Truffes Folies — Restaurant in Paris

Review of Truffes Folies – 6.5/10 A professor’s critique, not a high school teacher’s praise.

Dining at Truffes Folies is meant to be an experience, not a casual meal. I approached this restaurant with the same mindset I would when grading a senior seminar paper: high expectations, a belief in potential, and a focus on execution over effort. Based on that standard, I give the Bucatini carbonara et Truffes du Périgord a 6.5 out of 10—a passing grade, but not honors-level work.

The carbonara was solid. The pasta was cooked well, the sauce rich and properly emulsified, and the portion was generous. From a technical standpoint, it showed competence without cutting corners. If I were grading this dish alone, it would earn a respectable B+.

But this was a truffle restaurant, and the truffles were the main subject of evaluation. Unfortunately, this is where the dish fell short. The thinly shaved truffles lacked the unmistakable aroma, depth, and complexity expected from true Périgord truffles. They tasted like unremarkable fungi—not portobello, not shiitake, just neutral. What did come through was the unmistakable flavor of truffle oil, present on the table and likely in the dish. While truffle oil can enhance a plate, relying on it as the primary source of truffle flavor in a dish billed as featuring Périgord truffles is akin to citing Wikipedia in a senior thesis. It might get the point across, but it’s not authoritative.

If this were a first-year undergraduate attempt, I might say "good effort." But in this context, expectations were higher, and the result felt superficial, lacking academic or culinary depth.

What elevated the experience was the waiter, who deserves an A on every count. Courteous, perceptive, and attentive without hovering, he understood how to read a table, adjusted the setting without being asked, and made the service feel genuinely professional. I can’t overstate how much he contributed to an otherwise uneven experience.

That said, I’d be remiss not to comment on patterns of defensiveness in the restaurant’s public responses to criticism. As someone who values growth and accountability, I find the tone of blame-shifting present in several online interactions unfortunate. A more gracious posture would reflect maturity and confidence in their craft.

Let me be clear: Truffes Folies is not a bargain destination, nor should it be. To dine here is to opt into a curated experience. But with that comes a higher bar. You don’t walk into a seminar and expect leniency just for showing up. You’re evaluated on execution, clarity, and substance. The same applies here.

Suggestions for Improvement

Strengthen the truffle game; ensure truffle sourcing matches the expectations set by the branding and price point; if truffle oil is used, disclose it clearly; clarify menu language; distinguish between truffle oil, essence, and fresh truffle shavings; variety, origin, and seasonality matter; refine public relations; a thoughtful, professional response to criticism goes further than defensiveness; keep and uplift excellent staff; the waiter was an asset to the experience and a model of hospitality.

Consequently, Truffes Folies has the framework of an honors-level institution, but this performance hovered just above average. The potential is there, but refinement is needed to...

This is one of Paris’ best kept secrets! If you’re a lover of truffles, this is a MUST-BOOK restaurant. Walking in to the restaurant is a delight in itself as the aroma of Truffle stimulates your tastebuds! The restaurant is very small, maybe 6-8 tables. We were a group of four without a reservation. The host was kind enough to allow us to wait in their small space for 40 minutes until a table opened up. The staff was more than friendly to us and offered suggestions, explanations, to us even though we none of us spoke French. Everything from apetizerers (entree’s in France) to main course (plates) to desserts was above and beyond DELICIOUS! The food came out quickly - fresh ingredients and perfect to the palate. We LOVED this place so much, we decided to go back on a whim for our last night. Again, no pre-set reservation. It was early enough before the reserved guests rolled in that they accommodated us if we promised to be out in a bit more than one hour. Perfect for us!! We all enjoyed another FABULOUS meal and bought several truffle infused food products to bring home and remember our meals at Truffe Folies in Paris. I can not recommend this place enough. A Paris favorite that I hope to return to on my next visit. A Five-Star experience all the way from meal, staff, courtesy, ambiance, desserts. I miss it...

!! Warning to non-French speaker for overcharge !!

We ordered and drank 9€ euro a glass of white wine and 7€ a glass of cider but he charged us other 14€ white wine and 9€ chateldon which is a bottle of sparkling water. Because he is not a english speaker, I have to asked him about this situation with my broken French, and he answered that because the white wine we ordered was currently unavailable so he gave us more expensive one. Which was really strange and weird that he did not mention anything about it in advance and we don't know which one we drank because it was poured where we could not see. And I asked him about the chateldon which we didn’t ordered. At first he said it’s the same one but when I show him the menu that I ordered cider and the price was different, he gave me back 2€ in cash. 🙄

I thought the oner was welcoming and food was nice(except that it was quite pricey) so I was about to leave a good review, but I feel so bad and disappointed that he overcharged us. Dishonest restaurants are the worst. 샤긔뀬...