LES ARTISTES — Restaurant in Paris

It was a weekend and a late summer afternoon when we came here. Most places were closed and we seemed to be running out of options. The food took a while to come but was delicious.

The kids took a menu each of bun-less burger, drink and dessert. I ordered the fish burger and fries and my husband went the classier way of starting with a salmon and tuna tartare followed by a 'faux filet' with beans. My fish burger was amazing for it's flavor and the fact that it had a perfectly seared salmon steak inside the bun instead of a breaded and deep fried patty. It was huge though and impossible to eat with my hands so I had to use a fork and knife. My husband's fish tartare was delicious. The steak was giant and a too chewy for my liking so I left him to it alone.

On the negative side, we had a giant bill. The dishes are pretty expensive compared to what we usually go for, particularly as were just looking for a casual meal. But on the positive side since the portions were huge we could have ordered half the number of things we did! The kids (5 and 9) should have shared one meal and my husband and I should have shared one starter and one main. The staff was very nice...

I really thought we’d have a good time here after reading the other comments on friendliness and good food/service - but that was the opposite of our lived experience.

It really felt like we got charged the tourist tax here in service/treatment.

The server’s attitude was fine when she was welcoming us in French but turned sour when our French wasn’t fluent. I did greet her but she either didn’t hear me or chose to ignore.

Food was under-seasoned and proteins were all well undercooked. We are not ‘well done steak’ Americans, but never got asked about temperature. We also asked for a carafe of tap water and received a bottle of still that we got charged for (7.5 EUR).

What’s sad is, the male waitstaff were perfectly friendly. I really want to think it was just the female server plus a busier afternoon in the kitchen, but regardless - what an underwhelming experience.

We had high hopes for...

I have no idea what it is like now, but I recall very vividly my dining experience here and as a female solo traveller on my first overseas trip, I could not have asked for better. I fumbled my way through a conversation with the service staff in terrible French and they were kind enough to bring out a chef who spoke English (and not in a condescending way) both the server and the chef were lovely and helped me choose a dish, which was delicious and the atmosphere was just what you would imagine a cute French dining experience to be. So much so that I still remember the name of the place almost 20...