When a pre-fix is no longer convenient

So Paris (and maybe the rest of France too) seems to have a thing for pre-fix (or prix fixe) menus (pre-determined or limited options three course meals for a set price).  And since I'm a man of convenience, I personally think it's a great system and opportunity to try a full three course menu from a restaurant (it's also a brilliant marketing move making you buy more food than you normally would for a "discounted" price).  But when does a pre-fix menu no longer become convenient?

The answer is when the simplicity of having a pre-fix menu is lost within the options of more than one pre-fix menu.  At the Bistro Romain, a chain restaurant across Paris, there were at least four different pre-fix menus with different options and prices throwing me into utter confusion in trying to decide what to eat for dinner.  But since not eating was not an option, I buckled down, put my thinking cap on, and made a grown up decision.  And since I had a small fiasco the other night trying to be bold with the pre-fix at the Cantine, I decided to keep things relatively conservative.

I started out with a chicken caesar salad that was actually quite delicious as caesar salad's go.  There was a healthy serving of tender chicken, the cheese was not too dominating but enough to add flavor (and came in thin slices as opposed to grated parmesan), the lettuce was fresh, and the piece of toast to compensate for croutons was still warm and equally delicious with a soft underside and toasted crunchy backside.

My main course was a veal cutlet with noodles that was pretty average.  The noodles were completely tasteless even with the red sauce on top, but at least it didn't taste bad.  The veal cutlet was a bit of a surprise as I've never had feel prepared in a cutlet style before.  With the lemon sprinkled on top of it, it almost tasted just like a pork cutlet, which is not a bad thing.  The meat itself was pretty tender albeit a tad thin, and the seasoning on the breading was mild (which seems to be the running theme in French food here).

Dessert was the ever elusive creme brulee that came in a very hearty dish which I thoroughly enjoyed because of the larger surface area for the glazed shell.  The shell was a pleasantly warm, crunchy, and sugary treat while the creme underneath was a little bit on the dense side but delicious nonetheless.

Overall, my pre-fix meal at the Bistro seemed to finally average out my streak of prior bad decisions in pairing my appetizers, main dishes, and desserts into a proper dinner.  Nothing negative stood out in any of the dishes but there was nothing extraordinary about any of the dishes either (if I had to vote though, I would rank the salad first, creme brulee second, and veal third).

As for the pricing, the pre-fix ended up being 20€90, which I would put on the expensive side for a meal of this quality.  If you're looking for average/solid no frills pre-fix meal, then grab your €20 bill, some change, and head over to the nearest Bistro Romain

Bistro Romain

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103 Boulevard du Montparnasse, 75006 Paris, France
Metro: Montparnasse - Bienvenue or Valvin