I was taken out to dinner on Tuesday night to Francine's in Camden. Its probably been about a year since we ate there last time. I am still very impressed by this small jewelbox of a restaurant. I was amazed at how crowded the restaurant was on a Tuesday night before season. Even the outside tables were taken up. We asked the bartender to make us Mohitos, a dark rum drink made with simple syrup, mint, lime juice and club soda. When I was a kid, these were called Southsides and it was a great way to break intodrinking hard alcohol. Anyway, the mohitos took forever to get from the bar, so we switched after the first one.
For dinner, two of us had the steak frites and our dining companion had crab cakes. Francine's chef changes the menu daily which keeps the place fresh and keeps the clientel coming back for more on a regular basis...something I think more restaurants need to do to keep things interesting. The steak frites was incredible. The steak was tender and very well seasoned and the frites, though not your standard julienned potatoes that you find in France, were wonderfully crispy and tasty with the perfect amount of salt and other spices. Apparently the crab cakes were excellent, though yours truly did not sample them. Dessert for my dining companions was a shared dish of vanilla ice cream with a rhubarb/ cherry coulis that smelled divine and must have been perfect since one of the ladies practically licked the bowl! All in all a very nice dinner and good atmosphere. Make sure to call ahead, as there are very few tables.

Enjoy,
Seth