Cool and overcast.

108 boulevard Montparnasse, Paris 14. Métro Vavin.

Upon entering the dining room of this long-established, seafood-oriented brasserie, we were impressed by its bright and even illumination by way of the glass walls and skylights, its gleaming chrome appointments, its opulent table settings on starched white cloths. We sank into cane chairs at a table comfortably large and comfortably separated from its neighbors. A dapper headwaiter appeared, toting a magnum of Champagne in a manner that was partly that of a Mafia don and partly that of a butler out of the imagination of P. G. Wodehouse. We accepted coupes of Champagne Deutz (2xF56.).

A waiter came around the dining room with a tray piled high with omble chevalier, lake trout, exquisitely fresh. The gray-and-pink fish were some 40 cm long, very bright-eyed. Jean decided to order one to be cooked meunière.

Amuse bouche: A brandade tasting moderately of potato and garlic, not too salty.

Riesling Domaine Weinbach 1995 (demi F160): Full in the mouth, with good concentration of sugar and acid.

We observed a thirty-something woman seated in a corner of the dining room, wanly unchic in something greenish or brownish rather than the currently fashionable black (the with-it Parisienne seems to have just returned from some celebrity’s funeral). She frequently glanced at her watch and looked more and more distraught with every passing minute. Unlike for us, for her just being in le Dôme was no guarantee of happiness.

Asperges vertes tièdes, sauce mousseline: A bundle of green asparagus, fresh tasting, offered with a sauce boat containing, not mousseline, but a breathtakingly luxurious hollandaise.

Petite friture d’éperlans, sauce tartare: Crispy whitebait served with lemon wedges (we found the extra lemon was a plus here) and tartar sauce good enough to justify scooping up the excess on bread.

Omble chevalier meunière. The deboned halves of the lake trout were served on an oval plate, a simple presentation yet a visually pleasing one with the fish’s shades of salmon-pink, beige and off-white. The fish had a definite fresh flavor. The dish was accompanied by a flavorful baked potato on a white sauce, the potato slashed and sprinkled with finely-diced truffle.

Tronçon de turbot à la broche, sauce hollandaise: Two triangular slabs of turbot with the skin on and bone in, served one atop the other. The fish was cooked so that the flesh on the bone was reddish and translucent while the rest was opaque and white or off-white. The fish had a fine fresh flavor, fairly strong considering that turbot is one of the milder-tasting ocean fish. Nevertheless the sauce hollandaise was a welcome adjunct. The dish included a generous helping of a just-wilted, intensely dark green and sumptuous vegetable that reminded us of the prêle that we had enjoyed at la Régalade a few days earlier.

Roquefort des caves de Baragnaudes served at room temperature; pungent, unctuous, and a fine match with our luscious Riesling Weinbach.

We noticed the woman in the corner again. Her lunch date having arrived, she suddenly came alive, talking animatedly, smiling, waving her arms, etc. We felt like offering advice in the manner of Ann Landers: anyone late for lunch at le Dôme is no good, so drop this crummy no-good jerk before he ruins your life!

Assortiment de glaces et sorbets included a splendid chocolate ice cream, a mandarin sorbet that seemed to be enhanced with a little vodka, and a raspberry one whose flavor was rich like a berry liqueur.

Coffee was accompanied by nothing more than ordinary commercial chocolate, the one off-note at le Dôme.

The total was F983.