Eric C.
Google
We dined at L'Arôme with fairly high expectations. The restaurant itself is beautiful and refined, very much what you’d expect from a Michelin-starred establishment in Paris. The decor is elegant and understated, creating a nice setting for what should have been a memorable dinner.
What puzzled me from the start was the seating. We arrived for our 7:30 reservation as the first guests of the evening, yet were placed at a small table right by the entrance while the rest of the dining room was empty. It felt odd. Maybe there was a reason, but it did cross my mind whether we simply weren’t given the better seats. Strangely, towards the end of the meal they asked us to move further inside the restaurant. It seemed like a gesture to give us a better table, but we hadn’t asked for it and honestly it felt unnecessary by that point. If that was the intention, it probably should have been done at the start.
Food-wise, the mains were well executed and what you’d expect from a one-star kitchen. Some starters were less convincing though. The curried crab felt fairly average. The bread was unfortunately the weakest part of the meal. For a French restaurant, it simply wasn’t very good, and I noticed several tables leaving most of it behind.
Service was decent but not particularly proactive. Explanations were minimal unless asked, and even the wine pairing only came up after we raised it ourselves.
Will I return? Maybe. But for this price point, they really need to step it up. I’ve dined at two and three starred restaurants that are far ahead in both food and service, and they cost less.