Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Cafe St. Tropez

110 W. Main St. STE140
Carmel, IN, 46032
(317) 581-9559
Cafe St. Tropez

I want to first explain why it has been so long since I last posted an entry. I have been spending my nights coaching high school track. It has been the most rewarding and fulfilling thing I have ever done. It has also taken up most of my free time. Our season is coming to an end, so expect to hear much more from me. I also ended up buying a Groupon for Foodie Indy. It is a deck of playing cards with $10 gift cards to 52 local restaurants. You have to spend a minimum of $30 at each restaurant, but dinner for 2 usually ends up costing that much anyways. This is going to give me a larger base of restaurants to choose from. Maybe I'll start treating my followers to meals from the deck of cards, as the cards expire at the end of the year.

Since I failed to blog in a two week span, one of my followers, Melissa, won a meal on EAting Indy. We went to Cafe St. Tropez in downtown Carmel. It is located in between Bub's and Detour, overlooking the Monon. They have a little patio, but it was a cool evening so we ate inside. The restaurant is not very big. The interior is kind of a blend between a coffee house and a quaint cafe. The decor was nice, somewhat fancy. I felt a little underdressed as I came after a workout and was wearing sweat pants. It didn't really matter as we were the only ones in the restaurant. Near the end of our meal, a couple walked in, but it was just 4 of us in the restaurant for the majority of our dinner. Our service was average to good, but it is hard to ignore the only patrons in your establishment. The food came out quickly and our waitress was very knowledgeable about the menu. Not to downplay her, but the menu only consists of appetizers, paninis, and a small breakfast menu. I was torn between the egg salad and the chicken panini. Our waitress recommended the panini. Price was the biggest issue. My sandwich was $10.50 and it only came with a salad. If I am going to pay that much for a sandwich, I at least want to feel satisfied. They also offered a dinner menu with a couple full size entrees, but those were priced at $19.99. I was still hungry after the meal. Luckily we went to Huddles Frozen Yogurt afterwards.

The panini was on sourdough bread. It was made up of chicken breast, taleggio cheese, greens, and a pesto sauce. It was very fresh and did not lack taste. The cheese was smooth and smokey. The bread was perfectly toasted. The pesto kept the chicken from drying out. The salad left something to be desired. It was just field greens, tomatoes, with white balsamic dressing. I just thought it was pretty boring. I probably will not make it back to St. Tropez Cafe as I could get more for my money elsewhere.

 

Sleep 'til your hungry, EAt 'til you're sleepy."

Cafe St. Tropez on Urbanspoon