I heard about this place a few months ago, it was opened a few months ago by a Korean chef Esu Lee, it was on my “to visit” list. Somebody brought it up again in conversation at lunch time yesterday and recommended it. Husband thought it was an Asian restaurant and wanted to try it, off we went last night for dinner.
We arrived around 10pm, the place was still quite full for a Friday night, but we got a table easily. The ex-signage of the an old import and export company is kept, it used to sell mini Eiffel towers. The interior was with bared cement walls with a few film or music posters, minimum decoration, and a magazine rack up front, small marble bistro tables and a bar. The highlight was on wine and food.
An interesting drink list with natural wine.
Menu was simple. Server told us food was in tapas format, recommended us to order 2 dishes for each person and shared among us.
Potato noodle with yuba - noodles were fine and al dente with a few vegetables pickles, I liked this dish.
Cured red prawns bisque with crispy heads - heads were deep fried, the dish was aromatic although I feel not too at east with the “fishy” raw/cure prawns.
Cured sardine with chimichurri on toast
Ox cheek quesadilla with creamy dill sauce - Thin pancake, a delice.
Cabbage with unami emulsion - which I believe was a mayonnaise like sauce with furikake, dried bonito… - another highlight of the meal
We ordered a bowl of rice to share. Since we were driving, only grabbed a big bottle of Senegal beer.
Chef Lee was on a cooking tour and was absent, 2 guests chefs of TATA Eatery from London, Zijun Meng and Ana Gonçalves were in charge. We felt the Portuguese and Asian influence. For me, I like the place, was having fun, the fusion food was quite interesting and creative, yet quite finely done. Husband found the portion a bit small since he wasn’t expecting it was a wine bar. If you are hungry, the bill can get quite pricey quickly with small dishes adding up. Good for chilling out or a small causal meal.
Chef Zijun Meng
We will be back for Esu Lee’s cooking soon.
CAM
55 rue au Maire
75003 Paris
Tel: +33 6 26 41 10 66
