Les Moustaches: il n'y a pas de chose dans le monde comme l'elegance francaise. (Inside Eating Out).

If colorful flowers, live piano music and pink walls are the markings of a fine French restaurant, than we knew we were in for a treat when we walked into Les Moustaches. After a friendly welcome, we were led through the exquisite lower dining area, where green ivy covered the walls, to the bright upper level. The flowers peeking out of the window boxes added an authentic touch of springtime in France, and the musician gracefully tickled our memories with a piano version of songs that were just at the tips of our tongues. The only down--or better yet, tacky--side of Les Moustaches' ambience was all around us in the form of hot pink walls that weren't very pleasing to the eyes of our macho all-male group.

Scanning the menu, the first thing that jumped out at us were the prices--they were surprisingly reasonable for such a seemingly upscale restaurant. Inserts placed in the menus told us of the restaurant's current shrimp festival and included a listing of more than a dozen platters featuring one of our favorite ocean dwellers.

We decided to take the bait by ordering two shrimp appetizers: shrimp soup and shrimp in ajillo chili. According to our taste buds, both choices were excellent. Two more entradas helped lead us into our main courses: a refreshing salad with goat cheese and a tasty tagliatelle with pesto.

Of course, we can't talk about a French restaurant without dipping into its wine. The selection of wine by the bottle at Les Moustaches was quite impressive. However, if you prefer to drink by the glass, your choices are narrowed to a disappointing few, about four by our count. Two in our group decided to order the rioja house wine. The half-filled glasses gave the impression they weren't getting a good value for the price, and our companion, an Italian amateur wine connoisseur, complained the rioja tasted a bit like rubber. Was he just overly critical or did someone forget to take off their shoes while stomping the grapes?

For our main courses, we ordered four dishes: Dijon mustard steak, duck in black olive sauce, Australian-style lamb and salmon. The duck was very tender, while the lamb--which came accompanied by potatoes and covered in a robust sauce--was described by the person who ordered it as "manly food." The salmon was soft and tasty, if a bit salty, and the companion who ate the mustard steak said it was "okay." Maybe red meat dishes should be left to our South American ches, the Argentines.

Unfortunately, during this visit there was no time for dessert. For a group of busy gentlemen on lunch break, waiting the extra IS minutes the waiter said it would take to bake a souffle was simply out of the question. However, the list was fairly extensive, so try one if you have the time, and let us know how it turns out.

Rio Sena 88

Col. Cuauhtemoc

Mon. to Sat. 1-11:30 p.m., closed Sun.

Tel.: [phone]

FOOD

DECOR

SERVICE

COST (IN U.S. DOLLARS)

1-3 dreadful to poor

4-6 fair to good

7-8 good to very good

9 excellent

10 extraordinary