Jason T.
Yelp
First things first, Les Affranchis is one of my favorite restaurants in Paris. This happened to be my local friend's favorite as well, given that she used to live nearby.
Secondly, make a reservation a day before to secure a table because it gets really busy in the evening (after 8pm) and I have seen the hopes of countless eager foodies dashed.
Now, let's get down to business. I would highly recommend whatever's on the plats du jour (dish of the day) as you can never go wrong. In a week, I visited this quaint restaurant tucked in a quieter corner of 9eme (closest metro stations: Pigalle or Saint Georges) TWICE - As a tourist, I almost never visit a restaurant more than once. For appetizers, I had different soups on both occasions. In my first visit, I had the creamy cauliflower soup that was so amazing. The texture of the soup was perfect - not too creamy, not too watery, not too granular, yet not too chunky. The taste was perfect - light, refreshing but really flavorful. In my second visit, I had the pumpkin soup (I usually hate all things pumpkins) and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it - no specific taste particularly stood out but it was really delicious and I really enjoyed it.
For the main course, I had the grilled codfish which was heaven sent. It was grilled to perfection such that the outside was the right level of brown and crunch, yet the inside was not overdone. The fillet was perched atop a mini spinach hill that absorbed the accompanying sauce. All in all, the dish was simple, yet cooked so well that you'd want more. In my second visit, I had the duck breast confit which was probably the best I've had in Paris. Some restaurants make it too well done (even though I always only ask for 'medium') that the meat's texture is like leather. Others overfry the surface and undercook the inside, which just makes the texture weird. Les Affranchis does not of that and finds the right balance in texture (all boils down to perfect frying temperature). The slices were arranged in a fan-like display and was drizzled with some awesome sauce - utterly delicious!
For dessert, I had the same chocolate grand marnier cake (because everything taste better with alcohol, ha!) and loved every single bite of it.
You can tell that everything is made using the freshest ingredients and cooked on the spot. Even the cake had a crisp outer texture which feels like it is fresh off the oven. Definitely would recommend this to EVERYONE :D