Grande Brasserie — Restaurant in Paris

There is much to like about this place and a few things that didn't work for us. The service is friendly and professional and if you are given advice on a particular dish or wine follow it. They know better than you do and I paid the price by insisting on a certain wine that was really terrible. I had not realized that they served bio-wines which are certainly a hit or miss proposition. I should have followed the waitresses advice and stayed with the white she served us to try at the beginnig of the meal. The oysters and asparagus starters were delicious and in season. My wife enjoyed her scallops as the main but the boiled potatoes had obviously been cooked hours ( days?) before and were undercooked, rubbery and underheated..The topinambour had also been under-cooked ( or over cooked??) and were unpleaseant and rubbery which was a shame because the scallops were very nice. My sweatbreads were nicely cooked and gently sauced but the plate would not have suffered if a few young steamed carrots had been added to it for some color. . The potato puree was lovely too... Sadly it was a dish that was dificult to enjoy while trying to drink the wine I grew to hate more and more with every sip....For desert I wanted to try the Rum Baba ? but the waitress once again tried to wave me away.. She was right.. It was a bone dry muffin soaked in rum at the table and not even the whipped cream could save it.. We could not eat it.. The creme brûlée was ok but no 11 Euros worth of good..very average .... I spoke with the manager about the wine and he told me we would not be charged for that which we hadn't drunk. He gave us a couple of glasses of another red which was a LITTLE better which was a nice consideration. They obviously want to offer a good experience and I'm sure they will iron out the kinks...Finally , it would be great if they offered a few bottles of " traditional wine" for those of us who generally dislike the bio variety.. This was a 200 Euro meal and I should have left feeling expansive and at peace with the world .. Instead we went down the road to the Jewish Quarter for a flafel which we ate at home with a nice bottle of...

We loved having dinner here. The food was inspired, and the service was very friendly and attentive. At home we do a lot of cooking, and we appreciated the extra effort that was obvious in the ingredients and preparation. There were lots of staff, which meant our every need was met almost instantly. Our pre-dinner drinks were a good red wine for him, and a gin & tonic with artisanal tonic for me. We started with a delicious terrine, which came with bread and pickles, and was plenty to share. The my husband had veal kidneys in a delicious sauce, which came with gratin potatoes, and I had rare duck breast with mashed potatoes and an equally delicious sauce. He had the best crème brûlée ever for dessert, and I had a parfait of ice cream mixed with green absinthe and candied angelica (an herb). It was great! A unique and tasty dessert. The other diners were French families having an evening out. Note: I had a hard time finding the restaurant. Google maps only showed it at one level of zoom-in the other levels there was nothing there. When I looked at Google street view, I didn’t see it because the sign is just gold-leaf in the window. Classy but hard to see. Then when I put in the address, our route went around the block even though we were only a few steps away on foot. Even searching for it on Trip Advisor was difficult. I thought it was La Grande Brasserie, but there’s no “La” in the name. Usually when you search for “The Pickled Pig” you will get “Pickled Pig”. I guess the Trip Advisor search goes with exact match only in French. The reason we went anyway was because of good reviews, and Google maps showed me that a reservation was available at 19:00. When I clicked, I got an email immediately from the Brasserie confirming our table. When we arrived, the restaurant had the reservation in my name. That gave me confidence that we wouldn’t arrive to find it full...

Disappointing experience at this restaurant with overpriced, poorly prepared dishes.

The aging ambiance and cracks on the murals add to the overall sad atmosphere. Across the street, a restaurant called Bofinger seemed to offer what I was looking for: a traditional Parisian brasserie with dazzling lights, and well-preserved decor. I don’t know about their food. But I’ll definitely try this one next time I’m in town.

Though, even the award-winning egg mayo fell short, but due to in-house mayo and the céleri salad (« rémoulade ») was a highlight. I love snails and there, the snails were served without the shell. We’re super small. And though melted buster and garlic were satisfying, it was again very disappointing.

The 45€ faux-filet is just a scam: was overcooked but big chunks of fat. French fries were dry. So tough when it’s supposed to be the best lean part of the beef. The only thing is that the green salad had very good seasoning. But fries were disappointingly dry.

The raw meat tartare my friends had, too strongly parsley-flavored (maybe to cover the flavorless meat?) wasn't impressive, and the beef jaw bourguignon was overcooked. Oh, and the bread served was not good. Too soft. No crunchy parts. With all the remaining boulangeries around, I guess they prefer to serve bread that taste like supermarket industrial bread.

Despite the seemingly high average review rate, I don't recommend it. Save your money for a more authentic French dining experience elsewhere in Paris, as they exist and these will be worth both the...