Le Moulin de la Fleur

One thing I love about Buenos Aires is the endless amount of French architecture that was at the core of the city’s development. You’d think a city with so much French architecture would see that spill over into the city’s cuisine and restaurant scene.

But there is a surprising void of French cuisine. Yes. There are plenty of French bakeries making the pastries that are such an integral part of the city’s cuisine and café culture. But as far as restaurants that serve French cuisine and don’t bastardize the names of the dishes on the menu … well that is very rare site in this city.

The arrival of Le Pain Quotidien, the large international chain of French restaurants cum bread shops, was a welcomed breath of fresh air. And now we’re seeing more and more small restaurants and cafés with a French personality popping up. La Galette and Frenchie are but two examples.

Well you can now add another small restaurant to that that list with the opening of Le Moulin de la Fleur in three separate locations in Recoleta. At the time of penning this review I had only dined at the newest location at the corner of Rodriguez Peña and Vicente López.

The décor at La Moulin de la Fleur at this location is sleek, clean and minimalist with only a trace of French personality showing through. That’s a bit of a contrast to the more rustic décor at the location on Pueyrredón and the extremely tiny location on Talchuana. But all the restaurants are clean and pleasant. The Rodriguez Peña locale is especially pleasant during the day as lots of light spills in to brighten the dining area from two directions.

Waitresses are young and lacking experience, but do an adequate job of waiting on customers. I’ve been there when most the tables were full and the service seemed to flow smoothly enough.

I’ve had both a sandwich and quiche and both were tasty. The sandwich, shown as a tartine on the menu, was on delicious fresh bread and there was lots of the tasty filling. It was served accompanied by oven-baked French fries. The quiche was much better than your typical “tarta” served in so many of the city’s restaurants. The crust was flaky, tall and impressive and the custard filling delicious.

How would I compare the nearby Le Pain Quotidien? I think the execution of the menu is similar in both restaurants. I do think the LPQ menu is a bit more creative, exceeding the typical boundaries of Argentine cuisine. And I think this unique menu is part of that restaurant’s success. Time will tell whether this more traditional menu at Le Moulin de la Fleur will stand the test of time.

The restaurant seems to have been accepted by the residents of the neighborhood. It has been very busy during lunch and dinner hours every time I’ve either dined in the restaurant or walked by it and glanced through the windows.

So, Le Moulin de la Fleur seems to be on track for a modicum of success in this particular neighborhood. That’s well-deserved success for bringing a slightly new personality to the restaurant scene in Recoleta.