Café de l'Usine — Restaurant in Paris

I visited the restaurant for an early lunch reservation (1:00 PM) and chose to sit inside. The interior is pleasant: spacious, with high ceilings and a relaxed ambiance, especially for a Paris café.

The menu is minimalistic, offering only two choices per category: aperitif, main course, and dessert. With such a limited selection, you'd expect them to have enough portions to cover the options, particularly so soon after opening (they begin service around 12:00 PM). However, by the time I sat down at 1:10 PM, one of the two main dishes was already unavailable. Given that the menu is fixed at €25 for at least two courses (excluding drinks), this was disappointing and frankly baffling.

The aperitif was the highlight of the meal creative and enjoyable.

For mains, the choices were ravioli or a fish dish with assorted vegetables. The latter turned out to be a glorified can of ratatouille paired with calamari (they claimed it was octopus), both of which wouldn’t feel out of place on a supermarket shelf at Carrefour. The presentation couldn’t disguise the underwhelming quality.

Dessert consisted of a basic white cream served with a peach. Simple, but uninspired.

To be blunt, if you placed the aperitif and the main dish in front of me without context, I wouldn't be able to tell which was meant to be which.

For a location like Belleville, and considering the overall food quality, organization, and value for money, I don’t believe this restaurant holds up against its local competition. There are many other establishments in the area, French and international alike, offering far better meals for the same price.

Moreover, there were 2 waiters at the time: a woman and a man. The woman was respectful, however the man was quite rude, almost screaming when asked a question, huffing and puffing to his coworkers after interacting în english to customers-the majority of which, from what I saw, being international.

If you're looking for a meal rather than just an Instagrammable moment, I wouldn’t recommend spending your time...

On a trip from New York, my incredibly picky and discerning friends and I (I’m built different I will literally eat an eclair out of the garbage) reserved a table at this unassuming spot nestled in a factory space. The space itself is welcoming, spacious and leaves enough room for boisterous conversation without making your group feel too loud. The service is as disciplined as a more anal michilin star spot but comes off as effortless. The staff is working at a five star level but I get the sense they arent being treated like dispensible tools. The menu changes weekly, so take my reviews of the food with the knowledge that it will never be the same, which I imagine encourages repeat visits. 45 euros for the three course prix fixe, wines were not overpriced. The bread was fantastic and the highlight was this delightfully nutty endive consomme. the almond paste in the broth and the farro were a perfect complement to the bright and bitter endive. Truly unexpected and comfortingly wholesome. My parents taught me to read so I could write this review. come and then come back next week. This is a place that unsuccessfully pretends like its no big deal but I imagine that it takes a lot to make...

An absolutely stunning experience that over-delivered in every way. The ingredients were full of flavor, tasting as if they had been caught or picked that morning (which they probably were). Additionally, the balance of each dish was laser-focused, with no ingredient overpowering the other and coming together brilliantly. The service was friendly, elegant, and professional, with perfect timing between each course. Finally, the wine suggested by the Somm paired perfectly with every course. The value could not be beat, and we have already booked our return visit. Definitely a must-dine...