L'Ardoise — Restaurant in Paris

We were in Paris for the last four days of our vacation. We had a busy day and needed a decent place to eat near our hotel. The concierge had this establishment on a list of recommended restaurants within a 10 minute walk. We entered at street level and were greeted promptly. They seated us in the far corner which was near the kitchen. It was warm outside and warmer near the kitchen. It was a limited menu but had some really good choices so we decided to stay. We even liked the fixed price menu so we went for it. Same story with the wine menu and we ordered a Bordeaux which was great. All this at a reasonable price and pretty good service. I ordered the cod and it was delicious as was the vegetable salad with goat cheese. My only hesitation is they don't have air conditioning where we were seated. There was another room downstairs which may have been more comfortable as it was a warm day. I need to mention that they...

Very cozy, people had to move their table for me to squeeze in to my table. Full on a Sunday night and the quality of the food didn't disappoint. The soup was exquisite and the fish cooked to perfection with a risotto. The chocolate mousse was just the best!

I measured it at 18sqm, so they have to keep tables tight to make a profit. They don't accept Amex, which triggered a cancellation of the rewards card from my neighbouring diner who had just about had enough of European shops refusing it. It's a problem for business people on expenses' covered trips, too. Bite the bullet and accept Amex, it's worth it.

I take one star away for the service, which could have been better, just a smile and some resetting of the clock when it got busy would have sufficed.

Would return when staying at the...

When I was there the restaurant was full of arrogant unsophisticated tourists, speaking very loudly. Based on my experience, this is really not the place to go if you want a nice, tasty and quiet romantic diner. The food is broadly insipid and greasy - even though it looks super refined and sophisticated on the pictures. I had one glass of red wine which was terrible and which turned out to not come from a bottle (but from some sort of larger recipient - it was the only red wine being served that night by the glass); in addition, sodas and beers are served by only in cans which is definitely un-classy. The place is so tiny that we did not feel like talking as other tables could listen. Thanks to this experience I came to the conclusion that I should distrust the famous guide which...