Les Papilles

in Bistros & Restos 1st to 5th Arr.

I had heard consistently good things about this Latin Quarter bistro and was delighted when my colleague, Alain Neyman, of www.lesrestos.com invited me to join him for a leisurely lunch. I was a few minutes early and owner Bertrrand Bluy served me a Txapa, a rosé from the Pays-Basques with a cherry-like finish. When Alain arrived and ordered a white wine Bertrand delivered wafer-thin slices of a cured ham from the Pyrenées.

Papilles 1 

I had heard consistently good things about this Latin Quarter bistro and was delighted when my colleague, Alain Neyman, of www.lesrestos.com invited me to join him for a leisurely lunch. I was a few minutes early and owner Bertrrand Bluy served me a Txapa, a rosé from the Pays-Basques with a cherry-like finish. When Alain arrived and ordered a white wine Bertrand delivered wafer-thin slices of a cured ham from the Pyrenées.

The 31 euro menu changes daily and today we started with a mound of finely chopped carrots, parsley, chives and smoked lardoons topped by a quail’s egg over which we ladled a creamy veloute of carrots with a subtle touch of cumin from our communal tureen.

Papilles 2

The main course was a pork breast that had been braised and simmered for 4 hours and served with carrots, snap peas, onions and garlic that had lingered in the pork broth. Chef Claude Ulric works this magic in the tiny but efficiently organized kitchen that can barely contain him. In was served a generous glass of red but was frankly too engrossed in the meal to notice the bottle.

I drained the glass with a St. Nectaire sprinkled with chives, a moundette of applesauce and a green salad dressed in balsamic vinaigrette.

Bertrand had trained as a pastry chef and the marcsapone in cream with cinnamon and caramelized pineapple swirled in a glass was almost ethereally light.

An espresso and another wonderful dinning experience came to an end.

Les Papilles
30 rue Gay-Lussac
Paris 75005
Metro: Cluny-la Sorbonne, Luxembourg -RER
Tel:01-4325-2079
Lunch: 12PM-2PM
Dinner: 7PM-10:30PM

Monday-Saturday

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