FLOW -- Restaurant Review

4, Porte des Invalides 

tel: 01 44 05 39 60

Opened: Tuesday-Saturday

Metro: Invalides (8/13), Assembles National (12)

Website: http://www.flow-paris.com/

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+)

3.50 - Star......................................................€€......................................................... 2 - Bell

We've been having some very warm, sunny days in Paris, so I thought of this restaurant, since I wasn't too far from there about a week ago for a picnic. And, they have a lovely outdoor bar atop the floating barge. Unfortunately, the day we went it was cloudy and misty so the upper deck was closed. Oh well.

From the restaurant you get a very close view of one of the premiere and most beautiful landmarks of Paris, "Pont Alexandre III," and from a not too far distance the Eiffel Tower. Overall, the view was spectacular. And, you're literally on the water. At one time I made a comment that I was a little dizzy, until someone reminded me we were floating on water.

The interior was lovely. There was a huge bar in the center, and tables all facing the window. It was about the view and not so much the decor of the interior.

We perused the menu (refer to their website for their menu), and there was some confusion at first since many of the menus had various expired dates on them, but then our wait-person said they were the same items, although that was not really true. I'm gonna review what I had, since there was 7 of us and we pretty much all had the same thing. The lunch menu had a prix-fixe menu, 2-courses at 26€, and 3-courses at 32€. Very reasonable.

ENTRÉE:  Autour de la pomme de terre, salad de vitelotte, tuiles et sa glace pomme de terre. (Purple potato, with tuiles and ice potato). What a great start, the potato salad was delicious. It had a nice freshness with the lemon and some of the greens. What I didn't like about the salad, more a personal taste, I didn't particular care for the "ice cream" of potato. That was too cold to contrast with the already very cold salad. But then again, maybe if it was warmer weather, it would've been refreshing.

PLATS:  Peche du jour, piment doux vegetal.  (Fish of the day with fresh sweet pepper). The fish of the day was "filet de lieu" which is a pollock. It was pretty large and very tasty and moist. It was accompanied with a stuffed smoked chili pepper, my guess it was stuffed with bulgar pilaf. It was a great accompaniment. No fault with this dish. Simple, fresh, and tasty.

DESSERT: Assiette de fromages. (Assortment of cheese). The cheese selection was fabulous. Had some semi-hard cow cheese of comté, an aged chèvre, morbier and creamy brie. Overall, it was a nice contrast in cheese flavors. A hit.












WINES: They had a nice collection of wines. But we ordered the less expensive house rosé. I was so overwhelmed with the view and conversation that I forgot to take a photo. But it was a lighter, wetter rosé from Provence that went well with our meal.


SUMMARY:

Location, location, location. Yep, it's all about the view. The interior of the restaurant is lovely, but no beating that view. The service was excellent, and what I perceived to be a kitschy tourist restaurant was actually not. Well I suppose it would be in the middle of tourist season. The food was very good. Nothing out of the ordinary, but definitely above average. Would we go back, absolutely. I'd love to have a drink at the top of the barge on a warm sunny day to just soak up the beauty of the vistas.

There were 7 of us. Some had 2-courses, some of us at 3-courses. And, with 2-bottle of wine the bill came to about 50€ per person. Not bad.