Restaurant Review -- Fogón

45, Quai des Grand Augustins, 75006 Paris
Tel:  01 43 54 31 33
Web: fogon.fr
Metro: St. Michel (Line 4)

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

4.50 - Star......................................................€€€ ................................................... 2 - Bell

It was a cold dreary, wet day in Paris, so we went to Fogón for a late lunch. JJ had been there before, and he had raved about it. It's a Spanish restaurant known for their paella.

It's a really cute restaurant. Quite spacious by Parisian standards, and the location couldn't be better. The restaurant is very playful, and as we were searching for our utensils our wait person told us we each had a drawer with our napkins and utensils. A cute idea.

Although they had an October tasting special, we opted for the 51€ per person prefix-menu for two which came with several entrées, and you can select what type of paella you wished to have. We selected the "paella negro" which is a black paella seafood paella made with squid ink.

For our amuse bouche we had lovely popsicles of cucumbers and cantaloupe. Although a little gimmicky, we were first given an aromatic of fig to to smell and sweeten our olfactory senses. It was very refreshing, and I can see this being a big hit in the summer.

For our first entrée we got the "crevettes bagnées dans l'eau de morue" (bagnées water shrimp and cod). The Chef appears to like "agar-agar" or should I say 'gel', both dishes had a thin layer of it. The dishes were innovative, fun and a great entrée to start with.

Our second entrée was "la plage à la marée montante" (the beach at high tide).  This was a very playful dish. It was the Chef's interpretation of what the beach would look like at high tide. There was seaweed, and various other shell fish such as cockles and also a side of a poached cabillaud. This dish was not only innovative and beautifully presented but was delicious, the "jus" was out of this world delicious. Again, he had a thin layer of a jellied sauce under the cabillaud. I could've lived without, but all-in-all a delicious dish.

Then onto the main course. We had "Le riz en Paëlla noir" (seafood paella with squid ink). It's not an attractive dish by any means and maybe 'off-putting', but don't let the ugliness of the dish fool you. It's packed with tons of flavor since the paella is flavored with squid ink. The rice was cooked, al dente, which may turn some people off, but we enjoyed it tremendously.

For desserts JJ had the rhubarb creme brulée and I had the Manchego cheese. The Rhubarb brulée was excellent and the manchego cheese was aged where it almost tasted like a parmesan, reggiano. Both was excellent.













Summary: 

It's so nice when you come across a restaurant that really tickles and excites the palate. The food and service were excellent. We felt like we were in a 3-star michelin restaurant without paying the prices. If I have any complaint at all is that he used too much jellied this and that, which is a style preference more than anything else.  They do have a monthly tasting menu, which was the same price as their prefix meal, 51€ per person. With a glass of sangria and a coupe de champagne, and 2-glasses of their of white and red whites our bill came to 155€.  Would we go back ABSOLUTELY.  This will be my new go to restaurant for Spanish food.