didon. (lower case ‘d’ with a full stop 🤷🏼‍♂️) is a restaurant founded by Imad et Carole Kanaan, featuring charcoal-cooked dishes devised by chef Michel Portos (two Michelin stars) and executed by young Italian chef Erik Marchesan.

We went down to check out their space, and more importantly the rather reasonable fixed price lunch menu…

From the street, didon. looks pretty small – there are less than 40 seats on the restaurant’s two levels, but the high ceiling, white walls and large suspended mirror help give a feeling of space. It’s a minimalist interior but not cold, and as soon as you enter smiles from the staff make you feel at ease.

Toward the back of the ground floor space at least three people can be seen working in the well organised but compact kitchen. They seem to be enjoying themselves, remaining happy and calm even when the restaurant starts to fill up.

In the fixed-price lunch menu (starter and main, or main and dessert for 27€, or three courses for 34€) there is no choice apart from the main dish (generally meat or fish).

Surprise! A pre-starter is served first, in our case a tartlet with herb coulis and jellied balsamic vinegar with a bread puree (to avoid wasting bread, they used bread left over from previous sittings). Very cute.

Next we are served the day’s starter, an egg parfait with pureed red kuri squash, pumpkin seeds, pickles and a sage emulsion. Dare we say it – the egg was perfectly cooked with the puree at the base seasoned to perfection and a smattering of squash blocks al dente, with everything draped in a white foam that gave a little extra mystery to the dish!

A well-balanced and flavourful start.

Next up, the slow-cooked pork cheek, eryngii mushrooms, cream of garlic et meat sauce, and for the non-eater some crusty cod, Provence-style ratatouille and a choron sauce (béarnaise and tomato paste mixed together).

The pork cheek is very melt in the mouth and well seasoned (neither too much, nor too neutral), and the cod arrives like a mini fish ‘n’ chips in a generous portion that’s quite slaty but agreeably so. Little vegetable cubes separate the two servings. Both dishes are a real success.

The description of the dessert given on the menu – vanilla cake, ginger and white chocolate cream, un moelleux à la vanille, preserved charcoal-roasted apple – leads us to imagine an ensemble of all three together, but they actually arrive served apart.

Unusually, the desserts were the least wow part of the meal. The apple, flambéd in calvados and roasted in charcoal is good but not as stunning as our previous courses. The cake also is good, but not a revelation, and we felt similarly about the cream (white chocolate doesn’t really have a strong taste, so it was fairly neutral).

Despite this deflated finish, our overall impression of didon. was very positive indeed. The lunchtime menu is pretty reasonable for the quality of the dishes, the decor is smart, the team is helpful and competent and the dishes are practically prepared in front of you.

You can feel that the employees are very invested in what they do, and we can’t wait to try out the other two restaurants created by the Kanaans – Hébé and (take-away only) Ya Bayte, both of which are also on the Left Bank!

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Une publication partagée par didon. (@didon.restaurant)

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didon. (here) is open seven days a week (except Monday lunchtime) for lunch and dinner

Three-course lunchtime menu with water for 34€, Tuesday-Friday

Online booking here

Website / Facebook / Instagram

What3Words ///vague.dwarves.unrealistic

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par didon. (@didon.restaurant)