Le Hide (Paris): where a day of foie & escargot began

I was in the mood for foie gras. Using our Rough Guide to Paris book, PB suggested we find this gem of a place near Arc de Triomphe called Le Hide. It’s quite tricky to find if you’re a tourist but by this time we’ve already mastered map reading so we got there in time for lunch service. I like that it’s not on the high street, that it’s tiny and somewhat intimate despite the touching tables.

The menu is insane. All your French favourites are listed for a prix fixe of 22€ for two courses and 29€ for three (27/34€ for dinner). I tried to order in French and thought it was going well until I asked for water and the server said something which sounded like “Gateau nougat”. I restrained myself from scratching my head and thought they didn’t have nougat in any of the desserts… Eventually we switched to English and realised she was asking if we wanted water “with gas or no gas” aka “sparkling or still”. #lostintranslation

Complimentary bread basket.

One of the starters we ordered was a tartine of escargot, de-shelled snails served in a rich olive oil and chilli concoction, topped with chopped shallots and garlic. The escargot had a subtle earthy flavour livened by slivers of sundried tomato (which reminded me of Plaid Boy’s scallop dish). Served with a brioche bun, I was pleased by how light and delicate the dish was.

We also had foie gras (5€ supplement) and OH. MY. GOODNESS. ME. It was a big escalope of foie, possibly the biggest I’ve ever seen, served as a starter. The photo doesn’t do the sizing any justice (it came in a big plate) but it was as big as my hand and almost thrice as thick as an iPhone 5. I was so concerned about our arteries and cholesterol level… until Plaid Boy reminded me of the time I ate eight hefty pieces of seared foie for brunch last year in Singapore. #sorrynotsorry

It was every bit indulgent that each forkful of the velvety melt-in-your mouth liver may have riddled us with a tiny bit of guilt. It was, however, so darn delicious that we just couldn’t stop. The simple salad of quickly blanched string beans gave it much needed crunch and the simple vinaigrette gave it a tease of a punch. SO YUMMY.

So much for our non-boozy arvo. The foie was so rich, we were compelled to have some sauvignon blanc which always goes well with rich duck liver. (They didn’t have Sauternes which would have been perfect).

Plaid Boy ordered a faux fillet steak for mains with pepper sauce. Served with a gorgeous, buttery mash and garnished with a simple (but stunning) rosti, this was a really hearty meal.

As expected, it was cooked perfectly.

I ordered the sea bass in beurre blanc sauce. They said they were low on sea bass so they’d add monkfish, which actually worked in my favor as I’m not really a huge fan of that boom-badoom-boom-boom-badoom-boom bass (just had to!). Monkfish is also one of my favourite gifts of the sea (shame it’s not a pretty fish, haha!)

My dish was so pretty! It was served with half an artichoke which I was extremely happy about, more of that lush mashed potato and that thin rosti, and garnished with creamed spinach and rose petals.

This dish was something I wish I could recreate and eat at least once a week. Everything was elegantly delicious: the sea bass was cooked and seasoned nicely; the grilled artichoke was tangy and slightly nutty; the beurre blanc was heavy on flavour with the most delicate consistency; the mash was moreish and buttery.

And that monkfish was an absolute stunner in every flake and forkful. I’m in love.

I’m so surprised our bill only came to less than 60€ given the quality and amount of food we had (that foie would have costed a full prix fixe menu in England already). Super plus points: happy belly, happy pockets.

Le Hide

10 Rue du Général Lanrezac 75017 Paris

After lunch we felt the need to walk of all that glorious food so we headed off to the Musee d’Orsay and enjoyed a bit of art. You can’t take photos here, unlike the Louvre.

There was a lot of intense walking and climbing involved. By the time we got into our nth chamber we saw this cool couch with people resting. I so wanted to plop down as well. I was in dire need of a massage.

This museum reminded me of the National Gallery in London except I wasn’t as moved with the display. Reckon I was just too tired to really appreciate the display. That said, we managed to get into the Van Gogh exhibit for free so it was actually quite sulit.

We were so tired and were still too full for proper dinner so we had just had a light meal of croque monsieur, caesar salad and of course… more escargot.