The building the restaurant lives in is back from the road nestled among the redwoods and backed up to a creek, a very cozy setting. Its an old house with a nice warm fireplace for this winter evening. Its comfy, yet elegant, formal but not stuffy, you definitely have the feeling that you've been transported to a French country inn.
One thing we'll admit is we're not coupon people and its an experience that always makes us a little uncomfortable, but we had nothing to worry about here. The staff is friendly and gracious, I left the coupon on the edge of the table and when our waiter saw it he immediately made sure we knew that any entree including the daily specials were available to us and was very helpful in explaining various dishes and any discomfort we came in with was soon dissipated.
Bread and herbed butter arrived quickly along with a very good glass of house Merlot ($6). Making my dinner choice was easy, I wanted steak and tonight they had a NY cut which was Flambéd with brandy and finished with a black peppercorn cream sauce, served with French Fries and asparagus.
The salads were a nice mix of greens with a basalmic vinegrette topped with some shredded carrots, a nice way to start off the meal.
When our main course arrived two things were immediatly apparent, the portions were ample and the presentation was beautiful.
My steak was a large thick cut piece of meat, cooked to a perfect medium, something a lot of restaurants have trouble doing. I'm not a big fan of sauce on steak and I usually ask to have the meat cooked plain, but tonight I didn't and I was glad I didn't. The black peppercorn cream sauce, was the simply to die for. At first I felt the fries were a little underwhelming until I realized when you used them to sop up the cream sauce they became heavenly and by the time I was done my plate was pretty clean. The best thing was the steak didn't let the sauce overpower it, it was flavorful and very, very, tender. The asparagus was firm yet tender all the way down to the bottom of the stalk.
Irina's duck was a hit too. She was glad she ordered it and said it basically melted in her mouth. I only got a small bite, she was being very protective of her portion, but I'd agree it was the best duck I've tasted and its sauce added a lot of flavor without overpowering the duck meat. Again her asparagus was excellent and the mashed potatoes were first rate. Irina had arrived craving mashed potatoes and she said they did a great job of satisfying that craving. We were full and happy and we weren't done yet.
Dessert was two incredibly fresh Tiramisus. Creamy and light and again ample portions. We complimented them with tea and coffee and were ready to roll home, two happy campers.
Now here's the good part all that came to $50.00 excluding tax and tip. We figured that at full prices the bill should have been around $90.00, actually very reasonable for the quality and size of the meals along with the great atmosphere, but for a 40% savings it was incredible.
At the end of the meal the chef/owner, Lionel Morvan came around to each table to chat with us and ask how we liked things, very impressive. Well Ma Maison has two new converts and we will be back, with or without coupons. In fact this is the great thing about these kind of deals, there are places you might not experiment with because of price, but with this kind of savings its worth taking the chance and if like our experience at Ma Maison you love the place, everyone wins. You have a new place you like and the restaurant has new regulars. This is one of the main reasons we started eating out cheap and one of the driving forces that keeps us going.
Ma Maison
9051 Soquel Drive
Aptos, CA
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