La Boîte aux Lettres — Restaurant in Paris

We booked a table at La Boîte Aux Lettres on a Wednesday evening in August after seeing glowing reviews from a popular YouTube couple who cover French restaurants and hotels.

When we arrived on time, the hostess who seated us wasn’t particularly friendly. During our meal, we made a few attempts to get her attention, but she seemed to ignore us, which made the service feel a bit cold.

To start, we shared two cold appetizers—a gazpacho and a country terrine—along with a bread basket. My husband enjoyed his gazpacho, and the terrine had good flavor. For mains, I ordered the steak with pepper sauce, while my husband chose the sea bream with vegetables. He found the fish delicious, with crispy skin and well-prepared vegetables. My steak, however, was tough. I skipped the accompanying sauce since it contained foie gras, so perhaps that would have helped. The mashed potatoes on the side were good, though not particularly inventive.

For dessert, we went with the “Undecided,” a sampler of three smaller sweets: tiramisu, pain perdu, and mango-passion fruit velouté. All were good, but the velouté was outstanding. When the waitress asked for feedback, I mentioned my steak was tough, and she said they could have replaced it had I spoken up earlier.

Overall, the restaurant was fine but didn’t live up to the high expectations set by the...

Because the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed, we stumbled upon La Boite au letters. And what joy it was! It proves once again that you shouldn’t plan too much in life, otherwise you will impair luck to hit you over the head with wonderful things:-) :-) This small but charming hole in the wall presents some of the most excellent stuff in the western hemisphere. The lady who welcomed us wanted to know if I had reserved a table, and when I denied to have done so she immediately gave me the best table of the restaurant. How is that for service :-) The waiter that took care of us was of almost blindingly sunny disposition, and was more than proud of the good, and sometimes excellent dishes. We had the most exquisite foi gras and the carrots and anchovies salad for starters. For mains hake and La piece du Boucher. Both had such ravishingly good sauces the French kitchen is famous for. The fish a clear and green sauce with basil and parsnip, the meat an absolutely wonderful brown sauce that looked like.. "yuk" but tasted like heaven. Dessert: Very good pain perdu made of brioche rather than normal bread, succulently swimming in a light caramel sauce. Service kept on being elegant and cheerful, despite the fact that the house was totally packed….....

I returned to Boîte des Lettres with high hopes after a lovely lunch here last year. That previous visit had left me with fond memories: warm, personal service and truly delicious food that felt made with care. Unfortunately, this recent experience was a complete letdown.

From the moment I walked in, the atmosphere felt indifferent — a stark contrast to the charm I remembered. The service was apathetic at best, seemingly tailored for one-time tourists rather than returning guests. Gone was the friendly, engaged attitude that had once made the place feel special.

The food? Not terrible, but far from memorable. My beef steak, ordered medium, arrived dry and uninspired. The accompanying sauce was actually quite tasty — but inexplicably cold upon serving, which only added to the disappointment. The mashed potatoes were the highlight of the plate, creamy and well-seasoned, but they couldn’t salvage the dish.

A particularly odd detail: the cutlery seemed to be rationed. I had to hang on from the entrée course all the way through to the bill — not exactly the touch of hospitality you expect in Paris.

All in all, a deeply underwhelming visit. Boîte des Lettres seems to have lost the spark that made it worth...