Pascalou is a cute little French bistro in the Upper East Side, near the Cooper-Hewitt museum. It is affordable, non-pretentious, and offers a Sunday brunch. This is good. What's bad is that they leave the regular menu out on the street. I went in wanting the foie gras salad (of course), but a very frazzled waiter told me I couldn't have it. Sigh. He did offer me a lovely lobster crab salad. Wonderful! I love lobster. I love crab. And I love veggies... what's not to like!

I also ordered white sangria. Let me tell you, when I finally got it, it was worth the wait. It was a fab accompaniment to a fresh, crisp salad with the crab and lobster mixed with a touch of aioli, topped with avocado, and surrounded by a myriad of vegetables. This salad had a lot of taste but nothing was overpowering. It was perfect for a hot summer day in the city.

The dessert list is full of wonderful gluten-free ice cream options. I went for warm apricots over vanilla ice cream, topped with meringue cookie crumbles, whipped cream, and almonds. Oh for the love of all things sweet. It was so good and so different from the usually cream brulee I can have. Just look at the lusciousness. Yes. I ate the whole thing. After walking 40 something blocks, I felt ZERO remorse!

So I loved everything I ate (and drank) at Pescalou. However, please note the phrases in this review like "finally got it" and "frazzled" in this review, because I tell you now, while the food at Pascalou is great, the service is a bit lacking. I had to wait quite a bit for my drinks, and the table next to me had their order a bit screwed. Also, when I am looking around for someone to take my card after 10 minutes, I don't want to see my waiter at the curb, leaning on a bike yakking on his cell phone. More importantly, when I got my Am Ex bill, although I tipped 18%, money was added to it... about $9. So despite my love of the back of the house, the kitchen, and the food, the front of the house left a bad taste in my mouth.