Le Clarence

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  • Visit Date: 8th July 2022
  • Restaurant: Le Clarence
  • Address: 31 Av. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Paris
  • Telephone: +33 1 82 82 10 10

Wow. Walking into such a beautiful and grand building with a spectacular interior, I felt a little nervous at the thought that it was all going to be a bit stuffy and pretentious. However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Despite it being a whopping six hour lunch, which was a lot, the vibe was just brilliant. I laughed so much, the whole team here are filled with bags of humour and a very quick wit, combined with excellent service, without compromising on professional etiquette. So charming, so brilliant. I loved it.

The food was amazing, so much food… as you’ll see if you click the highlight link above and pop your sound on. You finish one small dish, and another three would appear, the table at one point was laden with dishes, and each one was as tasty as the next. Exceptional ingredients.

My favourite dishes:

The baby clams, these were excellent.

The turbot with the caviar – so delicious, I did the honours and served our end of the table.

The veal was excellent and the fig leaves smelt amazing, cooked with rosemary and thyme. Sides of mashed potato and squid ink and the lightly fried aubergine were a delight. I loved them even more for bringing the board out with all the leftovers and gnarly fatty edged bits, which filled me up as I couldn’t stop eating them.

The macarons, heaven.

So very spoilt with some beautiful wines, compliments of the owner, from their own vineyard, Château Haut-Brion. This only served to further enhance the lunch, along with a trip to the kitchen for two delicious bites there too.

I had to skip the cheese, as I was so very full, I tried really hard to limit how much I ate, knowing dinner was only a few hours later, but it was just all too good to not finish.

Then moving upstairs for the petit fours and coffee, in the most beautiful and magnificent room, where I melted into the big velvet sofa and could have closed my eyes and happily curled up and entered a food coma like no other. The macarons were so light, and when they brought more I reluctantly gave mine away as I simply couldn’t eat another morsel.

You keep the cutlery throughout, which despite its two stars, felt charming and old school. I know it irked my fellow diners more than me, but I found it a bit like Spain, a family style vibe, and along with the relaxed atmosphere, it was welcomed. I do agree however, that when you have caviar from one dish still on your cutlery, then it should be swapped over. With so many dishes it would have been impossible to change the cutlery so often, so this was understood. The napkin also stayed the same, but I would have appreciated a fresh one for dessert as opposed to the mucky one I still had, refolded.

I’d jump on the Eurostar tomorrow and go back in a heartbeat. That is how much I enjoyed it.

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