Cèpe et Figue (actually Porcini and Fig) is a kind of eating places that aren’t overrated, don’t actually promote and don’t have a designer inside. And but, you’d be silly to dismiss it out of hand.
Positioned within the cour du Commerce-Saint-André simply reverse the Resort Saint-André des Arts, the restaurant is kind of discreet (we’ve handed by not less than a dozen instances with out actually noticing it) and to be frank, it doesn’t appear to be something particular. However seems to be may be deceiving, and a fast scan of their fixed-price lunch menu is sufficient to make your mouth water, with a good selection of dishes for all tastes, and costs that we thought have been unimaginable to search out in Paris these days, particularly on this stylish a part of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Time to to check them out…
The cour du Commerce-Saint-André appears to be going by way of a little bit of a renaissance in the intervening time. The opening of Brasserie des Prés confirmed us that a big venue can nonetheless produce good meals. Now, it’s time to take a look at what a teeny tiny small one can do too.
Cèpe et Figue has quite a lot of overt ‘authenticity’ to it, with a small French flag on the façade and a retro frenchy really feel inside. Suppose Sixties jazz, previous promoting for Byrrh and a nicotine yellow ceiling that each restaurant used to sport, again within the day.
We’re welcomed with lukewarm enthusiasm (one other old-school Parisian custom) and each the rooms (there’s one hidden away upstairs) are quickly very full. It seems to be like there are quite a lot of regulars, which is at all times an excellent signal.
We determined to go for the three-course fixed-price lunch menu, as there’s a large selection (even for vegetarians) and the value is extraordinarily affordable (22€), permitting us to go slightly loopy and order a glass of wine to clean all of it down 😜
Our starters:
— ravioles du Royans (particular little ravioli) in a really good creamy mushroom sauce, served (heat relatively than sizzling 🤔) with vegetable crisps, which was an excellent crunchy counterfoil to the delicate pasta.
and
— cress soup with (only some 🫤) grilled chickpeas and a few ras el hanout, additionally served barely much less sizzling than we have been anticipating, however agreeably creamy.
Subsequent, for the principle programs, we selected:
— fish & chips, which was successful however – shock! – served with salmon as an alternative of cod, which was solely very frivolously cooked, which means it was pink inside (we might have most well-liked that they ask how we wished it), served with some conventional tartare sauce.
and
— a risotto with fregola sarda and scrumptious autumn greens (star of the present: the contemporary mushrooms) and a really proficient cream of parmesan sauce.
And after two profitable programs, it could be impolite to not head for a dessert!
— dessert of the day was caramelised banana served with a crumble that wasn’t too sugary (fortunately) however relatively dense 😳 and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, all superb.
and
— a slice of lemon meringue pie, positively made in-house, with a really mild meringue and devilishly sharp dose of lemon, which was nice!
Properly, what a nice shock our lunch at Cèpe et Figue was! There’s a wonderful selection of French classics or extra, all proficiently created with an ingenious twist, and it could be imply to criticise a three-course meal costing simply 22€. An absolute discount, tremendous near the Resort Saint-André des Arts!
Cèpe et Figue (right here) is open Tuesday-Friday for lunch and dinner, and Saturdays continuous from midday-11pm. Closed Sunday and Monday
On-line bookings right here
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