Café Paris Europe – Paris (75008) en

The 2nd good brasserie of the week, what is happening?

The deserts were a fail but everything else: reception, dishes, service, price, were very good.

I was going to try out the restaurant facing it, Le Petit Bougnat, that was on my list since Mathusalem.Of course since then it had closed :), and since it was raining, I was in a hurry. I turn around, I see this brasserie full to the rim, I get closer to the menu: house paupiettes, house sausage, around 12,13 , ok perfect.

I enter, a little worried like I always am in a full restaurant, always feels like I’m a number. The boss or man in charge behind the bar says hello straight away. Ok, we’re in business. He calls his server who takes care of me and brings me to a room at the back, there were tables of two that lacked intimacy, and without me needing to say anything, she brings me to another room, where a corner table awaits.

She asks who I’m waiting for, a man?, a woman? Stunned I ask why, smiling she answers: “that way I can let them know when they arrive, since your back is to the door”, yep serious business indeed.

Today’s specials: pavé with a béarnaise sauce home fries, house sausage scallop potatoes, house paupiette linguine and for appetizer herring fillets.

Tomato juice

Since it’s raining, calls for a little treat with a good tomato juice, served accordingly; not like at Dauphin I’ll always remember their tomato juice served with nothing and 7 euros, I ask the man in charge if there is any tabasco, celeri salt, anything, he tells me “that he’ll look but he’s not sure”, and puts down a bottle of  green Tabasco sauce found in the kitchen. A pity.

Main

House sausage, scallop potatoes

It happens that I have family in Dauphiné and so I know how a ‘gratin dauphinois’ should be. In Paris’ brasseries 10 times out of 10 it fails: first off there is no cheese in the original recipe, yet they often put some in, the potatoes are sliced way too thin, not cooked enough, what’s more is that the gratin is often pre-made somewhere else.

Here it passes with flying colours. The sausage is good too.

Desert

Complete failure, just by looking at it you could see it. Crust not cooked enough, not golden on top, just sad looking.

I mentioned it to the man in charge who agreed and who told me that the chef probably hadn’t had enough time. Too bad.

C’est une maison sérieuse dans un quartier qui n’en a pas tant que ça.
Une brasserie qui fait le plein le midi tout en “cuisinant” et sans assassiner sur les prix, c’est rare. Ici c’est le prix Saint Lazare plus que Villiers alors qu’on est entre les deux.