namely, that the sandwich (even to my untrained eye) did not appear to be in the toaster/press long enough for the components to meld. I came here with a colleague, we both decided to get our orders to go, so my misgivings were only substantiated when I got back to the office. By then it  was too late. The sandwich's components had indeed not melded into an oasis of cheesy goodness; instead, it was like a home ec assignment gone awry. I'll also add that the bread was stale and was more like wonder bread than anything artisanal.

I should have saved myself the bother, gone to CVS across the street and purchased 1) bread, 2) cold cuts, and 3) cheese slices and gotten the same results. I really had higher hopes for LM Cafe, especially considering it also runs a catering operation. The lack of attention to detail and injured attitude on the part of the counterperson combined to create a misfire of a dining experience. I will not be back.