Le Relais de l'Entrecôte — Restaurant in Paris

Tl;dr: If you are a tourist, sure, consider this place. It's nice for the socials. But know this, 5m down the road, you can get a devine steak for a little more money at La Rotonde with virtually no queue and staff that are more attentive. If you actually enjoy steak, you will not be surprised or disappointed. Just "whelmed." Fries are quite good, but not unlimited like other places. The special sauce is ok here, better at L'Entrecôte in Toulouse (that is a place worth queueing for!) Service wise, they will spend as little time with you as possible because of their popularity.

My experience: we went on a Monday, arriving at 1840 to the queue of about 30 people, and we were seated and orders taken by 1855. Efficient. We ordered medium steaks and asked for wine, we were asked what flavour profile of wine we wanted. Nothing else. A whole bottle turned up. I had only wanted a glass, but in the end, settled for the bottle. If this is something that concerns you, or you are managing your budget, be sure to ask for the drinks menu to help you order accurately. This told me that the staff are trying to upsell. Of course, sparkling is presented. We went with Parisian tap water. The same goes with dessert at the end of dinner and tip at payment. Keep in mind that a 15% service charge is already included in all their prices.

The sequence of food is simple, premade salad with dressing and walnuts, and a plate of sliced bread 2-3 pieces (the bread is topped up once more). Then steak with sauce and then fries. After that, the second portion of steak with sauce and fries. Then dessert if you choose that path.

Unfortunately, our waiter had forgotten us and our steaks — apparently something had gone wrong in the kitchen? I get it. She's managing a section with about 25-35 pax, but the table behind us who were seated later received their steak well before us. The tables next to us, who were the second round, received their steak within 15 to 20 minutes of being seated. Our steaks arrived around 1935, or approx 40 minutes after being seated.

The steak was correctly cooked to medium, good job team 👏

After we finished the first round, the second round of steak was brought to us, this time the steak was medium well, and considerably smaller in size to the first portion, about 1/2 to 2/3rds. More fries and sauce also came, and I asked for extra fries as she was serving us from the tray. I was surprised to find out that the fries were not bottomless/unlimited as the legends had told. You had to order an extra plate if you wanted it, I'm assuming at a fee.

Overall, what they do is get a regular sized steak, maybe 230-250gms, and serve you half first and then a second half later, with fries and sauce on a small plate.

It was funny, when she was serving us the second round of steak and fries, she kepy saying "remember me," which I found to be funny because it felt like she, or the kitchen, had forgoten us. When the bill came, she made a note to mention that the final price had no tip included. This seemed to be standard at all other tables around us.

Normally, I tip generously, but not giving us options with the portion size of wine and forgetting our food while everyone else had no issue. Sadly, it was not something that encouraged me to tip beyond the 15% service charge.

Overall, if there is no queue, drop in and try it out. This place really feels like a fast food version of Parisian bistro dining. Be sure to ask for the drinks menu if that concerns you. If you haven't tried many steaks, it might be a nice supprise, if you have, manage expectations and focus on the quality of the fries and whether or not you enjoy their special sauce. Most importantly, soak up that Pariasian atmosphere — because, why else...

Allergen alert. I always tell my waitress/waiter I have a severe nut allergy. On this night, the waitress was literally run off her feet, leaving the table before I could get in a word about my allergy. I had to get up, run after her and find her to tell her. I was fairly confident she understood. Then the salads came. This establishment sprinkles walnuts on their salads. This in itself isn't an issue. My salad "appeared" to be nut free. I inspected it carefully and noticed brown bits under some of the salad leaves. My husband tasted one and confirmed it was a piece of walnut. The waitress, or someone, simply picked off the bigger pieces of walnuts, the ones obvious at a glance, and served me the "nut free" salad. If I'd eaten even a bite of the salad I would have had an anaphylactic reaction. An ambulance would be called and I would have ended up in the hospital. Patrons would have been majorly affected. My friends were very upset. They wanted to leave. I didn't want to ruin their experience. We should have left. I cancelled my order, I'd lost confidence in their ability to serve me a nut free dinner. My friends were very uncomfortable drinking their wine and eating their 'assembly line' dinner in front of me.

The restaurant staff offered no apology. No compensation. Other than not charging us for my dinner which I never touched! The staff are literally run off their feet without any time to chat with their guests about potential dietary needs or restrictions.

We were traveling in France for six weeks and I never had any concerns with the restaurants we ate at. They were all, without exception, incredibly attentive to my nut allergy and ensured me my meal was nut free, or offered me meals that would be nut free.

In today's world, there is no excuse for anyone with an allergy to go through what I did. This restaurant, Le Relais de l'Entrecote" simply put, pushes it's staff at an incredible pace, which precludes care and attention to it's customers as...

Le Relais de l'Entrecôte is a great stop for some steak frites that will satisfy your craving. Yes there is a long wait (I waited 1h20) but to my surprise it felt worth it in the end.

The salad was okay, quite heavy on the mustard and on the spicy side. I quite liked it but it wasn't particularly special. My portion didn't have many walnuts in it either. The bread was fine as well. It had good flavor but was a bit stale and too chewy.

Then again, no one goes l'Entrecôte for the salad and bread. The steak and fries were the star of the show. The steak wasn't the most flavorful cut of beef, but both my servings were cooked perfectly rare and were very tender. The fries were fresh with a perfect mix of soft fries and crispy bits. The house sauce was great. A buttery and creamy sauce similar to a chimmi churri. Paring the sauce with the tender steak and crispy fries makes for a bite of buttery herbal bliss.

The steak fries aren't some haute cuisine with incredible depth and nuanced flavors. It's not supposed to be, so don't expect it. It's a meal of delicious comfort food that will leave you satisfied.

The profiteroles were good, but being some of the most renown in town I expected a bit more. The choux pastry was a bit dry, but once the ice cream melted a bit and the chocolate sauce soaked in it was tasty. You can't go wrong with warm chocolate sauce and ice cream.

Overall it was a worthwhile experience. The other dishes being okay didn't ruin the experience for me. I came for the steak frites and was pleasantly surprised. I left happy...