La Place de Longchamp -- Restaurant Review

 

For information, location, menu and reservation, check their website at: https://laplaceparis.fr/fr

For information, location and reservations, refer to website: https://www.double-paris.fr/

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 (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

4.00 - Star........................................€€€.....................................2.5 bells

Friends from out-of-town who we haven't seen in a very long time were staying near "trocadero" in the 16eme. I am not familiar with that arrondissement at all. For many of us, we view the 16eme as a wealthy enclave, very residential, and mostly elderly, expats, or well established people live there . In other words, very quiet and residential. With the exception being close to "trocadero," the gateway to the Eiffel Tower. 

Net-net, I chose this restaurant because #1--it was open on Sunday (rare that good restaurants are open on Sundays),  #2--close to where our friends were staying. And,  #3--overall had very good ratings.

For Paris, it was a medium sized restaurants, very modern and very colorful. They had a lovely private alcove for a private dining experience. And, their abstract paintings were those of famous pop icons. And, there was a bar on the side of restaurant that centered the room. Lovely restaurant.

Since I didn't really peruse the menu before coming, much to my pleasant surprise, there were many asian dishes on the menu as well as "fusion-asian" (see website). It's a small menu, which I also like.

Note: I'm only going to to review the dishes I tasted....

I did not have an entrée, but I did taste JJ's. 


ENTRÉE

Cold Salmon.  The cold salmon could've passed for gravlax and/or lox. However, what differentiates it from lox, it was not as salty. It had a mild texture and definitely you could taste the salmon. The crumpet that came along with it, was a bit dry, but I guess that was what the spread was for. The caviar I believed was a lumpfish caviar, but they must've rinsed it, cause it didn't taste the salty nature of lumpfish. The spread was like a whipped cream, almost to the point of becoming butter, very light, but it tasted good with the crumpet, salmon and caviar combined. Overall, it was a good, simple dish. 

Steamed dumplings. Although I did not taste this dish, I wanted to post a photo so you can see the Asian side of the resto. My friends said they were good and tasty and came with 2-dipping sauces, one red chili spicy, the other a soy-sauce based dip. 

PLATS

Octopus. JJ had the this dish. I tasted and I thought it was excellent. Octopus can get really rubbery and nasty. But this octopus was cooked perfectly, it was tender, and it was a nice big portion. It came with roasted potatoes and greens with a simple not overpowering vinaigrette sauce. A hit for me. 

Steak and fries. I decided to have some meat, since I haven't had some in a while. My steak was cooked perfectly. I ordered "a point" -- medium rare, that's exactly how they made it. They sprinkled some garnishing salt which I loved, but to me the star of the whole dish, believe it or not, was the black pepper sauce. It was so good, rich and peppery. I could've drunk it as a meal. The only minor complaint I had was I wish the fries had been double fried. They weren't as crispy as I would've liked them, but overall an excellent dish.

DESSERTS

Bread pudding. JJ ordered the bread pudding, or what is known in french, "Pain Perdu" (lost bread). The bread was a brioche but very dense, and it was accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Although tasty, and not overly sweet, it was quite dense. But overall, it was an OK dish.

Café Gourmand. Typically in France, a "café gourmand, consists of a shot of espresso accompanied by a minimum of three petit-fours. In this case there were 4. A thick madeleine, a lemon curd, chocolate mousse, and a "pot-au-creme". I did not taste it, but was told it was very good. 2-friends shared this and they said it was perfect size, since it gave them an opportunity to taste their desserts without over-stuffing themselves.

SUMMARY

What a pleasant surprise to find a good restaurant on a Sunday for lunch in the 16eme. The restaurant was modern, colorful, cozy and the service was excellent. I didn't taste any of the Asian fusion dishes nor the Asian dishes, but overall what I tasted was good. My favorite was the octopus, whereas, my least favorite was the bread pudding, I found it quite dense and heavy, but still good/OK.

Would we come back, absolutely. And, it's not too far from us.

For 1-pastis, 1-spritz, 1-glass of chateau perron, 4-glasses of rose, 1-salmon appetizer, 1-order of steam dumplings, 1-steak, 1-salmon steak, 1-octopus, 1-Pasta with burrata, 1-cafe gourmand, and 1-bread pudding, our total came to 214€ for 4-people or 53.50€ per person.

NOTE: They did not have a "formule" so everything was a-la-carte. The staff all speak excellent english, and the menu is in english. They cater to tourists.