Blog Post: Good French Food Can Be Found in Agoura

I just went to this little neighborhood French restaurant called Café 14 nestled in Agoura Hills. Not bad for the slim choices of a good French restaurant in this area. Café 14 certainly has an impressive variety of French dishes; yet, the prices and the quantity could possibly use just a little readjustment.

I started my meal with a great salad called The Kitchen Sink. It was a mix of two different lettuces, beets, tomatoes, onions, blue cheese and a champagne vinaigrette dressing. The salad was very fresh and very good. Even for the price and the quantity, it seemed to be sufficient. In fact, I look forward to going back and trying their other salads.

My husband ordered the Tuna Tartare that tasted very fresh but lacked a zip! It just didn’t pop in my mouth the way a good Tuna Tartare should taste. Next time I would try ordering this dish again, since it’s a favorite, and request a stronger wasabi aioli added to it along with more wonton chips. By the way, the wonton chips were great!

The entrees were next in line. I ordered the Burgundy Braised, Boneless Beef Short Rib and also a small plate of the Sweet Potato Gnocchi. Well, the short ribs were very good. The amount of meat was a bit slimmer than I would have liked. Even the amount of mushrooms that came with it was scarce. With Café 14 or any great restaurant, it’s nice to be able to walk away from a meal feeling completely satisfied from the taste of a dish, to the price, and to the amount served.

Oh, yeah. You might be wondering about the pasta dish. It was very good. Yet, again… charging $15 for sweet potato Gnocchi and eating exactly 13 gnocchi’s… hmm? Sorry chef, but your gnocchi was so good and I just wanted more!

The people we dined with were craving French fries. Our side dish was the Pommes Frites. There was flavor but not enough for me to obsess and continue to eat more French fries like I couldn’t get enough of them. Maybe if the chef added an interesting dipping sauce such as a pesto mayo or a blue cheese, than it might create more pizzazz and more French fries obsession!

There was a dish other than the salad that I would definitely order again. The Ricotta Beignets with a chocolate sauce… absolutely delicious! You can even share it with another person and fill happy and satisfied. The beignets were so light and the chocolate sauce was perfectly sweet. The beignets were the jackpot!

If you’re craving French food, Café 14 is great, but just watch your dollar as you order.

CAFÉ 14 - 30315 Canwood St., Agoura Hills, CA 91301,Telephone: 818-991-9560

The opinions of Marlene's are her own and do not reflect the views of Agoura Hills Patch.