Le Chateaubriand
Add: 129 Avenue Parmentier, 75011 Paris
Tel: 01 43 57 45 95
Hours: Tue-Sat 7:30-11pm (closed Sun & Mon)
Website: www.lechateaubriand.net
Price: €70/menu
Visited: Sep 2015
Le Chateaubriand was one of the first restaurants I’d heard about when I arrived in Paris. It’s a hot restaurant, ranked #21 on S. Pellegrino’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, higher than many other prestigious establishments in Paris such as Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee and L’Astrance.
Rankings aside, I’ve heard both extremely positive and extremely negative comments from friends who have gone…and it took me 3 years to eventually come and try it for myself. The fixed price is €70 for a flurry of small dishes, mostly very delicious on the evening of our visit (menu changes daily according to the market). It started with some gougeres (savory cream puffs) and liquid ceviche (basically, the taste of ceviche in a shot).
Little shrimps, fried and covered in plum powder.
An assortment of sliced tomatoes with oysters.
Fennel broth with passionfruit.
White tuna with Spanish ham (I think) and beans.
Sea bass with corn.
Chicken with fresh cepe mushrooms, onions, and fried sage.
Cassis sorbet with angelique cream and grated feta cheese.
Candied egg yolk with some kind of meringue…? We weren’t offered an explanation.
Fresh figs with cumin and some other unknown things that I’m not so fond of.
Overall an excellent meal. Bold and delicate flavors, a bit out of the ordinary but not really weird yet. I’d recommend this restaurant, but who knows what will be served next time? There is no fixed menu and there is no guarantee that you won’t eat something too strange for your palate.