When we saw online that a Parisian restaurant was offering its six-course 78€ tasting menu with a 50% discount (on food, not drink), we jumped at the chance to try this typically French experience and booked a table at Bistro V.

However, we couldn’t help but wonder, was it too good to be true? And as it turned out, not everything was perfect…

Bistro V is in a residential part of town that isn’t known for its restaurants, but we’ve had some pleasant surprises dining here in the past. From the pavement it looks fairly classic, with a permanent covered terrace and a small main room with exposed stone. We are warmly welcomed by the staff and the place was already buzzing. Things were looking good.

Once we had been seated, it soon became apparent that the tables were very close to each other, and although this is fairly common in our compact city, we unfortunately had a gentleman at the next table who really liked the sound of his own voice. It’s part of the Paris experience, but over the course of our evening, it did become a little tiresome.

Also, the table was almost too small to hold some of the plates the food was served on, and the leatherette table settings felt rubbery and not chic.

In any case, the place was lively – it looked like we were not the only ones intrigued by the super offer of 78€ of food for 39€ – and hot, like uncomfortably hot.

The tasting menu is split into six dishes – some amuse-bouches, two starters, a main dish (for which there are three choices), a pre-dessert and a dessert. A vegetarian (but not vegan) version is also available, which is not always the case in some restaurants, so bonus points for that.

We decided not to have any wine, because the bottles are all special vintages and thus a little dear, but the restaurant does offer three- or five-glass wine pairings for 69€ or 98€ respectively, which works out at approximately 20€ per glass.

Our amuse-bouches arrived very prettily presented – grated beetroot tartlets (very good, and to be eaten in one bite, we were told), a small ‘apple bonbon’ that was supposed to contain horseradish but didn’t have the taste, and a small block of potato with a béchamel sauce, served in vegetable charcoal, which we were quite impressed by.

An interesting and inventive start.

For the first starter we have some very good ponzu-marinated meagre (we found the taste overpoweringly strong, but perhaps that’s the point) and a vegetarian dish (actually an accompaniment for a dish you’ll see in a minute) – carrot cooked in three different ways : two different mousses and a roasted baby carrot.

At this point, some little annoyances started to make themselves plain. First of all, we were given the fish dish instead of the vegetarian option we had asked for, and while the waiter was super super nice, it does show a little imprecision. Even when the correct dish arrived, the staff didn’t think to give us any cutlery to cut the carrot 😬

Another thing – the gorgeous crusty bread is served on rounded (not flat) plate, meaning that the waitress had to block it with her thumb to stop everything from rolling off. It’s a detail perhaps, but jarring for a high-end restaurant.

The second starter is really good surprise (perhaps the star of the evening) – listed as gnocchi with a buckwheat biscuit and green pea sauce, the gnocchi are actually hidden underneath everything (a treasure hunt!), and the peas are present as a sauce, steamed and as sprouts, very clever. Nicely sweet with different kinds of crunch, we loved it!

With the restaurant now full and only two people to serve over forty diners, the time between dishes became tediously long – waiting 20 minutes for a dish that takes two to eat is frustrating – but the next dish finally did arrive.

For one of us, codfish that was supposed to be ‘seared’ (but we requested well cooked, which was not a problem) served with the carrots used as a vegetarian replacement earlier. This time, we found the carrot puréed with orange far too sweet.

For the second person, an asparagus construction hiding chickpeas cooked in balsamic vinegar (very good) served on an “iodised yoghurt mousse” which tasted like plain yoghurt to us.

Now it may have been the heat, or the long wait, but apparently we didn’t take photos of the desserts. Please accept our excuses 😬

The pré-dessert was not great for us – a little bowl of miniature cubes of kiwi fruit, with aloe vera, basil ice cream and a green apple mousse where the various tastes just seemed to smash together than really being able to express themselves. It just seemed over complicated and the result was underwhelming.

Luckily the ‘real’ dessert – fine meringue, pieces of grapefruit and yuzu ice cream – was much more of a success. Cool, balanced, serve don a bed of yoghurt (unsweetened, the waitress informed us).

By this time though, it was a little late to enjoy this final dish. It had taken 2½ hours to serve us six dishes, and while the team were absolutely lovely, we were exhausted. If you want to offer a 78€ tasting menu, we think that details are important – the time between dishes, the température of the room de la salle, the leatherette table settings, the size of the tables, the space between the tables, the sad looking plants in broken planters outdoors… It all adds up.

Nevertheless, this isn’t a bad choice for a 39€ meal, but really not so much of a bargain at 78€ (up to 176€ with the five wine pairings).

To get the special rate, you have to book through the website The Fork (a free service). It seems the offer is more or less permanent (although it’s not available from 10th October – 24th November 2024).

Online comments are wildly different, with some people loving the place and others thinking it really wasn’t up to scratch. Perhaps your fine palate will grasp the finesse that escaped us in some of the dishes.

---

Bistro V (here) is open for dinner every evening except Mondays

Website / Instagram

Get up to 50% off the tasting menu by booking online here

What3Words ///warnings.seat.neat

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par Méli & Jeje | Hotel • Spa • Food | UGC (@melietjeje)