Le Petit Pan – Paris (75015) en

I hadn’t been a big fan of Grand Pan ( tested once at the same time). However, this Petit Pan has a lot of assets: inexpensive, good, nice and serious. Not everything is perfect, but everything is good. And the price-quality ratio is unbeatable.

Located in front of Grand Pan, and so not beside the metro either. The room is small but pretty nice with a large counter where you can sit, and there are also high tables. We arrived at the end of service, and so avoided the crowd. The washrooms are very nice, very clean, very functional.

We got a 50 cl pitcher of Saint Pourçain which has the good taste of being at 10 euros, but that is served way too cold in my opinion. 15 euros for appetizer-main is very good.   They also have sandwiches with names that make you hungry and quiches. The menu sandwich/drink/dessert is 8,70 and 10,70 to eat there, for this quality, it works.

Appetizers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Eggs with mayonnaise                                                                                                                                                                                                                    There are 5 halves, and not three as it’s usually the case. They were just cooked, mayo with old fashioned mustard, a success.

Herring with apples and oil                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A delight, one of my favorite dishes that was perfectly carried out here.

Mains                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Skirt steak, home fries                                                                                                                                                                                                                       The person that took it was delighted with the steak, impressive and well cooked, tender and rare in the middle. However, the fries were a let down, they were too dry, which I agree with.

Calf’s head                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 So, I say good for spirit and the idea to offer this dish. But I got a little lost in the dish, it resembled more a pot au feu (meat and vegetable stew) than a calf’s head which I’m fond of ( cut in slices). There was a bit of seasoning missing as well and the ravigote sauce was good, but a bit too creamy.

We skipped dessert, but took two coffees instead. We ended up paying 21.50 per person, with an appetizer, a main, a coffee, and  50 cl pitcher of wine. Great deal this Petit Pan. And if the service continues the way they were, then it’ll be all good. The two good surprises for me were: 1) it was way better cooked than expected. Today a lot of restaurants that have already made a name for themselves open a side restaurant, tapas style, but many just pile up famous products on top of another, without real thought to it.  2) the service was as it should be. For the prices at Grand Pan, I thought otherwise, but not here.