Le Duc — Restaurant in Paris

One of our favorite dinners we had in Paris during our stay.

We ordered a pan fried fish that was drenched in butter (Sole Meuniere I believe it's called?) It was one of the best things we've ever ate. I don't know what they do to that butter but WOW. That's the only way I can describe it.

They present a whole cooked sole to you before filleting it. It's really heavenly and words can't describe how good it was. Really, effing, good. The dish came with creamed fennel and steamed potatoes which went perfectly with the fish.

We didn't feel the salmon tartar was spectacular enough to order again and I would skip it. You'll get full enough from the sole dish. The fish looks huge but the serving size is enough for one person to get full. Don't split it, be greedy. You'll seriously not want to share this dish once you try it.

The dish is very simple. Pan fried fish in butter, but the quality of that butter and the freshness of that fish is all you need. You won't be able to replicate anything like this back at home, it's truly the epitome of what you would imagine french cuisine is.

One of my friends ordered something different that I can't remember the name but it was essentially shrimp in pasta with a tomato based sauce. It was alright I thought, the shrimp was fresh (comes with face on). As my friend described the tomato sauce as "a mix of cocktail sauce in ketchup" which seemed pretty accurate. I wouldn't order that dish but my friend quite enjoyed it. It's very large for one person so get it to share if you must.

If you can only do 1 fancy dinner in Paris do it here. The sole dish was around $60 euro give or take but highly worth it. A small dessert is given after the meal as well. Their wine is excellent so treat yourself to a bottle with dinner. Their finest, cheapest, bottle was...

Fancy place for fancy people, many International and English-speaking. Beautiful, charming and sophisticated room, intimate and special, with an enticing menu of fish and seafood. Unfortunately, the dishes themselves were quite bland and unremarkable - notably under-seasoned and without any zip, contrast or distinction. It’s tepid, which may suit this crowd’s palette and deliver “quality”-sourced items in an inoffensive and very safe way. The fried calamari was good.

It’s a pity, the room has great charm (and especially the bathroom downstairs, be sure to descend the staircase), and there’s a vibe of comfort and upscale casual elegance but the cuisine needs a shot of Adrenalin, but maybe not for grandma taking her daughter to a grown up dinner. Welcome and service were initially warm and helpful but then our waiter disappeared and we had to ask for our check 3 times and wait over 25 minutes and were only able to settle our bill by leaving our table and standing by the entrance for yet another other 10 minutes. We seriously considered simply leaving, which we’ve never done in our long lives of eating in high and low restaurants around the world. Inexcusable and not even a cursory apology was offered. I suppose they’ll carry on successfully with their selected clientele and travelers who have been told a visit is all that but don’t come here for the food or...

This was probably the best meal I ever recall enjoying. This is French culinary arts at its finest. The food is primarily seafood.

Here are my recommendations:

For appetizers: langoustine with wasabi. calamari with garlic. sea bass with garlic toast. shrimp with shisho and uni cream. crab salad.

For entrees: gougenette de sole. john dory with vodka butter. sole meunière. langoustine with ginger. lobster with orange sauce. saffron and langoustine with tagliatelle.

I had the sea bass with garlic toast. Very light but primed the palate. I followed with Sole meunière. My wife Amy enjoyed the langostine tartare with Iranian loomi and followed with the lobster in orange butter sauce. Photos of the mains are attached. Desert was mixed fruit and cappuccino.

Service was impeccable. Not inexpensive but well worth the cost of the meal.

If I were visiting Paris, I would suggest booking this restaurant ahead of time. You do not want to visit Paris without dining here...