Brand new (they opened in October), OTTO is the latest project from chef Éric Trochon, winner of a Meilleur Ouvrier de France prize in 2011, and behind the very chic Solstice restaurant (whose Okase tasting menu with wine costs 245€ per person). 😲

However, on OTTO’s down-to-earth rue Mouffetard, the prices are much more reasonable, the interior design is on fleek and the dishes are tapas with a twist, so let’s go take a look!

After much preparation, OTTO (don’t dare call it Otto) has just opened in an area close to our hotels that seems to be on the up-and-up (check out our review of the nearby Flocon), and this time the interior is as carefully curated as the food, thanks to the extremely talented designers Ich&Kar.

In what was quite a small space to begin with, they have made the bold choice to place the open kitchen slap bang in the middle, leaving just enough space for a bar front left and tiny corridors down each side leading to just two tables.

If you don’t like barstools, you’ll have to get there early – not a problem as the kitchen is open all day, but in the evening it soon becomes very difficult for the staff to get around, especially with extra the stools that they’ve added on the wall side (decidedly the seats to avoid).

It’s a handsome space, with lots of wood and mirrors (don’t miss the bar made of squares of copper, brass and what looks like gold) but a tough one to navigate for the serving staff.

Unfortunately, there are a couple of other practical problems, like the extractor on the right side of the kitchen that isn’t quite strong enough (sit on the left side if you don’t want to go home smelling like a French restaurant), and the fact that you’ll eat with wood directly in front of you up to beyond your head, hiding almost all of the kitchen and much of the main room.

Some might feel the prices are a little high for the cutlery to arrive in a jam jar (5€ for still water, no glass of wine under 8€…) Anyway, these are probably just details…

So, we order – celery and hazelnut fritters, ‘barbajuan’ Swiss chard, razor shells with garlic butter, and ‘fish no chips’.

With a crispy batter made with beer, and an agreeable taste of walnut (the menu says hazelnut, but we weren’t sure) the celery fritters were great, and the garlic sauce for the razor shells was excellent too.

It turns out that barbajauns are a kind of fried ravioli that originated in Castellar very close to France’s coastal border with Italy. There were good, but there were only three (slightly mean for 10€).

The most surprising thing was that almost everything arrived within a minute of ordering – the waiter explained that it was ‘instantaneous cooking’ 🤔. Only the battered fish (chipless, but with a really amazing black curry mayonnaise) took a little more time.

While everything is very confidently done, there are quite a lot of deep fried dishes, which may not be great for all stomachs. You might think the portions are small from the photos, but we weren’t hungry after finishing them.

The other ‘instataneous’ aspect is that as soon as you finish a plate or glass of something it is immediately whisked away by the waiters. We took the last gulp of our glass of wine and it was snatched from beneath our eyes. Pick up the last fritter on a plate and the plate will be gone – tough luck if you wanted to put half of it back down on something. It’s a bit over the top.

Nevertheless, we were very motivated to try the desserts, ordering rice pudding with caramel and chocolate cake with a touch of salt. The cake is melt-in-the-mouth with a satisfyingly strong chocolate taste, and served with a tonka bean sauce, while the rice pudding comes in a huge serving (be prepared!) with lots and lots of crispy caramel drizzled over it, making it slightly difficult to eat (but finish it we did!)

By the way, if you like your wine, do ask the waiters for help, as they know their stuff and the restaurant has a vast, gorgeous wine cellar that you can see if you go to the back of the main space. Gorgeous.

So OTTO has great food that comes fast, and you’ll be eating without a huge amount of space, and possible with some of the kitchen steam billowing around you (if you’re seated on the right).

If you’re looking for a place with bags of bustle and stylish designer tapas, it’s a great choice, but not necessarily a cheap one (expect to pay around 45€ per person for a couple of mains, a dessert and a glass of wine). If you’re fine with that, you won’t be disappointed.

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OTTO (here) is open seven days a week non-stop from midday-2am without reservation

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