Philou Review

Menu is great with a variety of dishes from which the choice is difficult. Home made pate and rillettes as starter will prepare you for the main dish. I've tried the pigeon, perfectly "rose" cooked. The home made (on order) Paris-Brest dessert was delicious. No to forget a great wine list of small but well selected producers, I chose a Vacqueyras perfectly suiting my choice of dishes. The chef is supposed to be japanese, not surprising when you know the attention brought to the cooking and preparation. Efficient service and a Manager who knows what he is talking about... You do not need more. Keep it up that way. Great experience, I will definitely be back !

The bistro is a short walk from the Place de la République, a happening place where “Nuit Debout” (“rise up at night”, according to the Guardian) demonstrations were ongoing. We’d dined here 5 years ago, on the basis of a NY Times review, and liked it enough to return. Our table was crammed between those of a young French couple on one side and an older Dutch pair on the other. We ended up in enjoyable conversations on both sides. For our meal, we started by sharing an appetizer of white asparagus puree with chopped sea snails. Sounds weird, but it was delightful. Then, we each had a fish course. My wife’s was Pollock, over a bed of cabbage, which she deemed delicious. Mine, roasted barbue (brill, a flat fish), was served with spinach - also very good. At the recommendation of our French neighbors, we shared a “Paris-Brest” for dessert. OK, it’s a cream puff, but as I’ve noticed before, the French version is infinitely better than the tasteless junk you get in the U.S. This one was filled with a hazelnut/caramel concoction, and was wonderful. With our meal, we enjoyed a half-liter of the house white – very good. The bill came to about 80 euros, about the price of fine dining in the US, at $1.13 to the euro.

We have been here for the second time (first time was one year ago). Unfortunalty it was a little bit disappointing. Service was still very friendly and good, but the food was nothing special. We had a salat as entree and two differnt types of fish for main course. Both were ok but nothing special and the portions are very small. In addition we had old bread on the side. All in all I think the quality of the food is good, but the portions are quite small if you take into account the price. The first time we habe been very happy, but not this time. I think it has been our last visit, since there are better alternatives nearby.