Christina L.
Yelp
I'd give this place 3.5 stars for brunch - I haven't yet tried this for dinner. After living in France for a year, I was craving some American brunch, so this place fit the bill, but if you're traveling from the States, you can probably skip this place for brunch unless you're a huge fried chicken fan. Other than the fried chicken, I thought the other dishes were okay - they were great, but nothing to write home about and probably nothing that left me craving for more or wanting to come back on another trip to Paris.
Make reservations ahead of time - it's easy to do so online, and come with 4+ for brunch so that you can share a lot of things. The space is not huge but it's configured in a way where if you had 6 or 8 people you'd be fine.
Ricotta Doughnuts, Whey Caramel, Vanilla (7€) - Not the healthiest choice on the menu but if you have 4 people to share with, you can each have 2 and it's not quite so bad. I liked these little donuts - they were freshly fried and tasty. My husband didn't really care for these as much.
French Toast, Pears, Toasted Almonds, Crème Diplomate (12€) - The French call it pain perdu and it's usually found on dessert menus, but I guess it's an American thing to turn dessert into breakfast ;) They actually call this French Toast on the English menu, and it was really good although a little small for the price that you pay for 2 small pieces of French Toast. It was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth for brunch, and it was light, fluffy, and the pears and the creme patisserie went really well with this. I wouldn't get this alone for a meal since it's a bit like dessert. It's best shared with 4 people.
Fried Chicken, Pickles, Cabbage, Buttermilk (12€) - This dish is what makes Ellsworth famous for brunch and it lives up to the hype. We almost ordered only one of these for the table of 4, but we were glad the waitress told us that wasn't enough, and to get 2 for 4 people -- it was a smart move. The chicken was perfectly coated, perfectly fried, and really moist and juicy inside - one of the best fried chicken I've had. You can't come here and not get this. I was a little disappointed that some of the other pictures on Instagram showed this served with biscuits - ours didn't have anything except a buttermilk ranch sauce, which was the perfect dipping sauce for the chicken. But regardless, this was the star of the meal.
Pork Belly, Carotte With Orange, Cured Egg Yolk (14€) - I would skip this - I wasn't impressed at all with this. The pork belly was really fatty and the skin on top wasn't very crispy. The portion was also tiny. There weren't a ton of other savory options on the menu, so we got this, but to be honest, I wish we had gotten something else instead.
All in all, decent for an American brunch if that's what you're in the mood for, or if you really love fried chicken. If you're only in Paris for a few days and visiting from a big city like San Francisco or New York, where brunch places are plentiful, you can probably skip this place. The quality of the food is good, the fried chicken is amazing, but you can get similar things in the States.
3.5 stars from me - loved the fried chicken, but hit-or-miss on some other dishes.