Au Pied de Fouet - Paris

We have been eating at au pied de fouet after stumbling over them well after some hearty French eating. that is exactly what it has delivered with great portions and friendly service. the crispy duck was crispy and the wobble soup was satisfying. the restaurant is visited by locals and is dealt in the environment by its great value-ratio and rich history (it is over years old). we would definitely return.

Nice eating, but nothing special. I spend less than expected, is cheap for the standards of paris. they offer them water and a glass of wine per person. the waiter was very friendly and gentle.

We visited on Sep This is a very small, quirky restaurant place, tables downstairs serving and another few upstairs, serving perhaps another My friend and I saw good reviews on TripAdvisor, and noticed the front door was plastered with ‘commendable’...stickers from the likes of Lonely Planet. The waiter was friendly and although he confirmed they didn’t take bookings, invited us to come in. A French lady, who seemed a local, walked in at the same time with her husband. She said ‘This is a good place, you won’t regret it.’ The menu offered a basic choice of classic French cooking: eggs mayo, onion soup, pate, goat’s cheese in terms of choice of starters; skirt steak, fish, chicken livers or duck confit most with mash for main (they also offered a plate of fresh veg at extra costs); a choice of crumble, tarte Tatin, tiramisu or a selection of cheese for afters. We both settled on onion soup and skirt steak with mash. The bread that was brought to the table, was hard and chewy. The soup was tasty, but had enormous chunks of carelessly chopped onion of random shapes and sizes I guessed they sort of aimed at ‘home cooking’, so fair enough. It tasted fine. The mash was lovely, so was the sauce that came with the steaks (mine was Blue Cheese, my friend had mustard sauce). The steak was medium done so totally not overcooked, but I guess as it was skirt it was very chewy. The wine was good (they don’t offer to taste it but I don’t think it’s that kind of place). For afters, I ordered Brie, my friend ordered tarte Tatin. I noticed complete lack of any ‘dressing up’ of food: eg. my brie was literally a -thick slice of Brie on a plate, with a side of stale bread, no fruit with it etc. My friend’s tarte arrived. It had creme fraiche on the side. The side facing me was black. It wasn’t ‘caramelised’ it was burnt. She mentioned it looked more like a pudding... We carried on our conversation about other things. My cheese tasted good, can’t complain. After two forkfuls my friend said she couldn’t eat any more of the tarte, it wasn’t nice at all, and tasted nothing like a tarte Tatin. The apples had either been chopped into tiny squares or overcooked, but they turned into basically mulch with sticky dough. To her it was bland, and not one bit sweet. I tasted it, all I could taste was the bitterness of burnt food. She left it. When the waiter collected the plates, he asked about our food. We praised everything and my friend said, unfortunately, she did not find the tart to be good. He nodded and brought the bill for the full amount regardless. She asked for the tarte to be taken off and went to the bathroom. She returned shell-shocked, and said the bathrooms were stinking, the toilet blocked and the sink not working. I waited for her, at the table. A couple was sat next to us at the same table: the gentleman enquired about the desserts, the Manager/Owner, read out all the choices including the specials (which they hadn’t mentioned to us). The gentleman then said in French, he was hoping for some tarte Tatin but the lady on his table (my friend) did not seem to enjoy. To which the Manager, speaking over my head and in front of me, said ‘Don’t worry about her’, and added ‘La tarte Tatin, c’est excellent!’ I was fuming. It was such a low way to deflect criticism to rely on the fact I could not reply back in French (I tried all evening to use what I knew of French when ordering food, saying thank you etc, so I was not at all ignorant of the language). We paid, leaving a tip at the most, as I couldn’t possibly pay more to people who were being rude to my face. The general feeling is: I am confused. There is such a discord between our experience and the commendations, as well as the fact some locals like it (there were several French families eating there that night). Do they just dislike tourists? Are they trying to do home-cooking but confusing it with rough-and-ready? And do they think charcoal-black is caramelised? I will not go back to find out whether I should’ve given them the benefit of the doubt. But you guys of course can make your own choice. It could be that our experience was a one off ‘quelle dommage’ experience.

We read about Au Pied de Fouet. We are quite easy to deal with if the food is ok and service is all right. Maybe they had a bad evening, maybe the waiter was, I don’t know, but it became a rather amusing dinner. First...the waiter poured the wine for taste and before I began the taste, my wife had a full glass of wine and faster than you can blink so was mine. So, the bread came in and it had this sense of concrete. I am not exaggerating. So, the starter was finished and my wife had oeuf mayonnaise. The cutlery were full of mayonnaise and...the waiter just took them and placed them partly on my wife’s phone. Ok, the food was no better than just ok. We would like to recommend the restaurant just opposite: Le Petit Saint Benoit. We had a lunch there and it was nice. Good french service and food. And there a nice jazz club/restaurant right beside.

We’ve been here several times and adore the tiny, cozy and friendly atmosphere. Nice wine list by the glass or bottle. Most of the wait staff speak English and make solid recommendations. Today the rump steak was tender and tasty. The fish fillet was delicious....The dessert of rhubarb, blueberries and raspberries was really refreshing on a hot afternoon. Note: Each diner must order at least “a plat.” Another Note: use caution when descending the narrow stairs to the WC.