Fish La Boissonaire

[raisab]

I met the the co-owner of Fish this past week at his wineshop Le Dernier Goute. A very nice man (oh and kind of good looking) by the name of Juan Sanchez. A transplanted Cuban-American from Miami. I am looking forward to visiting is resto. He has a French trained Japanese chef there. Juan raved about it, but has anyone been there? Please let me know. Thanks.

[Bux]

There have been more than a few posts about it, but I guess "fish" is a difficult search word and apt to bring up a lot of references unrelated to the restaurant. Wise restaurateurs will consider a unique name for their endeavor so it will bring quick results when entered into Google.

It's a wine bar and a restaurant. No surprise as Juan owns a wine shop. The most recent mention I made of it is in the recent wine bar thread. We ate there just about a year ago. We were in the wine shop with mutual friends on a the day before our one day in Paris without a reservation. The young woman in the shop was quick to suggest Fish and call for us. We were quite pleased with our meal. It's simple food, but well priced and the wines by the carafe were good choices.

As Juan is an American and the restaurant has gotten some good press in American magazines, it got a fair number of Americans as diners, but the atmosphere is relaxed and it didn't feel like a tourist zone.

[Poppy Quince]

We had a very pleasant meal there last year; nothing to rave about but more than adequate. It's pretty crowded in there with tables butting right up to the very busy bar area. My impression, from overhearing conversations at the bar, was that it's somewhat of a hangout for young Americans working/living in Paris.

By the way, we tried to drop in one night without a reservation, but no go. Another time we walked by a bit earlier than we wanted to eat and reserved for later with no problem.

Edited September 27, 2004 by Poppy Quince (log)

[Bux]

The bar seems to get some regulars--ex-pats who live in the neighborhood. By coincidence we met one of them earlier in the day as he showed up at a neighborhood cafe where we were having a coffee with a mutual friend who sometimes lives in Paris. We hung around at the bar for a while after our dinner. We enjoyed the atmoshpere. It was a comfortable place and the food is quite good and fairly priced, or so it seemed last year.

[magnolia]

In case people have trouble finding it...it's :

Fish la Boissonerie

69, rue de Seine ...

Paris 6ieme

01 43 54 34 69

Watch the vintages if you order wine, though, twice on the same night they brought one that was different from that which we had ordered. The first time, the bottle that arrived was from a 'lesser' year than the one on the menu...and we complained. The next time, it was from a better year and...we didn't.

(edited for appalling grammar)

Edited September 28, 2004 by magnolia (log)

[Le Zouave]

And watch the prices too! I once had a cotes de provence that was as excellent as it was expensive... (Actually, I think it was so good, we took another bottle! )

[Bux]

And watch the prices too! I once had a cotes de provence that was as excellent as it was expensive... (Actually, I think it was so good, we took another bottle!  )

←

It's always terrible to pay, or be charged, more than expected, but not nearly as bad on the scale by which disappointments are measured, as getting poor value at any price.

[Brad K.]

I've eaten there many times - but not in a number of months (I believe the Japanese chef is new, thought the last one was an Aussie). Anyway, the mussels and picodon salad are good starters and the salmon is a must for main course (seared over very high heat then finished slowly in the oven, served over fragrant eggplant/onions). The bar is a fun place to eat and watch the characters.

[Felice]

I hope that I’m not breaking any rules by posting, since I’m an EX-employee of Fish, but I thought I could answer a few questions. I worked there for 1 ½ years when I first moved to Paris and probably go once a week as I live in the area.

Fish is a great spot and is very unique as it has a strange mix of expats (as Bux mentioned), tourists, and Parisiens, of course. The staff is definitely multi-cultural. The owners are an American (Juan who owns Le Dernier Goûte as mentioned previously) and a New Zealander (Drew, who owns Cosi—the original—across the street—yes, that Cosi which can now be found all over NY) .

The chef, Mathew Ong, is in fact British. They have recently brought on two Japanese Sous chefs who are both French trained and worked in some top Paris restaurants.

As for the food---it’s quite good and I can honestly say that I’ve always enjoyed everything I’ve had. It’s always a pleasure to work somewhere where people love the food. The menu is printed daily to allow for changes according to what’s in season and they use only the best ingredients. Brad was right about the Picodon, I love it and order it practically every time I’m there. It’s their version of a goat cheese salad, with Picodon ( a type of goat cheese) arugula, pine nuts, and a piment d’espellette dressing.