Here for the first week of our Paris trip. I will do a complete trip report (in multiple parts) presently. But our lunch at Les Parisiens was so good that I felt compelled to write it up separately.
We’d been to and very much enjoyed Antoine (at Parn’s recommendation) a couple of times previously, so when he recommended Les Parisiens by Thibault Sombardier (the chef from Antoine) it went high on my list. When I realized it was only 3 minutes away from the apartment we are staying in the first week, it was a no-brainer.
The exec sum is simply a repeat of what Parn said: the food is without doubt Michelin star-worthy, and the Menu Dejeuner at 38E is a steal.
For a hotel restaurant (I checked the room prices - too rich for my blood!), the room was enjoyable, especially at lunch (seemed perhaps a little dim when peering in from the outside at dinner). I liked these whimsical pieces on the windowsill near us:
My wife, who doesn’t eat crustaceans, got the melon gazpacho from the a la carte menu. It was fine, and would make a refreshing starter on a hot summer day, but to me nothing more. My crab salad starter was interesting, light, somewhat familiar tasting and yet just a bit different (the buckwheat in it added interesting flavor and texture).
They offer a choice of two mains. Fortunately for us, they were out of the veal, which was on the printed menu, and since neither of us was in the mood for the steak substitute, we both had the fish. [Given that Antoine was a fish restaurant, I should have known better than to consider getting anything else here!]
The fish was “just” cod, but it was perfectly cooked, with an interesting parmesan and (light) cream sauce with some baby pasta.
It has been hard, and I’ve little doubt will be hard, for any of the other fish dishes we’ve had / will have to measure up to this one. In fact, so far only a veal dish on our Virtus tasting menu is in the same league IMO with this dish.
Dessert was pears with ice cream and a cake of sorts: to me, basically, a deconstructed apple pie using pears. It was excellent, and again a little bit different than a standard dessert at a quality restaurant.
Les Parisiens is now on our “must return” list, even if we’re not staying in the 6th. I’d encourage everyone to go quickly, especially at lunch, because the menu price is sure to rise, and likely rise more if and when they do get their Michelin star…