VALLEY WEEKEND : RESTAURANT REVIEW : Simple, Old-Fashioned French Fare Survives : At Jean’s Blue Room, you can can still order an omelet as an entree. Other favorites include lamb and roast chicken.

The voice at the other end of the telephone line was gravelly and sweet, with an unimpeachable French accent. Asked about her place of employment, Jean’s Blue Room, she replied, “We ‘ave been in this location 42 years, but we were across the street [Ventura Boulevard] during the 40s.”

During the ‘40s! That easily makes Jean’s Blue Room one of the oldest restaurants in the Valley, and its atmosphere does recall a bygone era. Like many an L.A. restaurant, it has photos of stars on its wall, but don’t look for Stallone or Shannon Dougherty. You’re more likely to find Bob Newhart and Jean-Paul Belmondo.

The dining room features semi-circular salmon-hued booths reserved for favored customers, fronted by narrow tables draped in white linens. As for the “blue” in the restaurant’s name, it may refer to the blue awning out front, the blue carpet in the dining room and the large swatches of blue fabric in fleur-de-lis pattern on the dining room wall. (The fabric swatches are framed, just like the Monet and Utrillo prints on the walls.)

On some nights, service is performed by two hard-working waitresses--one American, the other French and proud of it. The menu is stocked with old-fashioned dishes--omelet aux champignons and grenadine of beef with sauce Bearnaise, to name two--that hark back to a time when American French restaurants specialized in rich, simple dishes.

It is possible to coax a good meal out of this kitchen, but I’d say nostalgia, not cuisine, is what keeps Jean’s Blue Room in the game. Expect a few good dishes from the hand of chef owner Pierre Delannoy, but also be ready for a few things that disappoint. Specifically, avoid the stale, insipid garlic croutons brought to every table, and don’t be surprised if a soup like cream of broccoli tastes as if it has served a term in cold storage.

Entrees automatically come with soup and salad courses, and the choice of anything else to precede the main course is limited. Escargots Burgundy style, properly chewy, come in the shell with their garlic butter. Shrimp Pierrot is a metal dish filled with garlic butter and absurdly undercooked shrimp, long past their peak of flavor.

The waitress will bring a huge, shiny stainless steel soup tureen to your table and ladle out a portion of either the soupe du jour or a rather watery French onion soup (minus the customary topping of crouton and cheese). After her labor, she’ll leave the tureen on the table, just as in a French country bistro, in case anyone wants seconds.

The soup is followed by a bowl of iceberg lettuce in a decent, authentic French vinaigrette, gently flavored with mustard. Then it will be time for a hearty entree, which comes with a clump of good, homey mashed potatoes and a medley of mixed vegetables.

Jarret d’agneau fermiere is probably the best thing to eat here. The meat, so tender it falls off the lamb shank bone, leaves a pleasant, vinegary aftertaste. Another good dish is the simple, tasty, not over-salted roast chicken Pierre.

Jean’s Blue Room is one of the few Valley dinner houses where it is still possible to get an omelet as an entree. The omelet aux champignons is a large one, filled with wine-marinated mushrooms.

Ordering continental dishes is a dicier proposition. Sole a la Oscar is reasonably good: a fair piece of sole topped with asparagus, crab legs and a tarragon-rich Bearnaise sauce. The grenadine of beef gets the same Bearnaise, but the three small steaks that make up the dish are virtually tasteless.

Chef Delannoy keeps frog legs, coq au vin and sauted brains on the menu, though I’ve never seen anyone eating them. There are also child’s dinners at genuine ‘50s prices. The child’s cheese omelet, for instance, is $2.95.

For dessert, the menu lists chocolate mousse pie and peach Melba, though a choice of ice creams (such as vanilla, chocolate and butter pecan) comes with all the entrees. Coffee, too, is included, but no cream. The waitresses will inform you that the only coffee lightener on the premises is non-dairy creamer.

Imagine, a French restaurant with neither cream nor nouvelle cuisine. That’s truly unique.

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DETAILS

* WHERE: Jean’s Blue Room, 13360 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. Suggested dishes: omelet aux champignons , $7.50; jarret d’agneau fermiere , $10.95; roast chicken Pierre, $9.95.

* WHEN: Dinner 5-10 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday.

* HOW MUCH: Dinner for two, $17-$35. Beer and wine only. Street parking. American Express, MasterCard and Visa.

* FYI: (818) 784-8181.