Competing ingredients mar some dishes at Sugar Factory American Brasserie

Remember how Mom used to tell you to eat balanced meals? Well, she'd want to know that our dinner at Sugar Factory American Brasserie had a couple of balance issues.

And not for the reason you might think. The name may be Sugar Factory and the restaurant at Paris Las Vegas may have grown out of a small and growing chain of upscale candy shops, but the menu offers plenty of salads and sandwiches and crepes and entrees and all sorts of things that help balance out the sweets.

Actually, the sweet part of our dinner -- for which we managed to wait until the end -- was perfectly balanced. It was milk and cookies ($10), six flavors of cookies with a large cup of milk, which you could use for dunking or pick up and drink with both hands, like the French do. Some were better than others -- two thumbs up on the peanut butter -- but all had their merits.

No, the balance problems related to the seared tuna Nicoise salad ($20) and the turkey-brie crepe ($15). The salad was a large mound of fresh, crunchy greens, perfectly cooked fingerling potatoes and haricot verts, nicely seared fresh tuna, hard-cooked egg, cherry tomatoes and a couple of anchovies. So far, so good.

The balance problems were with the lemon-herb vinaigrette, which was askew a couple of ways. First, the salad was as overdressed as a hooker at a high school prom; if you go there and get this, I'd suggest asking that the dressing be served on the side. The other problem isn't so easily remedied (at least not by the customer), and that's that the lemon and/or any semblance of vinegar that might have been present was way, way, way too overwhelmed by the prodigious use of oil. The salad was so heavy on the oil, in fact, that it had a shiny appearance and was awfully slick on the palate.

The crepe was a so-far-so-good proposition, too. The crepe was appropriately delicate, the edges gently crisp. There was lots and lots of turkey and lots and lots of almonds, so that was a plus. But the apples and brie were so scarce that the overall flavor was principally turkey and almonds, which, while far from objectionable, is pretty bland. The means to provide some flavor bursts was there but sorely underused.

We fared better with a starter of fried macaroni and cheese pops ($10) and an entree of steak frites ($23). The pops have been done in other forms around town -- usually as nuggets -- but these were much better than most. That's mainly because they were a lot bigger, so that we could really taste the macaroni and cheese beneath the light, crisp shell. There were three of them, mounted on sticks, with a creamy tomato dipping sauce that was the perfect complement.

The steak frites was laudable for careful execution and classic simplicity. Skirt steak can be tough, but the rosemary-garlic marinade used here took care of that issue. The beef was perfectly medium-rare as ordered, the fries crisp-edged and fluffy.

Service throughout was fine; we especially liked the way our server kept an eye on his assistant, who seemed a little clueless at times.

We loved the atmosphere, which is vaguely French-bistro casual. There's seating outdoors and a wide expanse of windows that push back to provide views of the Strip and the dancing fountains of the Bellagio across the street. We enjoyed that gentle ambiance -- except for the occasional blast of a water cannon.

Balance in all things, indeed.

Las Vegas Review-Journal restaurant reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or email her at hrinella@reviewjournal.com