Jenna C.
Yelp
BOY did I get lucky. I had booked a surprise trip to Paris for my lovely boyfriend Bruce's birthday, and left it rather late to book a memorable meal for his actual birthday - not knowing whether he would like to choose somewhere when there or if I should steer what we did. I eventually realised on the Wednesday (we left Friday morning, his birthday was Saturday!) that perhaps I should book somewhere just in case! Having been suggested a few places by friends and finding them all booked up for weeks, I started to panic and looked on here, at Trip Advisor and Time Out, and found Firmin le Barbier through Trip Advisor, rated in the top 30 restaurants and 2 mins walk from the Eiffel Tower - and with a direct view of the tower if you got lucky enough to be seated outside! However, it only seats 24 inside, so I half heartedly checked to see if there was any availability...SCORE! Booked for 8pm on the 22nd June :)
Of course the path to true food love never runs smoothly...especially when I have a habit of running late and forgetting the exact time I have to be somewhere. So, leaving our gorgeous apartment in the Latin Quarter at 7.50pm and realising it was for 8pm, not 8.30pm as I had convinced myself, resulted in a panicked call to the wrong restaurant (where we had eaten the night before!) then calling Firmin and saying (post 'Parlez-vous anglais?!?') 'we'll be there for 8.30pm - will our table be held?!' Expecting a somewhat snooty response (after visiting Paris for 22 years, and realising most restaurants in touristy areas get off on being arrogant, I had my guard up) I was pleasantly surprised by a 'sure Miss Clayton, see you soon!' Phew :-)
After a hurried stroll past the gorgeous Eiffel tower, we found the petite restaurant very easily. We went inside and the waiter remembered us from my frenzied call of course. We noticed the first table (of 3) outside was free, and asked if we could sit there. He did a big breath and was like ohhhh I don't know...but clearly joking and led us outside :) We were soon brought the menu by the adorable older owner, who could not have been nicer, funnier or more passionate about his food. He talked us through each item on the menu, explaining the ingredients and making recommendations where appropriate. I ordered the duck foie gras and the scallop souffle, and Bruce ordered the pata negra, which was slides of pork neck with rice, chilli and salad, as well as the scallop souffle for the main.
We were just getting settled when we were brought some lovely prosecco on the house for Bruce's birthday, which I had mentioned in the comments when booking online. A lovely touch! We also chose a sancerre from the swish iPad wine menu (which told us where the grape was from, as well as the fact it paired well with scallops) - however the waiter told us it was out, but he had a very similar wine in stock (cue wondering if they would give us a more expensive bottle! In fact they gave us a lovely bottle which was 11 euros cheaper than the wine we had ordered, really impressed).
The foie gras was out of this bloody world - I am still thinking about it daily, and trying to justify another trip across the channel for it. Seriously gorgeous, it came with a delicious nutty, fruity toasted bread, as well as maple syrup and artichoke. NOMMMMMMMMMMMM. Bruce's pata negra was also divine, lovely flavours that all worked together. The scallop dish had us disagreeing - the was one flavour in the saffron sauce that simply did not agree with me, while Bruce adored his. I would order it if you are going for the first time as you will either love it or hate it - but either way you will never have anything else like it. For dessert I cannot remember exactly what we had, but I think I had a tart and Bruce had a deconstructed cheesecake - both were fabulous and rounded off a simply wonderful meal in the shadow of the Eiffel. Plus, a surprise birthday sparkler at the end of the meal was another surprise that rounded off the whole evening splendidly. An absolute must-visit, wonderful service and delightful food, surroundings and ambiance. In my top 3 restaurants!