Chez Gabrielle — Restaurant in Paris

The food here is undoutedly magnificant.

It was our first day in Paris. We were wandering on the streets in the chilly air, looking for a restaurant for our empty stomach. Then we stopped in front of this cozy restaurant with warming lights and a beige based decoration. It was already quite crowded, and the lady who worked there (assumingly the owner?) arranged a small table in the corner of the restaurant for me and my friend. So we were lucky enough to get two seats without a reservation.

The restaurant had given us a small appetizer for free before they served our actual appetizer. The "gift" was a simple dish consists of cucumbers filled with salmon salad. It had a refreshing taste and was perfect for any gourmet to start a meal with.

Our actual appetizer was Escalope de fois gras poêlée, gelée de gaillac, crumble de pain d'épice. For those who have not tried this entrée, please do order this one. The fois gras had a fatty taste and it melted in your mouth like a piece of truffle chocolate. the gelée then added a stringly texture, while the bread on the bottom added a more cruncy texture. The blueberry sauce was sour and sweet and it balanced the fatty taste of the fois gras so well. The flavor was a combination of savoury, sweet and sour. All these different flavors just explode in your mouth and excite your palate to such an extent that only one bite of this entrée brings you a journey of the different layers of texture and flavor that are so novel and so harmonious. It was this entrée that convinced me that we were at the right place for French cuisine.

The main course was Saint-Jacques flambées au Noilly Prat, champignon de Paris et girolles. What should I say about this dish? The scallop was of course tender and delicious, but the creamy sauce was definitely splendid. I cannot possibly imagine what they have put into that sauce, but it tasted so unique and wonderful that I had to eat our bread with it to the point that I was so full and could no longer take another bite.

Personally, I don't recommend the filet de boef à la crème, because I don't think the medium rare steak goes well with parmesan cheese sauce. But the gratin dauphinois is very delicious.

The dessert we had, although it looked like a chocolate lava cake, it actually wasn't. I don't remember which nut they made it from, but it was probably the best dessert I have ever had in my life. Usually I'm not a dessert lover, but this one captured my palate and my heart.

I cannot recommend this restaurant enough to my fellow gourmets out there.

(The only problem is that this place is usually quite busy and crowded, and there are only two staff members doing everything ranging from welcoming customers, getting the tables ready, delivering dishes, opening wine bottles, handling payments... anything you can imagine that a waiter/waitress could do. So be prepared that they will probably not have much time to give you a detailed explanation...

👎 Would not return – feels like a tourist trap. No locals in sight.

Found this restaurant via recommendations on Xiaohongshu and ChatGPT as a Michelin-listed place said to suit Asian tastes. A senior schoolmate also recommended it, so I brought my mom here.

🍽️ Starters: Smoked salmon & foie gras – only the foie gras was edible. 🍽️ Mains: 6-hour braised beef in red wine & tuna – both way too salty for our taste. 🍮 Dessert: Roasted peach – extremely sour. 🍷 Drinks: Orange juice came in a bottle; white wine (€20+) wasn't as good as the €10 bottles back home.

⚡️ Atmosphere: Tiny, tourist-packed restaurant right by the roadside. Only 6 tables total, ours was next to the mirror. The place had a strong smell of cannabis and urine from the street – not the best dining environment.

💁‍♀️ Service: Poor. We arrived late (7:30 instead of 7:00) due to traffic, and the waitress made passive-aggressive comments like "the traffic lights it’s not even busy now, you messed up my timing.” We offered to leave, but stayed. Not friendly at all.

💸 Price: €110 for two – on the higher end in Paris, and definitely...

Charming cozy restaurant which loses all its charm with the obscene adolescent little posters throughout. Service was quite friendly. I started with the foie gras which came on a soggy toast that was drenched in sauce. No additional toast but regular bread which takes away from the overall taste. My main meal was the kidney. My dish arrived with an entire kidney in a pool of sauce. It reminded me of my anatomy class in dental school. I wasn’t sure if I should eat it or dissect it first. The dessert which was a glazed peach sounded amazing but did not quite meet expectations. The clientele were pretty much all tourists and I suppose preparation and presentation were not given any thought or effort. For the 100 euros per person, I could have had a considerably better result in numerous other establishments in Paris. The two stars were only for the...