So, according to various guides, 90% of the people in this place are French movie stars. If we actually watched French TV, we might have cared. As it stands, this is one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in a while, if not for the food at least for the overall experience.
Yeah, Philippe Starck design bla bla bla, it’s a very nice interior, although I won’t try to over-analyze the slightly bizarre black plastic hippo or boar or moose or whatever-head stuck on one of the walls. The food was tops, especially when enjoyed in our little white leather alcove from which we could spy on the beautiful people over a bottle of 2005 Cotes du Roussillon (good wine list, by the way.) We started with a scallop sashimi (double kudos for the initially arrogant-seeming waitress who blew off Karin’s order on the grounds that they were using all the scallops for another dish, and then on her own went to the kitchen to check to make sure she actually could order her original choice — very cool) and raw tuna tataki.
Main courses: pan-fried ray (raie? Is it called that? The flat things with wings — absolutely delicious, my #1 food discovery for this year) and their special, a capon dish that I didn’t try but which Karin raved about. The whole thing was made even better by our waitress (who kept scoring bonus points) who brought a pitcher of truffle oil when the kitchen forgot it on Karin’s mashed potatoes. For dessert we had a really creatively done crème brulée with bourbon vanilla and some other one-off special (Karin again, geez) that I don’t recall but which seems to have been delicious. All-in-all, great service, great environment, great food, great everything made doubly great by the great cab ride back by the Eiffel tower at night. Everything to make you feel good, check it out.
25 Rue de la Pompe
F-75016 Paris
+33 (0) 1 40 72 70 00
http://www.restaurantbon.fr/
