Paris Express

I love the diversity of restaurants here in Orlando,  You can find any kind of cuisine to suit your mood and we recently found a little gem in a tiny corner of a shopping strip in ChampionsGate, FL (Davenport).

A quaint and cozy little place,  the Paris Express Café offers breakfast, lunch and dinner at any time of the day.  The prices and selections vary from simple omelets to more elegant dinner entrees like Cordon Bleu or Beef Bourgouignon.

Though the dining space is very small, only a handful of tables, the space is inviting and romantic.  It had a feel of an upscale restaurant with crystal glasses and fancy napkins on the table, but then I noticed plastic cartoonish placemats and a bowl of condiment ketchup and mustard packets.  Hmmm, weird.  Also missing was any type of an ambience, it would've been nice to have a little French music piping into the restaurant, but instead it was silent.  Nothing.  Not even a little peep, but not the worst thing in the world.

We saw a selection of crostini appetizers on the menu and we chose the Greek Baguettes (I know, not very French but at least they were served on baguettes).  They even inspired me to make an entire crostini spread a few days later at home using the menu from Paris Express.  They were good- but for $6.50, a little pricey for four small pieces.

However, I didn't leave hungry.  I ordered the Pain Baguette and it was so huge I could only eat half of it and ended up with a great lunch the next day.  My selection had tuna, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, lettuce and black olives served up on a fresh baguette.  It was really good.  A tuna nicoise  salad on a bun. A great deal for $10 as it was basically two meals.  It was served with a house salad and I am not sure what the vinaigrette flavor was, I just couldn't quite put my finger on it, but it was extraordinary.  It was sweet and savory and the Chef wouldn't give up the secret!  Argh!!

Chad ordered a Salmon Omelet- and for $9 it was a also very large.  Served with breakfast potatoes and a pastry, it was just enough food to fill him happy.  He really enjoyed having a tasty omelet at 7pm.  Sometimes breakfast food makes the best dinner.

So we didn't partake in the higher end French dinner entrees but we really enjoyed what we did have.  We had wanted something easy and quick after a long day on the road and Paris Express definitely hit the spot.  Next time I am going for the crepes.

We were confused by the upscale menu paired with breakfast omelets and the beautiful crystal glasses didn't quite match the plate of fast food style ketchup packets on the table, but we loved this place.

When we entered, we were seated inside of the restaurant. We had ordered 2 florentine crepes and 1 vegetarian quiche. Very disappointed because the food was so bland! No seasoning used at all! The spinach in the crepe was bitter and the crepe was thick and soggy. The pastry on the quiche was completely raw and the eggs were not cooked. When we told the server that the pastry was raw, she explained that that is how it is supposed to be. I've never had a soggy quiche with a mushy pastry before. We left the restaurant without eating our own food. Never had to leave a restaurant without the food being edible.

Been here on numerous occasions and have no complaints. Food is good quality, expertly prepared and ample portions. Limited but good selection of wine and beer. Love the staff.