Le Villaret- Merged topics

[Carlsbad]

I'm wondering if anyone has tried Le Villaret in the 11th. I'm down to our last choice for late this month. Any feedback is appreciated.

[John Talbott]

I've eaten there maybe 6 times in two-three years and had very mixed results; the last time January 6th when there was practically nothing my wife Colette would/could eat. I had duck and scallops, she had a chicken & a tart. There are so many other great places now:

Au Bon Accueil

Ze Kitchen Galerie

La Maison du Jardin

Le Beurre Noisette

Le Pre Verre

L'Equitable

La Dinee

Café Constant

Les Fables de la Fontaine

L'Ourcine

L'Astrée

Le Duc de Richelieu

Good luck

[John Talbott]

Patricia Wells reviewed it enthusiastically March 12th for what that's worth.

See http://www.iht.com/bin/print.php?file=509935.html

[Margaret Pilgrim]

We have enjoyed Le Villaret for some years, through a transfer of management. While we have never been disappointed, it does pay to have a somewhat adverturous palate, since some of the better moments are outside many Americans' experience. I have never found the menu truly off-putting.

[pierre45]

I had dinner a couple of years ago and found it to be uneven .i have not been back.too bad, because the chef could be creative as margarete said.

Patricia well's restaurant reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. they are meant to titillate and entertain.Often they seem like promotions.

[Carlsbad]

Thanks for the information. I think I'll pass on Le Villaret.

We have reservations for Au Bon Accueil the first night, followed by La Fontaine de Mars, Le Troquet, lunch at Tour d'Argent, and the last night a lot of cold seafood at Bofinger. I have a dozen lunch possibilities for 5 days in Paris. The fact that the friend who is traveling with us has never been to Paris and has a desire to try certain places affected the choices, but I'm generally happy with them.

We leave in 10 days. I will report back on these and the meals in the South. Thanks for all the help.

[sharonb]

Last night I found myself dining at Le Villaret for the second time in a month. Interesting setting in a quiet street off Oberkampf, assuredly the only restaurant in the neighborhood with valet parking.

The last time I'd been, I'd had a very positive impression of the food: chunky, thick-cut terrine de museau with nicely stickily sauced greens; savory lamb's tongues with excellent mashed potatoes; cheese "house" (like a small bookshelf contraption) of the very first order.

The wine list is excellent but pricy, pricy, pricy. We stepped down a notch for the white (wanting a Meursault, we went with a Saint-Aubin from Hubert Lamy), though did spring for a 2002 Geantet-Pansiot Gevrey-Chambertin after.

The service, the first time, was obnoxious, a little withering. That time I was with an American friend and my French boyfriend, so we were speaking English, though there were clearly many other Americans in the room.

Yesterday:

I walked in from the rain and got indifference and again, those withering stares. Yet when I said the name of the person I was dining with, who is a wine-world bigwig, they indeed changed their tune. I could see the (same) waiter making a strained effort to be more pleasant throughout the evening.

The wines we ordered (and this time I didn't get to see the pricing, so didn't have that disagreeable reaction) were stunning.

The 2004 Vincent Dancer Meursault "Grands Charrons" was so unbelievably lush and yet balanced, I was awed; we both were.

A 2005 J.-F. Mugnier Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru "Clos de la Maréchale" was the picture of seamless, elegant red Burgundy fruit. We drank it alone, though (a half bottle after the full bottle of Meursault) because we opted out of cheese or dessert.

The food was, unfortunately, hit-and-miss for me this time.

Amuse-bouche: tiny cup of celery soup with parmesan croûtons, nice; the croûtons were flavorful, more than the soup.

My first course - six oysters with a dollop of crème fraîche topped with caviar - was unbelievably unctuous. I am usually an oyster purist: no lemon, no shallots and vinegar, just dark bread and butter. But here, the crème fraîche took away the saltiness, amped up a creamy, unctuous feel, and then the pop of the caviar brought the salty, briny note back again. Symphonic. I loved it.

My main course, though, was awful, unfortunately - billed as a "tarte fine" of rougets with confited eggplant and mozzarella, it sounded tempting. Well, on the plate, a sodden disc of way-too-thick pastry with sweet cubes of eggplant (the sweetness was very offputting) crushed by thick, rather flavorless chunks of rouget filets, topped by melted mozzarella. A disaster.

My dining companion's meal looked delicious, that said, and I believe he said it was. We had both ordered à la carte, because the 50 euro menu included first, fish, meat, cheese and dessert courses with, I believe, even a trou normand or some such, and that seemed too copious. After the main courses we were more than happy to linger and linger and linger over the wines.

[Gary Marshall]

i thought one of the attraction of le villaret was its well priced wine list?

food i remember as being very 'liquid' lots of soupy preparations, nice cheeses though.

i think we drank very well on coche dury a year ago and similarly at it's sister resto, astier which i enjoyed much more. tubot and beurre blanc and a top meursault couldn't go wrong.

[John Talbott]

Host's Note: I have taken the liberty of merging these topics since it is clear reading them since 2004 that many folks have had "mixed results."

On a personal note, I keep going back, retrying it every year or so because someone (once two chef/relatives from the US) tells me it is the place to go, recommended by their friends/executive chefs/etc. Sometimes it's OK, more often than not, it's off and the waitfolk range from fine to awful.

Read the above and caveat emptor!

[pierre45]

I've eaten there maybe 6 times in two-three years and had very mixed results; the last time January 6th when there was practically nothing my wife Colette would/could eat.  I had duck and scallops, she had a chicken & a tart.  There are so many other great places now:

Au Bon Accueil

Ze Kitchen Galerie

La Maison du Jardin

Le Beurre Noisette

Le Pre Verre

L'Equitable

La Dinee

Café Constant

Les Fables de la Fontaine

L'Ourcine

L'Astrée

Le Duc de Richelieu

Good luck

←

PLease note that 2 of your recommendations ,Ze kitchen and les fables have received 1 star since then.Pas mal.

[John Talbott]

I've eaten there maybe 6 times in two-three years and had very mixed results; the last time January 6th when there was practically nothing my wife Colette would/could eat.  I had duck and scallops, she had a chicken & a tart.  There are so many other great places now:

Au Bon Accueil

Ze Kitchen Galerie

La Maison du Jardin

Le Beurre Noisette

Le Pre Verre

L'Equitable

La Dinee

Café Constant

Les Fables de la Fontaine

L'Ourcine

L'Astrée

Le Duc de Richelieu

Good luck

←

PLease note that 2 of your recommendations ,Ze kitchen and les fables have received 1 star since then.Pas mal.

←

Just to be fair, however, Pierre, since 2004, L'Equitable + Le Duc de Richelieu have fallen off the charts, La Dinee + Au Bon Accueil are under new (and worse) management, and remaining standing proudly are William Ledeuil of Ze Kitchen Galerie and Christian Constant's 3 - Le Violin d'Ingres, le Café Constant + Les Fables de la Fontaine. Which reminds me that we walked by and must revisit La Maison du Jardin, Le Beurre Noisette + Le Pre Verre.