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| - My friend suggested meeting up at The Coup for a midweek "business lunch."
As usual, I did some recon, and checked out the Yelp! reviews to get a sense of what to expect.
After doing so, it sounded like meeting here for lunch during the work week might prove overly optimistic. There were many comments about limited seating and long table wait times. That's not what I'm looking for when trying to avoid my co-workers eye-rolling when returning from lunch "sometime" in the afternoon.
Well, I'm happy to report, I was pleasantly surprised.
We got there around 12:15--not a confidence inspiring time to begin with- and indeed the place was fully occupied. One more group was waiting ahead of us.
Our first thought was "Good luck - everyone just got here, so the whole hour will be shot."
Not so. The turnover was decent, with some people already finishing lunch. The wait was roughly 10 minutes. We were then seated by a very pleasant waitress, who continued to impress the whole meal.
I'm not a vegetarian... I'm not "anything" per say when it comes to food, other than I generally try to eat food that is: a) delicious, and b) will not kill me prematurely.
That being said, just because a meal lacks animal muscle does not mean it's "good for you." There are plenty of fat-laden, heart-stopping vegetarian dishes served in restaurants.
Here? Maybe one or two (see the brie / caramelized onion Panini), but overall, pretty decent choices for a healthy lunch.
I opted for the frittata and a salad.
The overall portion size was perfect for lunch, and flavor-wise quite satisfying. I appreciated the frittata being complemented by chunks of sweet yam to mix it up a bit, while adding some contrast. Where other restaurants may have loaded it up with sodium to make it taste good, here they opted for more diverse and healthy flavors. Some may call that bland, I call it intelligent.
The service was great, from the moment I walked in the door. It was attentive, without being annoying (after all, this was a "business lunch," and there were things we needed to discuss). The smaller size of the restaurant also made it more conducive to conversation.
Will I go back? For sure. It's now on my list for places to return.
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