Caché — Restaurant in Paris

Maybe too much anticipation for that long awaited Caché.... what to say... certainly blown away by the decor and the site, which is more in the line of Sydney or NYC. This is a first for Paris I would say. Service is impeccable, and the sommelier gives really great advice. The list of wines carefully chosen for all types of price and style… nice point

Now to the food. The issue with this kind of concept, when mostly everything is raw fish...ceviche like style...is that at some point it can be a little bit samy, to the point where you eat undefinable fish flesh… mixed with various spices, lime juices, and rose pepper. This is to the level that one got added Lobster, the other octopus… you just notice the additional element, sometimes. To that point, the “polpo” was not as good as the one we had a Bonhomie few days before. Shame. And the lobster, such a careful ingredient, with such delicate flavour was simply covered by all the tarty juice. Sorry but at that price and at that trendy fashionable targeted level, I am to be peaky! Not to notice the gambas, completely overcooked to the level of being mushy and almost impossible to take the shell off. Disappointed.

One good mark to the inventive Sole done in a kind of skitake maybe or other muchroomy sauce with loads….loads of pepper and that was very nice, or the grilled mackerel with that tomato concasse and garlic saganaki ...fresh!

Also on the dessert, one amazing….one failure.

The most amazing cheesecake ever, the vanilla flavour was so strong it was choking, to the level of not feeling the flavour of apricots….but who cares when it’s so light and good. On the other side, the pavlova wasn’t a palvo ...but a dry meringue with strawberry coulis mixed with fresh strawberries and a whip cream. What’s wrong… a plavo is an Italian meringue to get foam inside, melting and velvety and a crusty outside. When you’re partner is kiwi, you know those things. So was a french meringue with strawberries! Point made

Will I come back? no and will I advise my circle to go, yeah. But I would inform them to not be expecting the grandeur of the expectation we all had and there is a long way to go if that place wants to be on the map of Septime, Bonhomie, Jones, Marso&Co or other sharing plates Paris famous locations. Style over substance, some may say.

Another point, notice that the set up is also like London or NYC style - 2 hours time slot and a credit card to secure the table. Insta influencers dropping tables at the last minute without calling the restaurant, and knowing nothing to food are changing this Paris restaurant scene to the worse ...let’s hope we don’t other new places having to engage to that level of security for booking. I understand the credit card, I don’t understand the 2 hours…. But let’s be clear...2 services...fair enough. Maybe I am too old school for those...

My husband and I had reserved a table in advance at this restaurant for our last night in Paris. We were really looking forwards to trying something fresh and modern. On face level this restaurant seems very well reviewed and it’s social media pages are curated and looked after. We had high expectations. The meal and service we received was great. The skill and care in preparing the small dishes was apparent. Freshness of the fish was assumed at this high price. Leaving the restaurant I thought my only complaint would be with the glass of wine my husband and I received. Having ordered two glasses of the same wine, we received pours from two seperate bottles. One looking much older and cloudier than the other. I asked the waiter to replace the older glass of wine with a fresh one, which he refused to do. Still, we left the restaurant in high spirits. The bill was, we thought, reasonable for what we had eaten. Later in the evening, my husband woke to an incredibly extreme case of food poisoning. The symptoms so intense that he fainted and hit his head on the bathroom vanity. My husband passed out multiple times while we waited for an ambulance. I feared for his life. The hit to his head caused a bleed on his brain. He was kept in hospital overnight resulting in us missing our flight home, three extra nights in Paris that we could not afford and a pending hospital bill. We reached out to the restaurant to advise them of what happened, almost a week later we have not received a response from them. If they had responded we would not be leaving these reviews. Upon further digging in the reviews of this restaurant we have found multiple other diners reporting a similar incident with no response...

My wife and I decided to dine here in our last night in Paris before our return to Australia the following morning. What unfolded next was the most traumatic experience of our lives so far.

We were pleased with our meal. The sashimi, cockles, caviar & crudo were all a treat. Yes, raw seafood mostly but we’ve never had issues in the past with restaurants of this calibre.

The wine was mediocre, especially considering the price. Not very complex - quite vinegary and did not pair that well with our food. We also sat on a very uncomfortable couch that was low to the ground.

The staff were great, we had no issues with the service. The dessert was awesome & we found the 140 euro bill to be reasonable considering the quality of the food.

We returned to our hotel to sleep before our flight the next morning. I woke up at midnight with awful stomach pain & went to the bathroom. I had food poisoning!

The illness was so bad that my body went into shock & I blacked out. I hit my head on the bathroom vanity & had two large cuts that left with me with a lot of bleeding from my forehead & chin.

I woke up a minute or two later & had to be taken to hospital via ambulance for emergency treatment. I’ve had stitches in my head & chin & two brain scans which revealed a hematoma. This meant I could no longer fly home safely & had to stay in hospital under observation.

Yep… all because of some bad seafood & bad food handling.

I have not had a reply from the restaurant regarding the incident which is very disappointing - so I think it’s best to warn the public about the poor food handling practices at Cache Paris.

Please dine...