dining out

Café de Michel (617) 566-5958 1625 Tremont Street (Mission Hill), Roxbury Open Mon–Fri, 8 a.m.–midnight, and Sat–Sun, 11 a.m.–1 a.m. AE, Di, MC, Vi Beer and wine No valet parking Up slight bump from sidewalk level

Of all the weird emotions I’ve felt in recent weeks, perhaps the strangest has been my urge to reassure immigrants from the Arab world, South Asia, and thereabouts that I don’t hate them. It’s not that anyone around me was making such noises. I suppose I just had the need to help someone — anyone — in peril, even a little bit. I made a point of getting a haircut at my neighborhood Lebanese barbershop and smiled at people wearing head scarves, as well as at those reading Pakistani-newspaper sites on the Internet. I didn’t especially remember that Café de Michel is owned by a Persian who worked in France, or that the chef was born in Morocco and trained in Italy, but somehow I ended up there three times for excellent meals. I should add that the folks at Café de Michel aren’t exactly advertising these connections right now, and who could blame them? But they could put a little more regional cuisine on the menu than a not-very-typical Persian salad.

The tone is more Anglo-Irish than anything else, in the sense that Café de Michel feels like a pub, and features some fine draft beers and a decent shepherd’s pie. There’s more Italian on the menu than any other language, with French references in the wall art. The combination seems to appeal to the kind of medical-center youth who have been gentrifying the area ever since the city closed the Mission Hill projects and then rehabbed them as market-rate housing.

All of which is to say that there are two ways to go at Café de Michel: bistro or pub. The bistro route suggests wine and an appetizer course of soup or salad. You can get fried calamari ($7), but the dish I had was mostly batter, and the accompanying " spicy wasabi aïoli " lacks spice, wasabi, or the garlic rush of real aïoli. It is sweet pink mayonnaise. I ate the fine salad underneath, but actually left behind chunks of calamari. On the other hand, vegetarian minestrone ($4) is entirely satisfactory, even served in a paper bowl. The broth is a good herbal tomato. The soup is packed with vegetables and a little macaroni, and — aha! — no beans. Though it’s odd to eat minestrone without beans, it may well be better than eating beany minestrone without meat. In any case, the vegetarians have it here, although a cup of pea soup with ham is also very good — not too thick, nice little diced-ham nuggets popping up in the broth, though perhaps saltier than it needs to be. The mesclun salad ($5.25) gives some life to that tired term for field greens. The greens are very good — more arugula and red leaves, less filler — and the blue cheese works with a well-made balsamic dressing. I do not support the use of Red Delicious apples, however. Here or anywhere.

Then you could have the truly impressive steak-tip plate ($8.95). These are sirloin tips marinated well and grilled to order (at least with our order of medium-rare), served on a large pile of basmati rice (rather bland for basmati), grilled tomatoes, and under-sautéed broccoli. Hmmm ... if those tips were cut one more time, wouldn’t this plate look and taste a lot like Persian kebabs at twice the price?

The wine list looks good but will take some exploration. I was so impressed with the Buena Vista sauvignon blanc served at Natick’s Equinox Grill that I ordered it here ($5 glass/$20 bottle). It was good, but perhaps a different vintage, as it had more of the astringency of " press wine, " typical of cheap California whites. Equinox doesn’t carry the Buena Vista zinfandel, and that’s probably also a good decision, as a glass of it at Café de Michel ($6/22) had a weird, grapey aroma and a raisiny flavor.

For dessert, you can bistro along with chocolate cheesecake ($5.95), served like a flourless chocolate cake (which it sort of is) in a dense wedge with chocolate sauce and airy whipped cream. But you might lean a little to the pub side for carrot cake ($5.95), with a super caramel sauce and even more whipped cream (plus cream cheese in the frosting). The coffee is truly French, strong even as decaf. You can tell they don’t see a lot of fiftysomethings in here — espresso and cappuccino but no decaf cappuccino. The tea is served as hot water in a china cup; if you pick your tea bag really fast and cover the cup with a saucer, it might brew.

As a pub, Café de Michel really comes into its own. The drafts include Samuel Adams, Guinness, Bass, and Blue Moon — a Belgian-style ale flavored with coriander and orange peel that I find hard to resist. With this, get some of that shepherd’s pie ($8.50): it’s a homey slab of mashed potatoes on ground beef and peas, with a nice salad on the side. Or you could have the " Fisherman’s Pie " ($8.50), here described as " an English favorite. " The English should be so fortunate: this is the same slab of mashed potatoes smothering a combination of haddock, light cheese sauce, and spinach.

Another good choice, at least for lunch, is " The Solstice " ($5.95), further described as " the original panino. " Now, I’ve never been to Italy, so my ideas about this dish were formed over lunches at Il Panino in Cambridge. To me, Café de Michel’s version seems like a delicious sandwich made of lots of fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, along with tomatoes (could be riper at this time of year), served on a decent sub roll. On the authenticity front, the tomatoes and bread need a little work. But as an improvement on the standard pub lunch, it’s a delectable jewel.

The café space does quite a lot without much to work with. The potted flowers that fill the windows are very effective. Inside, the little tables are topped with granite, there’s lots of painted paneling, and the soundtrack runs from Madonna’s techno period to, well, Madonna’s techno period. The open French windows are a joy — too bad they look out on a gas station across the street.

Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com