"I'd heard about this place from some rave reviews on TripAdvisor and decided to give it a try. This was quite out of the way from where I lived, but I nevertheless trusted the previous experiences and cancelled other things to get here, but now I'm hard pressed to deny I miss just staying in the beloved Latin quarter. Almost every review mentioned vibe and feel, and this is where they got it right. The restaurant is bright, welcoming, colorful and innovative in its aesthetics. But the same did not, unfortunately, extend to staff. Perhaps I expected too much, but there was none of the excited quirky spirit in the staff I had expected. There is the language issue of course- an Englishman ought not to judge a restaurant for speaking only french, but everywhere else I had been in Paris had atleast tried to be welcoming and communicate well. I had to wait and keep calling out to people at the reception to remind them of my reservation, and my waitress who could not care enough turned up with a menu. And that's where it went wrong. I'd said I was vegetarian in my reservation, and there was literally one vegetarian main on the menu, with no starter. I told my waitress this, and she basically said 'that's all we have today, there's no vegetarian starter.' In my head, I heard 'deal with it'. I press on, and she said she could try and get the Caesar salad made without chicken. I agreed, ignoring the slightlyNervous red lights going off in my head. The salad arrived, with a rather horrendous dressing. After waiting another 15 minutes, I managed to catch my waitress (they weren't particularly crowded tonight) and asked her if the dressing had eggs. 'No eggs, it is fish sauce', says she, matter of fact-ly. It is no more snobbish to be veggie in Paris, and when Michelin starred traditional powerhouses have entire veg menus, a bistro billing itself as chic and novel ought to know what vegetarian means. Finally, after some consternation, she brings back a salad without dressing and olive oil on the side. Dressing aside, to call this salad underwhelming is to refer to the Seine as a marginally moist water biscuit. The salad leaves were wilted and uninteresting, the Parmesan was beyond mediocre, and there was nothing interesting- not even croutons. This should almost be a complimentary side (which was the deeply un-Parisian, boring and stale bread). The only veggie main available- the pasta with pesto- was bearable. Maybe my experience is biased by one waiter having a bad day. Maybe, as I've heard, the meat dishes were really good (then again it's not unfair to judge food for what you ask). This place does have somethings going for it- the atmosphere, the very, very reasonable pricing (still doesn't excuse lettuce with the personality of a tired investment banker), and he drinkable wine. Maybe I just expected too much from a restaurant run by a really good food blogger. I'll give this place another try the next time I'm in Paris. But for now, I've skipped desert, which is a first. Come here, but not if you've better plans in this amazing city."
