Au Père Louis — Restaurant in Paris

Overall, the food was amazing. We had the escargot and fried foie gras with grapes, apple, and some kind of jam for appetizers and duck confit and cassoulet (duck with lots of other meats and white haricot beans). The escargot was tasty. The shells were big and lots of snail meat to eat. It came on a hot plate and lots of spices and olive oil on each snail. Better flavor profile than what I’ve had in the states. The fried foe gras was amazing. When it came to the table, the aroma from it was intoxicating. People from other tables turned their head to look. It wasn’t as fatty as I thought it would be. Probably the frying of it with the sweet jam helped reduce the richness of it. I ate it with bread because otherwise it would have been too much. We each had our own portion and it was more than enough. The duck confit with house potatoes was very tasty. The skin was lightly fried and it didn’t taste like grease in your mouth. You basically got the thigh and leg as one piece. I was surprised that the entire meat was tender. They did however over season the duck, it was too salty. However, that complemented the lack of salt in the potatoes. The potatoes weren’t anything special that I couldn’t get in the states; sautéed with garlic, butter, olive oil, chives, and cilantro. The cassoulet is a VERY hearty meal. Definitely a dish made to be eaten during winter times. If you aren’t that hungry, you could just get this and split it with 2 people. The various meats were tender but having the dish slow cooked, it doesn’t allow for each individual meat to stand out. There were pork sausages, duck, mutton, and goose. The dish was very flavorful but I had to get used to it. In terms of the main courses, the duck confit was a better choice. I absolutely loved this place. The staff was friendly; the guy at the bar and the waitress that served us both spoke some English. I would definitely come here again and I think the price is well worth it, biggest bang...

With 1000+ mostly positive reviews, we were excited to try Au Pere Louis as an authentic example of French dining. What we got was just another rushed, careless meal to pacify throngs of rushed and careless tourists. Our experience started with a warm welcome from staff and a pleasant and lively atmosphere. We had waited too long to eat, were famished, and were happy to find the wait staff eager to take our order. There was a menu special that appealed to two of us; a lamb steak with ratatouille, while our daughter had her heart set on trying beef tartar for her first time. My wife started with a well executed onion soup that made us eager for what was to come. That’s when things unraveled. Within a few short minutes, our mains arrived, well before the starter was finished. We happily dug in. One of my first bites I discovered the chef’s ear bud in my ratatouille. Starving and undeterred, my wife and I started in on the lamb. It was a grizzly overcooked unseasoned thing we had to saw with regular table knives. Small ants attacked my wife’s phone that lay on our dinner table. Our daughter lost the faith you need to eat tartar. We ate what we could. The waiter subbed a small salad for my ratatouille. We heard the staff bellow with laughter when they heard about the ear bud in my mouth. Still hungry from uneaten meals, we ordered two desserts; crème brule and an apple tart. The tart was clumsy, apples were huge hammy slices. They comp’ed one lamb dish on our bill. We went home tired and hungry and...

I can’t say enough nice things about this place, the food and drinks, and its staff. We were visiting Paris from New York, and I did a lot of research to pick out this restaurant based in its Google Reviews and character. We spent several hours sitting in the bar area, where we were assisted by a lovely female server who earnestly wanted us to have a good time. When a couple with a table near us left their spot, we asked if we could move to that table. She said yes, and I started to gather my water bottles, glasses, and glasses of whiskey to move it over myself. She stopped us by saying “no please, let me - please go sit down at the new table. This is my job and I’m happy to help.” We were blown away by this simple act of kindness and service.

The good times continued through a round of appetizers including bone marrow (perfectly cooked and succulent) and Camembert. We followed it with the rack of lamb cooked a perfect medium rare on a bed of vegetables. We ended the night with a bottle of wine (recommended from our server who once again went out of her way to make sure we tasted and enjoyed her wine recommendation before pouring our glasses) and, and had a delicious dessert called the Floating Island.

I can’t recommend this place enough. Our evening was memorable thanks to the excellent service and delicious food. We’ll be back next time...