Café de L'Homme -- Restaurant Review

17 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre 75116
Tel:  01 44 05 30 15
Website: https://www.cafedelhomme.com/
Metro: Trocadero lines 6 & 9 

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

Some of my readers are probably wondering where I've been. Well we went to Japan and I just returned.

Surprisingly, I've been to this restaurant before, but sat indoors.  So, with the ever changing weather in Paris and a forecast for a warm sunny day, I immediately thought of going to this restaurant with 4 other people, so we could enjoy the views from the terrace with our meal.


ENTRÉES

Burrata Cheese.  Very simply presented, was a nice burrata cheese sprinkled with olive oil, chives and "espelette".  The burrata was delicious, very smooth and creamy and served with sliced baguettes. And, for a warm summer day it was quite refreshing since it was served cold. So whoever their distributor is, I say keep them.












Quinoa salad. The quinoa salad was served in an a weird round ring. I guess to make the plating look a little more interesting. It was surrounded by carrots, beets, and a few haricot vert and edible flowers. Jack said, it was good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Asian entrée of nori maki sushi and a fried shrimp.  Having just returned from Japan, I opted not to have this entrée. Two ordered this dish and liked the variety. Nothing out of the ordinary, just good.






PLATS

Chicken with charred gem lettuce. Two of us ordered this dish. I expected to get a quarter of chicken with the leg, thigh and a little bit of the breast, but it came out as a filet served with a demi-glace. If you are not familiar with gem lettuce, they're like miniature romain lettuce. I normally find them a tad bitter in its raw state, which I like. The chicken was good, but a tad on the dry side. And, I personally did not like the charred lettuce. I would've preferred cabbage e.g., bok choy, something that can hold up to heat better. Overall, an OK dish, but nothing spectacular.

Macaroni and cheese with truffles.  I was originally going to order this dish, but opted not to since it seemed heavy for a warm day. I have to say, it was probably one of the mildest, bland mac & cheese I've ever had, so in a way, I'm glad I didn't order it. There was definitely a hint of truffles, not overwhelming at all, which is good.

Salmon. Two ordered the Salmon. According to Jack the salmon was not cooked through, in fact it was practically raw. It was served with a sprinkling of white and black sesame, grilled bok choy, a large mushroom carved like a fish (cute), and a helping of pickled ginger and soy dressing. An OK dish, but nothing out of the ordinary.

DESSERTS

1.  Pate choux with creme anglais. You can't go wrong with this dessert. This belongs with the family of eclairs, profiteroles and beignets to name a few. They were good.


2.  Lemon cookie with lemon meringue.  At the base there was a hard cookie, sablé. Atop sat a lemon cream with a brulé meringue. Jack enjoy this dessert among the different courses, because he loves lemon.


3.  Chevre. A very creamy young cheese served with toast. As I always say, you can't go wrong with cheese in France.











SUMMARY

THREE words to describe this restaurant, view, view, and view. This restaurant has one of the best views from any terrace I've ever seen. Granted it's atop of "Trocadero" so there are a lot of tourist. The food was good, but bottom line you do not go there for the food, you go for the view and atmosphere. If I would just rank the food, I'd say it's a 2.50, but if I just reviewed the view and atmosphere, I'd rate it a 5. Would we return, I would absolutely go to bring visitors to Paris who want to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it really depends on the weather, so check the weather forecast before making reservations.

For 1-martini rouge, 4-aperol spritz, 5-entrées, 5-plats, 3-desserts, 2-bottles of wine plus 1 additional glass.  This is a very expensive restaurant, the 2-cheapest bottles of wine we ordered in the wine list were 35€ a bottle. Sorry, can't remember what we ordered, but it was their house recommended white. In total, our bill came to 97€ per person, over $115 per person for lunch.