Can Can is a French restaurant located on Cary St. in Richmond’s Carytown neighborhood. I’ve reviewed it online before, but thought it was time for another appraisal. I recently ate their for luncheon. Arriving at 11:55 AM on a Saturday, there were plenty of seats.

Can-Can prides itself not on that kind of French—the ultra-expensive, snooty-European waiter style of restaurant that’s dark—but rather, a more casual, bistro style place. They call it a brasserie, but to my eyes it’s more bistro. This isn’t to say it’s inexpensive like a bistro should be, but you can get your steak with “frites” here, and I’ve had it for dinner. It was good. So was the wine.

Each time I have come to Can-Can, it’s only gotten better. The thing that always turned me off was the service. Impersonal, and not always efficient. This time around, like the one before it, the service aspect had improved. The lunch menu offers all kinds of treats, we found, including sandwiches, full entrées, and smaller bites and soup. I ate too much of their bread, with a healthy slathering of freshly-made butter. Both the bread and the butter were amazingly good.

It’s the first thing you smell upon entering Can-Can… the bread and pastry. You’re likely to admire the decor, too, which again to me, yells “bistro.” I picture that scene in the finale of Sex and the City when Carrie is in Paris, and Mr. Big comes to get her. Or that movie with Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson… they end up in a French restaurant. This has such a feel. Even the clientele is fashionably dressed and good looking.

I ordered their bowl of apple and rutabaga soup. It came with a chive garnish, and a small dollop of crème fraiche. It was sweet, yes, but earthy, and when salted, became a most excellent, satisfying soup. Warm, inviting, delicious, and simple. I relished each spoonful, and enjoyed the beforementioned bread, which was studded with sweet spices and golden raisins.

The drink I ordered, a pear ale from California, was an excellent foil for the soup. It could have had more bubbles, but then again, Can-Can isn’t responsible for the hard ciders.

I ordered the short-rib sandwich, which comes with Can-Can’s irresistible frites. By this time, I realized I should have gotten the half-sandwich, for I was full before touching the sandwich, first gobbling-up the french fries. They’re served with a thick catsup. Wheres the belgian, garlicky mayonnaise? The sandwich had large chunks of beef, all that seemed to melt in the mouth, full of rich flavor, with little effort from your teeth. It was served in thin slices of ciabatta which was too thin to really pick up the whole thing as a sandwich. I tried with the first half I cut, but in the second half, I gave up, and used a fork and knife.

I hate eating sandwiches with a fork and knife. Can-Can could have cut the meat to better accommodate the sandwich, for picking up.

The tomato, somehow roasted and concentrated in flavor, was great on the sandwich. A spicy red aioli and leaves of arugula also found their way into the sandwich. The flavors were divine. The messyness, not great. But why should I complain?

We were stuffed. It was time to go. The desserts at Can-Can are normally excellent. But if you want a very short stroll before dessert, Jean-Jacques bakery is adjacent, as is Richmond’s For the Love of Chocolate chocolate store. I came home with a copious cache of bars.