Ooh la la!
Tonight’s special dinner date took us to Le Coq Au Vin, a much-talked-about French restaurant that opened in Orlando in 1976.
I surprised Ryan with the location of tonight’s date!
Ryan’s birthday is on Tuesday and I wanted to take him on a fun date to a restaurant he’s raved about ever since he visited the place several months ago with colleagues from his work.
He’s been talking about taking me here for quite a while, so I decided to flip the table and take him there this evening! Sneaky, sneaky.
The restaurant is located in a rather unassuming area of Orlando, but all of the reviews online and the recommendations we received from friends were overwhelmingly positive.
Plus, Ryan had been raving about his meal from the place for months, so I was quite exited to try it out for myself.
One thing I immediately noticed was the quality of the service at Le Coq Au Vin. We were seated immediately and our waiter greeted us with a basket of fresh, crusty French bread within seconds.
Warm French bread from a real French restaurant?
Sign me up! 
I ate two pieces while we perused the menu and placed our drink orders.
Ryan made his mind up quickly, but I took a little longer. However once I heard the specials from our waiter, my mind was made up!
He mentioned a baby greens salad served with a fried egg and lobster and I was 100 percent on board!
Before our entrees were served, Ryan and I shared a cup of French onion soup with gruyere cheese.
It was fantastic!
I wasn’t sure if our main meals would stack up to this soup, but man-oh-man, they did!
My salad was wonderful and included a ton of lobster!
When I dug into my salad and saw just how much lobster was hidden in the greens, I actually got a little nervous about the price! Since it was a “special” I didn’t think to ask how much it cost.
Ryan and I then took wagers on how much we thought my salad would be. He guessed $30 on the basis that the lobster entree on the menu was $45. I crossed my fingers that it would be less, but I wasn’t so sure!
Though the lobster was clearly the highlight of the salad, the fried egg was an awesome addition as well. The breadcrumbs on the outside of the egg were buttery and very flavorful.
For Ryan’s entree, he selected the Cassoulet, described on the menu as a specialty from the Southwest of France: White beans slowly braised with lamb, duck, port and garlic sausage,topped with a crust of duck cracklings, herbs, and breadcrumbs.
This meal was like heaven for Ryan. Lots and lots of meat, served in a stew-like broth with loads of beans. It truly was fantastic! It tasted like super-special home cookin’.
His meal was pretty big, so I helped him out quite a bit and in the end his cassoulet looked like this:
We annihilated it!
Then it was time for the bill… and the revealing of the price of my salad.
I grabbed for the check and was absolutely shocked to see my salad was only $15! You can’t even buy a tiny lobster tail at our local grocery store for less than $9. What a steal!
We debated ordering dessert at Le Coq Au Vin, but decided against it in favor of a little fo yo.
Chilly Spoons caught our eye from the road as we were driving to dinner and we knew we’d be stopping by on our way back home.
Ryan and I decided to share a big cup of dulce de leche and cheesecake swirl frozen yogurt that we topped with lots of different goodies.
I think we liked it.
I had a great time celebrating with the birthday boy! Tonight’s date was a nice little reward for a day of cleaning, organizing and checking off items on our wedding to-do list!
Hope you’re enjoying your weekend! 😀
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I like your dress! 🙂
Thanks, Jess!
I actually told Ryan I felt like an upsidedown cupcake! 🙂
It is really gorgeous! Was that one of your Rue La La purchases?
Beautiful dress Julie.
I love your blog.
The format is perfect.
So many great pictures.
Happy Birthday Ryan! You looked great in that pink dress and the lobster salad looks amazing!!! Enjoy the rest of your night!
The his and her spoons in the frozen yogurt cup are so cute! I love finding local restaurants that don’t always look like much, but turn out to be fantastic! Getting lobster for that price is a steal!
I agree with everyone else, that dress is gorgeous! Where did you get it?
I’m a huge duck lover. One day I went to this unassuming french restaurant and had the best roasted duck of my life….for only $12 dollars. I actually wanted to run screaming “start the car,” just like in that old Ikea commercial!
thanks! it’s from ruelala (an online boutique w/ awesome discounts on designer clothes): http://www.ruelala.com/invite/jbream726
Loooove your dress!! You have the best clothes!
That dress is adorable! =) Your dinner looks so good. Jealous!
I have to agree with everyone else…cute dress!! I love pink. And what a fun date. Happy Birthday to Ryan!
lookin good julie! whered you get the dress?
happy b irthday to ryan! seans is the 14th 🙂
You look sooo good in that dress, you could pass off as a model!! Where is the dress from? I’m in love with it!!
thank you! i got it from ruelala.com: http://www.ruelala.com/invite/jbream726
The food looks amazing, and I love your dress, too! It’s a fantastic color! I always get nervous ordering specials when I don’t know the price, mostly because I had one horrible experience of dining with a friend who ordered surf and turf, only to find out that the market price was $75! You definitely got a great deal. Sounds like a lovely night!
Love the spoon set up! Very cute. Y’all are so generous to share your dessert with one another…that’s something I just can’t do…I become a completely different person when sweets are at stake. Yikes! Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!
I absolutely LOVE that this resturant is getting some blog-world attention! My boyfriend’s sister lives in Orlando and took us there a few years ago. We STILL talk about the duck and escargot!!! It’s the highlight for any of her out-of-town guests. Mmmmmmmm!!!
PS: Your blog is adorable! Long time reader, but first time commenter! 🙂
Looks like you and Ryan had a nice birthday dinner!! That place looks awesome. And I LOVE your dress!! The ruffles on the bottom are so cute!
You look absolutely beautiful in that dress! How nice of you to surprise him with such a fun date. I can’t believe that salad was so inexpensive! I love it when deals like that happen.
That French place sounds like one of my favorite French restaurants near me: totally unassuming, but totally delicious. I love when a place surprises you–in a good way of course!
Sounds like a delicious meal! Little unassuming places like that always have the BEST food!
LOVE your dress and the shoes!
i love your outfit! and ryan’s birthday is the same day as my dad’s!
Love your dress! You are so pretty! That salad looks amazing!
I love seafood salads. I’ve never tried lobster, but I bet it was incredible!
Jumping on the “cute dress” bandwagon! I shouldn’t be surprised though, you always have the most gorgeous outfits. I think I may have to check out this Rue La La you rave about! Happy Birthday to your man! Libras are the best!
I’m chiming in on the dress too because it’s beyond adorable..,and love it with the dark nude pumps. Looks awesome!
Oh. My. Gosh! I want that dress – so cute! 🙂 You always have the best outfits!
That restaurant looks super cute. My kind of place. 🙂 This reminded me of a family owned Cuban restaurant I used to love in Altamonte Springs. If you like Cuban food you should look into it..it’s pretty fantastic – reasonably priced, delicious food, and great service from what I remember.
ryan is obsessed w/ cuban sandwiches. do you remember the name of the place?
I believe the name is Rolando’s. (and if I remember correctly it’s on 436?)
cute dress!
Ahhh! Love the ‘fit! Can we get the details on the dress and shoes?
of course! the dress is from ruelala (an online boutique w/ greatdiscounts on designer clothes): http://www.ruelala.com/invite/jbream726 & the shoes are jessica simpson pumps.
Hi Julie, We just wanted to thank you for all the kind words you said about our restaurant. The pictures were great. We can see why you will have a bright future in writing. It was quite interesting to read and see all the beauty in what you do. You make a person feel as if they are there with you and I think that is what writing is all about. Please come back and join us whenever possible and we would love to share our dessert menu with you both. Thanks again for your kind words. Sincerely Reimund & Sandy Pitz
Love your dress! That fried egg looks really tasty! Great idea.
1…. LOVE your dress!
2…. LOVE the bread photo! It looks like it was taken by a pro!!
Great blog post. When it was my wedding I had such a beautiful dress, it just fitted perfectly. It was really beautiful. Sorry for ranting on about my wedding experience, but this blog post really brought back good memories.
Aw now I want to go there. I always wondered about it. Thank you for sharing.