BOUBALÉ -- Restaurant Review

 

Check website for locations, menu and to make reservations

Website:https://www.boubaleparis.com/en/

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 - Star........................................€€€................................... Bomb - Bells

Boubalé is located in the "Le MaraIs". "A favorite expression of Ashkenazi grandmothers, Boubalé is the tender name for "my little doll, my little darling" in Yiddish. It's with this memory in mind that Chef Assaf Granit reinvents a cuisine that comes from the depths of the soul, his heritage." ~ Chef Granit

Chef Granit was one of the owners and creators of the very popular Israeli restaurant "Balagan", which has since closed and reinvented as "Kapara", which I have yet to go to.

For those not in the know,  'Ashkenazi Jews / Ashkenazic Jews / Ashkenazim are Jews who originally lived in northern and eastern Europe. They once lived in the area of Rhineland and France and after the crusades they moved to Poland, Lithuania and Russia. In the 17th century, avoiding persecution, many Jews moved to and settled in Western Europe.' ~ Wiki

The interior is lively as are the conversations. It was a bit loud for me, but I find a lot of Israelis are very animated filled with the love of life. 

As I perused the menu, it basically reminded me of Eastern European food, which you can find today in Poland, Hungary, the Baltic countries, Germany and that whole region. The food tends to be very hearty and oftentimes rich. (refer to menu in website).

I'm only going to review the dishes that I had.

ENTRÉE

CHICKEN LIVERS -- I've had many a chicken livers in my lifetime, but I have to say this was my favorite. The chicken livers were chunky, and more importantly for me, NOT sweet. It wasn't laden with mayonnaise or schmaltz (chicken fat), it was delicious, albeit rich and heavy. It was accompanied by kosher pickles, croutons and spicy mustard. I'm not a fan of regular dill pickles because I find them too sour, but these pickles were perfect, kosher pickles.

PLATS

CHICKEN SCHNITZEL, FERMENTED CABBAGE, POTATOES AND MUSTARD. 

I've normally had veal schnitzel, but not chicken. Schnitzels are a traditional German dish. It looked dry, but that was because of the breading. It was actually quite moist with the lemon and accompanying cabbage and potato, which was actually a potato salad.  The cabbage was more akin to coleslaw with a vinegary, sweet taste. All-in-all it was a simple, but good hearty dish that your Ashkenazi or German grandmother would make. 

DESSERT

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE -- 
Although we did not order desserts because at this point we were full, they comped us with chocolate mousse. It was light and delicious. The topped salty granules brought out the sweetness and chocolate. 

WINE

COTES DE RHONE CHATEAU SIMIAN 2021 COMMES DES AUVAUX

"A fresh and delicious Côtes-du-Rhône, with supple tannins. Full of fruit, it also reveals spicy notes such as pepper and hints of garrigue. Perfect for cold cuts or prime rib." ~ Vin de As

SUMMARY 

As a general rule, I'm not very fond of Eastern European cuisine. I find the cuisine very heavy, stick to your ribs kind of food which keeps you feeling full for hours. But I have to say, I really, really enjoyed this restaurant. It's unpretentious food. It's what you expect your "Boubalé" to make. My fav for the evening was the chicken livers. That could've been my whole meal. I wish I could've finished it, but it was very filling.

Now to the restaurant. The restaurant is quite large by Parisian standards, you have a clear view of the kitchen so I like that a lot. And, it's in a great location. The service is IMPECCABLE. However, the only downfall was the noise. Everyone is talking at a loud pitch because they play loud background music which makes it even more difficult to hear. But if I'm being honest, it is a happy atmosphere. 

I brought my overall scoring down .25 because of the noise level. 

The food was heavy, as characteristic of Eastern European food, but it was delicious. Would we go back, ABSOLUTELY. 

 

They have an EXTENSIVE wine list (pages and pages) for wines from all around (mostly Eastern European) and you could spend 30 minutes just trying to read through them all.  And most are expensive. 

For 3 apéros, 5-entrées, 3-plats, a glass of red wine and a bottle of white wine, our bill totaled 289€ or 72.25€ per person.