Le Florimond
19, av. de la Motte-Picquet
75007 Paris
Tel/Fax: 01-45-55-40-38
Website: wwwleflorimond.com
Fermé Samedi et Lundi midi, dimanche et les 1er et 3e samedis du mois
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+)
2.5 - Star...............................................................€€.............................................................3 - Bell
We wanted to take our good friend out to
dinner for her birthday. Because she works, and had to get up early the next
day she requested that we stay in her neighborhood. We’re not familiar with the 6eme or 7eme
otherwise known as “Little America” since the majority of the people there are
either American/English speaking expats or visitors staying there. JJ researched and found “Le Florimond”; it
had great reviews from several sources and even had the endorsement of Rick
Steves, which to me is not always good, I’ll explain later.
The restaurant is really cute, small but
quaint. And, the staff couldn’t be nicer.
We got seated while we waited for our friend and I noticed that 90% of
the patrons were foreign and mostly American. I suppose not unusual for the
7eme arrondissement.
They had a board with today's suggestions and they have a prefix menu of 35€, which included an entrée, plat, and dessert.
Once our friend arrived, we both ordered a
coupe de champagne to hit off the celebration and JJ ordered a pastis for our apéros.
Entrée:
We all started with the “salad d'épinards, pickles d' asperges et radis au vinaigre de pommes” loosely translated, a
spinach salad with pickled asparagus and radishes with apple vinegar. It looked fine when it was served, but there
was literally no taste. It was bland, plus extremely oily. I noticed our
birthday celebrant kept sprinkling salt on her salad and so did I. For me, it was primarily to cut back on the
oiliness and blandness. So not a good
start.
Plat:
For our plat, our birthday celebrant ordered
the “Confit de cuisse de canard et Corrèze, pommes de terre miettes” loosely translated, confit of duck with potatoes. The first thing that caught my eye was the
presentation, or lack of. The potatoes looked like hash browns and the confit
looked dry and overcooked and the salad just seemed misplaced. They really could’ve plated it
much better. And, according to our
birthday celebrant, the looks matched the taste.
I had the fish of the day, which was the
“turbot”. I have to say the fish was cooked perfectly and tasted really good,
after I salted it with sel de mer; the chantrelle mushrooms were good as well.
It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was passable!
JJ had the “Chou
Farci” translated to stuffed cabbage. It was cooked in a clay pot as would
a boeuf bourginon. I had a taste of it,
and I liked it. It was nothing to scream about but it was a good, wholesome
dish, just like they said, as Grandmother would make.
Dessert:
I had the cheeses, nice selection so really
nothing to add there. You can never
really go wrong with cheeses in France, unless they serve it to you spoiled.
Our birthday celebrant had the “Millefeuille à la vanille bourbon” loosely translated, puff
pastry with a vanilla bourbon cream.
Well this gave a new meaning to size isn’t everything. Our celebrant said that it was very bland and
had absolutely no flavor. As the restaurant knew it was her birthday, they added a candle; a nice touch!
JJ had the “Molelleux
au chocolat noir, coeur fondant au Gianduja, coulis de litchis” loosely translated, chocolate fondant cake
with coulis of litchis. It wasn’t
anything special, and it was somewhat overcooked. It was more cake than fondant, so not a big hit with JJ.
Summary:
It is a small restaurant, so the noise level got really high once it filled up. It was very difficult to follow a conversation. The tourists seem very happy with the service and food. One thing I have
to say, the service was impeccable. They’re friendly, observant and couldn’t be
nicer; unfortunately, the food, not so.
Going back to my Rick Steve’s comment we jokingly said that once
Rick Steve put his stamp of approval on a restaurant it’s as good as the “kiss
of death” as the restaurant becomes filled with American tourists and the quality seems to fall.
For 3-people, we had 2-coupes de champagne, a pastis, a glass of
chardonnay, a bottle of Malbec, and coffee our bill came to 173€.
We won't go there!
ReplyDeleteSometime when you're back in the 7th, I'd like your take on a tiny restaurant on the same street, rue Malar, as Chez l'ami Jean. Truffes, as the name implies, focuses on truffles. We were quite pleased with our meal and everyone appeared to be French--no tourists, except us. We were there in October, not truffle season, but the truffles tasted fresh, so we were puzzled.
We're heading back to Paris in September.
Thanks.
Place as beautiful as heaven. I have traveled to Paris for two weeks. Even I have written here.
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