The CityFlats Hotel and its CityVu Bistro are favorites in Holland. I love the food at CityVu and have had great meals there over the last several years. So I was excited when the company behind the Holland location decided to open a new CityFlats Hotel and restaurant in Grand Rapids.

Unfortunately, CitySen Lounge did not live up to my lofty expectations based on my experiences in Holland. We gave CityVu a well-deserved five stars so I went to lunch at CitySen with high expectations. Though CitySen falls short of CityVu, it does not fall completely flat.

The hotel and CitySen Lounge restaurant are in the former home of Fox’s Jewelry on Monroe Center. The food was good, not great. The service was OK, not exceptional. The lunch menu was small, not stunning.

Let’s start with the positives. The CitySen Lounge is an attractive space, filled with environmentally friendly and stylish furniture. The restaurant exudes a big city vibe. I love the way the front window of the restaurant opens wide to let the buzz of the city into the space.

I also like when restaurants offer a pared down menu, but CitySen goes too far. The lunch menu has one soup, two salads, four sandwiches and three “City Bites” dishes. I could understand a menu that small if the dishes were complex, but they are not.

I ordered the Croque Monsieur, a play on a French bistro ham sandwich topped with melted Swiss cheese ($7). All sandwiches are served with a choice of fries, tortilla chips or a small salad. I chose a small Greek salad. The sandwich was a simple ham and cheese — nothing special. The salad with filled with crisp green lettuce and large chunks of artichoke and olives. The dressing was either tasteless or there wasn’t enough drizzled on the top.

One of my lunch partners ordered the full Greek Salad ($7) and the other ordered the Grilled Flank Steak sandwich ($8) — grilled flank steak with sweet onions, mushrooms and Swiss served warm on a sourdough bun. Both said their choices were good, but nothing special.

The dinner menu looks more promising. I would like to try the Lamb Chops with sun-dried fig chutney and balsamic syrup ($13) and the Lobster Spring Rolls ($13) that are served hot with hot and sour dipping sauce. CitySen looks like a great place to go for dinner to share a bunch of dishes with friends.

I am glad the CityFlats Hotel and CitySen are in Grand Rapids. I just wish some of the inspired cooking found at CityVu Bistro would have made its way east. I still have high hopes for the restaurant. The ambiance is there, the food just needs to catch up.