Seafood restaurants are one of the few categories we’ve not covered in the years we’ve had our monthly lunches. Usually good seafood restaurants are costly and out of our under 20 price range, except for the chain restaurants with mussels.
I sometimes take tour clients to lunch during my tours and one of the places I like is Le Bar a Huitres (Oyster bar in English). Outside of the restaurant is a seafood stand with workers preparing the most extravagant multi tiered raw seafood platters smoking with dry ice along with rows of bright red lobsters, clams, oysters, and shrimp on ice. If that doesn’t draw you immediately into restaurant, I don’t know what else will.
The upscale and luxurious interior with charcoal rattan club chairs has more than ample space in between tables. The well-appointed table settings have black mesh resin placemats, white plates with a beautiful silver bubbled edges, an elevated white porcelain condiment tray with expensive olive oil in a perfume bottle and Himalayan pink salt, and my favorite wine glasses.
The dense menu comes on an IPad. We chose the three-course Parisian Lunch Menu for 26 euros and yes, a little over our price range but absolutely justifiable, as you will soon see. The formule offered a generous selection of six dishes in the entrée and plat section, which also included meat dishes.
I ordered the traditional seafood soup from the south and it was presented in big white tureen. It was an authentic and well-executed version of the classic and there was enough soup for Lynn to share a bowl with me. Lynn had escargot from Burgundy, prettily plated with raw salt underneath the escargot. Lynn said one or two were a little salty but the others were perfect. We couldn’t get enough of the Poilane bread that was served.
The service was attentive and efficient with more staff attending us than almost any restaurant I’ve been to in Paris. One hilarious moment was when a waiter came from behind us with a pepper mill the size of a bazooka gun asking us if we wanted fresh pepper. We joked that it could double as a weapon in wartime.
For her plat, Lynn had a hearty piece of Red Label salmon with a light sauce, which she enjoyed very much. I had a crispy piece of dorade with an unusual and delicate sorrel sauce, which you very rarely find in the U. S. on the menu.
Dessert was a perfect finish: Café Gourmand, elegantly served on a white porcelain tray with a cup filled with light, buttery langue de chat cookies, a not too rich but ever so scrumptious chocolate mousse, and coffee in a silver cup. I like my coffee with dessert not after and most French restaurants frown upon it, giving you a slightly condescending look if you do, so the god thing about Café Gourmand is you don’t have to have the embarrassment of asking, as it comes with the dessert.
Lynn and I both agreed that the 26-euro lunch at Le Bar a Huitres is one of the top values of all the places we have eaten, with excellent and well prepared food, big portions, great service, and plush ambiance. In Siskel and Ebert terms, it was two thumbs way, way up.
All seafood at Le Bar a Huitres is local from France.
Le Bar a Huitres has three branches in Paris and we lunched at the one by the Place des Vosges.
33 Blvd. Beaumarchais, 75003
Metro: Bastille or Chemin Vert
http://www.lebarahuitres.com/uk/index.php
Open for lunch and dinner everyday
The Parisian Lunch Menu for 26 euros is served Monday to Saturday
Peppermill or weapon of mass destruction?
I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
Tours cost 210 euros for up to 3 people, and 70 euros for each additional person. I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
Click here to watch a video of our famous Marais tour
New! Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes
I am happy to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Cooking Classes. Come take an ethnic culinary journey with me and chef and caterer Charlotte Puckette, co-author of the bestseller The Ethnic Paris Cookbook (with Olivia Kiang-Snaije). First we will shop at a Paris green-market for the freshest ingredients and then return to Charlotte's professional kitchen near the Eiffel Tower to cook a three-course lunch. After, we will indulge in the delicious feast we prepared along with hand-selected wines.
Cost: 185 euros per person (about $240)
Time: 9:30AM- 2PM (approximately 4 1/2 hours)
Location: We will meet by a metro station close to the market
Class days: Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Minimum of 2 students, maximum 6 students.
Click here to sign up for the next class or for more info.
New Eye Prefer Paris Photos for Sale
I am happy to announce the sale of a new set of prints of my Eye Prefer Paris Photos. I am offering 20 of my most popular and iconic images for sale including my doors, architectural details, statues, and monuments. They will make great gifts for all your Francophile friends, relatives, and colleagues but don't forget to buy some for yourself.
Click here to see photos and for full details including sizes, prices, and shipping. Here is a sample of some of the photos.
Bazooka for sure! (lol) Beautiful restaurant and photos of plats look absolutely scrumptious!!
Posted by: bill | November 27, 2013 at 09:32 PM
Bar a huitres and not even a half dozen huitres? Glad to see thEy have such a great lunch menu, though. I usually pop into the one near St Jacques for a glass of wine and a dozen oysters. Wish I could be there with you guys.
Posted by: Michele | November 27, 2013 at 09:39 PM
Have passed this restaurant so many times and now I will have to try. Merci, Richard!
Posted by: Nancy | November 28, 2013 at 01:45 AM