La Dijonaise Cafe: Still Affordable and Homey

One of the hallmarks of Culver City has been the ever-popular La Dijonaise. Long before the restaurant revival hit , this affordable was chugging along, serving simple French food without all the fanfare.

It all started in 1992, when owner Pascal Donzel came over from France and helped open to open a bakery in Long Beach. There, he met his wife-to-be, Thanh, whose uncle happened to own the place where Pascal was working.  Love was in the air and eventually they married, and opened La Dijonaise around 2000.

I still like this charming place, especially the original artwork of the French countryside on the walls. But I think their menu is a bit simple compared to other French places in the area. If your palate isn’t too industrious, La Dijonaise may be a good fit for you, plus they also serve many items for those who want more Americanized cuisine.

In recent years, they’ve had some stiff competition nearby. Beacon hung around for several years, Father’s Office is always bustling, and everyone’s crowding into next door, which is probably why La Dijonaise wasn’t very busy on the night we were there.

Is change is in the air?  There’s now a one-sheet menu. The price on a glass of house wine has almost doubled, which was an unfortunate surprise. Also, some of the entrees seem rather bland compared to some of my previous experiences at the restaurant.

Their once-delightful mussels with white wine and a cream broth ($15.95) were a bit of a snore. We really couldn’t find anything unique about this dish, and had to scrape the bottom of the bowl to find any relief in flavor. If you want mussels, go to , where they serve it about 10 different ways.

However, we loved one of the specials, their red snapper ($17.95), with a delightful lobster tarragon sauce, brown rice, asparagus and cherry tomatoes.  I prefer their wild rice, so perhaps they’re shaving costs. The vegetables were fresh, but needed something to make them memorable.

The Caesar salad ($7.95 for the large) is a huge mound of delight, and consistently good with large shavings of fresh Parmesan cheese. 

Escargot de Bourgogne is a delicious bargain at $6.95 if you like that sort of thing, and I’ve always enjoyed their crepes.

Their bakery greets you upon entering, and although I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I’ve always loved their crème brule. Everyone raves about the croissants.

Maybe it was an off night.  Maybe mercury was retrograde.  Maybe I’ve been spoiled by the local places nearby.

I’m not crossing La Dijonaise off the list, but perhaps I’ll stick to breakfast and lunch, where the prices have consistently stayed well below the national average, and you don’t have to wrestle for a parking spot with the trendy next-door eateries.

, 8703 Washington Blvd.; (310) 287-2770