Le Desnoyez is located in the heart of the Belleville Chinatown in the 20th district, a rather laid back street with a lot of graffiti art. The 2 high school mates from Pau become associates had quite different lives before opening this restaurant in 2016. Jean-Marc Sinceux was avocat and passionate in cooking and Jean-Marc Bouzou was director of photography in film.
I called around noon on Sunday for a reservation of 13:30 lunch. Apparently, it seems we are the only ones who reserved. The others seem to be regulars and live in the neighbourhood and just pop up in the restaurant. One customer even help to clear the plates and glasses. The other couple come with their dog and sit outdoors. You can see cook books lining around the window sills at the far end of the tiny room of around 20 places, some vinyls.
The menu is hand written and changes everyday.
Œuf mayonnaise, poutargue, herbes 6 € - Egg mayonnaise, bottarga and herbs
Excellent dish, the bottarga, cured fish roe was delicious, very good with the lightness of mayonnaise and egg white and the precise temperature of the yolk.
Tête de cochon grillé, fenouil 9 € - grilled pork head cheese with fennel
Crispy and melting meat, a delight. Mr. n was happy with his entrée, I tasted it, it was good, but I think my egg was better.
Gigot d’agneau, servi froid, pesto, écrasé de pomme de terre 20 €- Lamb leg served cold with pesto and crushed potato - The lamb was alright, with tasty pesto.
Ris de veau, câpres, citron, crème de carotte 26 € - Sweetbread with capers, carrot cream with lemon. Very good dish, sweetbread was crispy outside.
Glace au chocolat, tuilé aux amandes, chantilly 9 €- chocolate ice-cream with almond biscuits and whipped cream. Well they didn’t succeed in making the chantilly, they served me with a cream. A simple dessert, maybe a bit disappointed because I was expecting the whipped cream.
Note that the mains were quite big, you can really slip the dessert and most people did. We had the French craft beer. 5€
The day of our visit, we didn’t see Sinceux cooking, but his females sous-chefs. Bouzou, was in charge of the service. Our bill was 80€, including 2 beers and only 1 dessert.
It is a bit of hole in the wall feeling place, service was friendly, the room was tiny with some bar seats. If you like this type of causal style, it’s your place. Note that this place is opened on Sunday and Monday and closed on Tuesday. The weekday lunch is a good deal as some entries start from 4 €.
Le Desnoyez
3 Rue Denoyez
75020 Paris
Reservation: +33 (0)6 61 19 18 31
website: https://www.facebook.com/Le-Desnoyez-1031858706935469/
