7/9 Rue Saint-Nicolas
75012 Paris
France
Website: https://assaporare-restaurant.business.site
Metro: Ligne 8 Ledru-Rollin
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+)
4.25 - Stars...................................€€...................................... 2- Bells
This is a neighborhood restaurant that was recommended to us by a friend who's staying around the corner. Talk about a hole-in-the-wall, the restaurant has no real signage, it's on a side street, and not much foot traffic, but they've managed to survive for the last 12 years.
What grabbed my attention as we entered was the art sketching on the wall. Very erotic and playful. It's not what I expected to see.
It was definitely a gem in the 12eme, bordering the 11eme. The owner came out and greeted us and we ordered some aperitifs. No one makes Aperol spritz better than the Italians.
The cook, Jack, who didn't like being called the chef cause that honor was bestowed only to the owner and chef, although he did most of the cooking, came out and explained EVERY dish to us, since it was in Italian. He could've fooled me, I thought he was Italian, but turned out he was from Bangladesh.
NOTE: The menu had a list of ingredients, in case you're allergic to anything.
NOTE: I'm only reviewing dishes that I had.
ENTREES
(We ordered 3-entrees to share them.)
Bruschette d'Assaporrare. Was a wonderful 3-kinds of a bruschette. One topped with tomatoes and garlic, garlic and eggplants and a squash. They were absolutely delicious, and the ingredients were so fresh.
Antipasti vegetariani. What a nice combination of vegetables. We had purple cabbage, red onions, bell peppers and the eggplant flesh no skin. More interestingly, we had these greens that looked liked collard greens and even had a little bite of bitterness, I asked the chef and he said he cooked down the broccoli leafs to make this dish. That was one of my favorite of all the vegetarian sides.
Insalata di popo alla Stromboliana. This was absolutely delicious, melt in your mouth octopus. The squid was so tender. The sauce was a nice symphony accompanying the squid. One of my favorites of the night.
Rigatoni al grand ragu du dimanche. In Italy it is very popular to boil/steam meat for hours in preparation for Sunday dinners. So, this is a typical Sunday dish one would have with family. This dish was not cooked with tomato as tradition dictates, but with cooked down onions to make it sweet. The pasta was al-dente and the meat was so tender. The parmigiano reggiano was a perfect balance that added some saltiness. It was a great simple dish.
Lucifero Marche Rosso, Roberto Cappeci. Everyone, especially JJ raved about this wine. It's made with Montepulciano grapes from the Marche area of Italy. In looking it up, its 15% alcohol content might explain why JJ felt so drunk!
SUMMARY
Talk about a find. What a wonderful little gem in a not so easy to get to location. Maybe that's why it's a gem. It is a family run restaurant with the owner and Chef in the front and back of the house. They can probably sit around 24-people, tightly, I'd say 20 comfortably.
The food was exceptionally good. The service was excellent. The time they came out to spend with us explaining the dishes was one extra customer service step we didn't expect, but appreciated.
Would we go back, ABSOLUTELY.
With 3-apertifis, 3-shared entrees, 4-plats, 1-bottle of red wine, 1 glass of white wine, and 1 grappa our bill came to just under 47€ per person, but we rounded it up to 48€.
Looks like a destination.
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