Restaurant : LES ALLOBROGES

Restaurant : LES ALLOBROGES

71, rue des Grands Champs

75020 PARIS

Telephone : 01 42 55 61 64

Menu at 34 € pp (dinner)

Closed : Mondays . The restaurant closes for annual holidays in August ,at Easter and for certain Bank Holidays (jours fériés).

Les Allobroges takes it’s name from a warlike, Gallic tribe that roamed between the Rhône and the Isère region of France - but the connection ends there; this restaurant is in the hinterland of the 20^th arrondissement, north of the Place Nation and as far as I know the owners are not descendants of the Allobroges.

Our evening got off to a bad start as we were completely ignored by the owner’s wife (front of house) and her surly daughter when we arrived- black marks there. There are two dining-rooms and we were placed in the rear room, which is stifling when the air conditioning is switched off and is rather confined (not for claustrophobics)- the front room is airier and lighter (ask for a table here when reserving).

The proprietors have owned several restaurants in Paris over the years, all in the 11^th or 12^th arrondissements, we discovered this when Madame redeemed herself by making an effort to talk to us when we paid the bill! Monsieur oversees the kitchen and his cooking is accurate without being very inspiring – my kidneys with a Madeira sauce were perfectly cooked and the sauce well seasoned, my wife’s St Pierre was average- however the Foie Gras to start was very good indeed (lovely texture and flavour ) – the chef, like his wife, redeemed himself with his outstanding desserts – a fantastically light’ feuillété de fruits rouge’ (raspberries) and the not to be missed cigare au chocolat –remarkable wafer thin pastry leaves surrounding a wicked chocolate interior.

Reasonably priced, service needs to improve though.

6.5/10