Restaurant Review -- NESSIA

 

6, rue Charles François Dupuis, 75003 Paris 

+339 73 89 60 17

Website: https://www.restaurantnessia.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+)

4.25- Star...............................€€..................................... 4 🔔

I was just getting over a cold, so I wasn't sure if my taste buds were 100% there. Fortunately, I had friends who I went to lunch with and they were able to confirm what I tasted.

I have friends visiting, one couple use to live in this same neighborhood where we had lunch. I had heard of the restaurant and saw they had good reviews, so 4 of us decided we should give it a try. 

The restaurant is north of "le Marais", close to "Republique"

It's a relatively small restaurant with the focus being the bar. My guess would be a restaurant of maybe 24-30 people. Because it is a small restaurant, the table are very tightly together and we had to move our table forward a bit, to allow people behind me to pass. But this is typical of Paris, so it's more of an observation than a criticism

ENTRÉE

We all shared the following entrees:

1.  Crispy arancini with saffron and thyme-smoked mozzarella, tarragon condiment -- (top center photo)

This was quite a surprise, and a good surprise. I had just returned from Italy and had had some arancini; however, I think these were better than the ones I had in Italy. First of all it was very, very cheesy, pulling apart kind of cheesy. It was very yellow in color, although they did not state that it had turmeric, I'm assuming they got it yellow with that spice. Crunchy, smooth with stretchy cheese, and interesting also a smoky flavor, which brought it to another level, how can you go wrong. So it was a hit for all of us. 


2.  Roasted cauliflower with honey and smoked paprika, chickpea hummus with black sesame tahini and soft brioche bun -- (lower center photo).

This was my favorite entreé of all. I'm a little biased because I love cauliflower in all its forms. The cauliflower was roasted perfectly. Black is never an attractive color for food, but the cauliflower sat atop black hummus. The flavor combination was perfect. I had never had black hummus before. It's basic hummus with powderized black sesame seeds. You'd think a heavy vegetable with a heavy bean (garbanzo) hummus would make the dish heavy, but it worked. Overall delicious.


3.  Aberdeen IGP Scottish Angus beef flank steak from Mcintosh Donald Farm braised on a lava stone barbecue -- (upper right corner photo).

I originally thought when we ordered this it would be sliced thin like an appetizer, but it was actually a chunk of beef. So we decided that it should be someone's main meal. So a friend who didn't order a main plat got this dish. He said was delicious. 

Additionally, we were served fries.

PLATS PRINCIPAL 

Pan-fried lamb confit, yellow curry gratin dauphinois, smoked pumpkin cream, reduced lamb jus

My first bite of the lamb took me by surprise. I found it extremely salty. So not trusting my taste buds because I just got over a cold, others had it and they said it was salty, but not unpleasant. After a few more bites, maybe because I was adjusting to the salt levels, I found the lamb very tender and actually delicious. The dauphinois was perfect, curry flavor was more of a hint. The pumpkin was sweet which offset some of the saltiness of the lamb and the jus was a plus. I started enjoying the dish after I got over what I perceived to be salty.

SUMMARY 

This restaurant is in a hot, happening place in north of "le Marais" closer to "Republique". We all thought the appetizers were great, and they had quite a varied offering on the menu. 

Interestingly, they were out of their plat of the day, which was a burrata eggplant dish, but we were happy with the lamb choice. Overall, the meal was very, very good. One drawback it is a small restaurant with tables tightly fitted in, and it became quite noisy and made conversations quite difficult. It is definitely not a place for a romantic meal, but a great place to go with friends and have a good, fun meal. They had a high school busboy, so I don't fault him, but they do need to train him more. He served our main dishes while our entrée plates had yet to be cleared. But I'm overlooking this, he wasn't more than 16-years old.

With 3-entreés, 3-mains, 3-coffees, 1-glass of wine, 1-bottle of water, and 1 coke our bill came to €145.60 or €36.40 per person. VERY REASONABLE!

Would we go back, absolutely.