Boubalé — Restaurant in Paris

Category: Fine Food. On the day we arrived at our Paris hotel for the last night of our trip, before flying home the next day, The City of Light was really The City of Rain. We didn’t want to leave the hotel so we decided to eat in the hotel’s restaurant (unlike in the U.S., eating in hotels in most of the rest of the world is a Thing). Don’t get me wrong, we love French food. But after two weeks in France it was a pleasant surprise to learn that the hotel restaurant serves Mediterranean cuisine (see my separate review of Le Grand Mazarin Hotel). It is a joyous and somewhat flamboyant place, a feast for the eyes, with colorful flower motif wallpaper, grapecluster motif painted ceiling, green and orange fabric-covered and tasseled chandeliers, parquet floors of antique character, and glass sconces emitting amber-ish light. The sparkling open kitchen’s counter was veined marble with mosaic tile below. The dining room chairs were ornate blue with orange seats, or dark wood with green cushions, the tables wood. Off the dining room is a 7-seat L-shaped bar and a lounge area. An ornate private dining room with a glass roof seats 24. We chose to eat at the kitchen counter, watching the busy cooks work. We ordered a mezze lunch of three entrees: Arayes (pita stuffed with spicy beef), Confit D’Oignons (onion confit with anchovies and black olives) with pita, and Thon Blanc au Sumac (thinly sliced seared tuna with pistachios, caper berries, shaved parm, and lemon). All three dishes were delicious and exactly the taste and quantity we sought. Our accompanying wine choice was Domaine Fournier Bourgogne Côte d’Or, which complimented the food. This was a cheerful place to enjoy lunch on a wet, dreary, and cold late October afternoon. YouTube’s...

Wow. Just wow. This place is magnificent. Perhaps one of the best new restaurants, but also still a relatively hidden gem! I highly suggest running, not walking, to try every item on their seasonal menu. From the food, to the ambience, to the service; every aspect was impeccable. We legitimately ordered half of the menu: the challah, yellowtail crudo, fatayer, fried corn ribs, chicken skewers, and a taste of the chocolate mousse. Of all the starters, I have to champion the fatayer, which was a delicious goat cheese and spinach mixture inside of a hand-pie. But the challah was a close second (make sure to save some challah to dip into the homemade chicken broth. ) The chicken broth can be found when you order the chicken skewers, which contained grilled chicken thighs and chicken dumplings all sitting in that aromatic broth. After such a satisfying meal, we had a small sampling of the sea salt chocolate mousse. Let me just say, this dessert was probably the best mousse I've ever had anywhere. The best word to describe it: heavenly.

This meal was a complete rockstar and it was all made possible by the extremely talented executive chef, Itamar Gargei. We sat by the bar, overseeing the kitchen operations, and saw the food being prepared as Itamar inspected every plate and ensured all dishes came to perfection.

10 out of 10! A must go to restaurant, whether you are a local or...

Came in to test the brunch : it has a bit of everything, and it’s mostly Mediterranean foods.

I did feel like there wasn’t enough options, especially with that kind of pricing.

I was also disappointed to learn that the restaurant has nothing to do with the 5-stars hotel it’s attached to… hence the service was definitely not on point, but I guess it was predictable since most of the staff were super young, which means probably inexperienced.

I do feel like if you’re asking for that type of price, and plus you’re inside a 5-stars hotel, you should have an experienced staff.

Another thing is, don’t come after 1/1:30pm, because they won’t restock the buffet on everything. They have limited quantities on some stuff, and so when it’s been eaten by the clientele, they just don’t have anymore for the rest of the people… which I felt was so weird.

I really thought because of the place, and the price, that I was in a like, kind of high class restaurant. Turns out we were told that wasn’t the case, and even though the decor is part of the 5-stars hotel, the restaurant in itself is a basic one.

Basically it doesn’t justify the price for me then ! 😅

So anyway, that was my experience. Food wasn’t bad, but you can definitely lunch for that same price on a weekday in a Michelin...