La Fourmi Ailée — Restaurant in Paris

Looked nice on paper and making the telephone reservation for our group of 7 went well. However. . . this has been one of the worst customer service experiences I have ever had in a restaurant!!

Our reservation was for 19h00. We arrived 10 minutes ahead of time to get settled. That was already an huge issue with the frazzled manager of the evening (not the same person from the reservation phone-call). She wanted us to wait outside even though the restaurant was almost empty as dinner service had not started yet, only some people sat around having coffee, drinks, snacks. Ok. . . how about at least a welcoming smile then? Nope. . . 

After a few minutes I asked whether we could sit downstairs, but she wanted to give us a table upstairs. Another few minutes after that I decided to climb the stairs to check whether it wouldn’t be too stuffy as there were no open windows or air-conditioning. Oh, boy, the manager went crazy, accusing me of being ‘very impatient’, giving me a pretty evil look while I kept my calm.

Waiting a few more minutes and exchanging words with my group, we decided that we could probably be ok sitting upstairs and after there when the manager told us to take our seats.

She had given us a super stuffy table in the last corner and as all other tables were still available we were wondering about at least taking the one next to it as it had more fresh air and space. That’s when the manager finally freaked out and became super rude. I still tried to talking to her, wondering whether the other reservations for that evening were for specific tables etc. She didn’t reply to that and complained a lot about us simply being there. 

The only solution was to say good-bye and have a lovely dinner at our back-up location around the corner: ‘Le Petit Chatelet’, right next to the ’Shakespeare & Co.’ bookstore. The were all smiles and super friendly.

The conclusion: This restaurant will never ever be on my to-go list. Customer service should be the most obvious priority and it is so easy to be friendly and share a smile, isn’t it? Apparently not...

Really disappointed.... recommended by my Parisen friend, and travelled across Paris to get here. Came in the door, waited 5 minutes for anyone to come out of the kitchen, it was not busy. When the girl finally came out of the kitchen, she seated us but gave us no menus, we waited for another 5 minutes before going to ask for menus. We then looked at menus for 2 minutes and she came to take our order. We had both menus open on the main courses page and asked for another few minutes. We then tried to get her attention to order and she was busy laying a table nearby but didn’t look up. A neighbouring table got her attention to order and she preceded to return to the kitchen and got glasses to continue laying an empty table before finally coming over to take out order. We went to order food ( it was 18.40) and she said the chef didn’t start until 7pm. When we asked why she didn’t mention this she said we should have asked if we wanted food. We would have waited but had a train at 9.15 to catch. We went round the corner to Le Depart restaurant and had a great meal and great service. It seems this place is often let down by poor...

Whilst there are lots of touristy foods in the Latin Quarter, stepping a little bit off the beaten track will pay off. This duck egg blue building is nothing but a cosy restaurant, that almost feels like you’ve entered someone’s house. The ceiling is incredibly high, painted like the sky, and the tall walls that surround it are laden with old books, and artwork, including a big Louis XIX feature.

The service is charming, one waiter managing the whole place on the night we went. A modest menu of quiches, salads and some delicious French pasta options. The osso bucco is simply one of the best, in a rich tomato sauce, the meat just melts when you cut it. Whilst the gnocchi is comforting, soupy and laden with deep, rich earthy flavours. The variety of teas is quite fantastic really, categorised by Chinese, Indian and other blends. The drinks themselves take up 3 pages of the 4 page menu.

Leave room to share a dessert, the buttery pastry of the apple pie, and the warm filling left us more...