Louis -- Restaurant Review

23 Rue de la Victoire
Tel: 01 55 07 86 52
Metro: Line 12 (Notre dame de Lorette)
Closed Saturday and Sunday
website: http://www.louis.paris

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+)

4.50 - Star......................................................€€......................................................... 3 - Bell

It's been a while since I've done a restaurant review, because we pretty much were traveling for the whole summer and most of the fall. But we're back and not even a week back we went restaurant tasting. This restaurant is one of my friend J's favorite restaurant, surprisingly, we have never been before.

It's a very small restaurant and very intimate. In fact, there's probably only seating for maybe about 22-people. It was very cozy, because of it's small size, it did get a bit noisy at times, but overall a wonderful cute little interior.

The menu is a tasting menu. So you have to let the restaurant know in advance if you have any allergies or any diet restrictions.  We all opted for the 3-course lunch, which was very heavy on seafood.

AMUSE BOUCHE. When our amuse bouche arrived, I actually had to ask if it was our entrée, because there was quite a bit of tasting morsels that I had not expected.

From left to right: There was a toast with a dollop of aubergine, which was excellent. A parmesan wafer topped with grapefruit, and lastly a meringues topped with beets. All a great differences in flavors and a nice introduction of what is to come.

BONUS ENTRÉE. Next we had a "bonus" entrée, which was a raw scallop that sat atop a slightly smoked earthy greens. J is a good customer and has been there many times so this was an extra for our table. We were advised to "whiff" the aroma of the earthy greens, then the scallop was placed atop of a gelée of what I assumed was the jus of the scallop. A very simple dish that hit the sense of smell and taste. For me it was a hit and I don't even like scallops.

ENTRÉE. The main entrée was another scallop dish, but served warm. The scallop was slightly seared and served atop spaghetti leeks in a light cream. Interestingly the scallop dish was sprinkled with a "vegetarian caviar" which I had never heard or tasted before. I assumed it would be seaweed grapes, but they were actually black and a little larger than a sesame, that had a slight moistness in the center. Overall a very good dish served with a slice of toast.

PLATS.  For our main dish we had a white fish unknown to me called Carrelet fish, a flat white fish. It was slightly poached and sat atop a bed of artichoke hearts with a long shaved fresh raw white radish topped with red radishes.  Finally it was poured with a jus of radish, but very mild. So the the juxtaposition of something warm, something raw, and something citrusy was a great hit.

CHEESE COURSE.  Only JJ had the cheese course. It was a combination of blue cheese, camembert and a basque sheep cheese; all excellent choices.

DESSERTS. For our desserts we had a combination of different flavors. First we had a lemon tart, and boy was it tart. So for you lemon lovers you'll be in heaven, cause I know the people at our table loved it.  Secondly we had a dashi sorbet. Normally when I think of dashi it's usually made from shrimp or bonito flakes, but this was either made with shiitake, seaweed or a combo cause I tasted no fish. It sat atop of what I thought was dried cream. And, lastly raspberry and a caramelized cream. Overall all a nice combo of sweet, savory and citrus.

"MIGNARDISE" (parting sweets). We had small morsels of very flavorful pistachio cakes and the most chocolatey truffles that were basically thick ganache, but served atop of raw cocoa. Delicious.

WINES: We had a Chinon, which I neglected to take a picture of, and also a Domaine des Pothiers.

Chinon. Cabernet Franc characterized by a medium-bodied red wine with tasting notes of savory, bell pepper-like flavors, medium-high acidity and mouthwatering taste.

Domaine de Pothiers. Known for his fresh tasting notes of  red-fruit and candied aromas,

And, if that wasn't enough, Chef Stephane Pitre brought out a brand new bottle that weighed more than I do as a parting drink for J and lucky us, "Eau de vie Prunes" a very strong tasty digestif.


SUMMARY

What a great experience. The chef made the food so all your sensory sensations could be tickled. The sights of the food, along with the smells and combined flavors of sweet, savory, salty and citrusy was a big hit for me. The 3-course menu was big on seafood, but they did have the 5-course which included fowl. But I felt very satisfied with all the seafood. Would we go back absolutely.

With 3-course lunch, 2-bottles of wine, 2-white glasses of wine, 3-coffees our bill came to 275€ for 4 people or 68.75€ each.