THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Royale Brasserie Bar

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Royale Brasserie Bar Restaurant Review:

Packaged so smartly that it may as well be wrapped with a wide red ribbon, this handsome addition to the Gaslamp Quarter is a surprisingly convincing recreation of the century-old brasseries that still bustle all over central Paris. To be sure, the service is all-American, and servers reliably pose the question You still workin' on that! before removing plates, but the look is so utterly Gallic (the floors are tiled in elaborate mosaics, and lampshades twist and curl into Art Nouveau shapes) that we are inclined to forgive these nice young people their imprecision of speech. A large shellfish bar like those generally stationed outside Paris brasseries is the source of vast, iced platters brimming with high quality oysters, clams, lobsters and crabs. The menu takes account of American sensibilities and refrains from offering the sausages and sauerkrauts typical of genuine brasseries (an elaborately garnished sauerkraut does appear as a Thursday night special), opting instead to offer very good steak frites combinations, daily fresh fish, and such excellent French classics as roast chicken grand'mère and sautéed veal with rich, buttery noodles. The dessert list pleases with a selection of cheeses and the outstanding specialty of made-to-order crêpes Suzettes.