I’ve always wanted to go to a Michelin Starred restaurant and as we were in Paris, Mr D found one for me, Benoit. Benoit is a one starred restaurant is one of many restaurants by Alaine Ducasse. Mr D picked Benoit because it has been around for over 100 years and it was ADORABLE (that probably wasn’t a reason why Mr D picked it though…). He made a booking months prior via email and he had to confirm the booking 24 hours before our reservation.
It was pouring down cats and dogs when we arrived (yep, bucketed) but as soon as we stepped into Benoit, it was amazing. It was beautifully decorated and we were shown to our table immediately. We were led to a separate room where I noticed that all guests were international (I guess it would be easier to have staff know to speak English in that room instead of guessing).
Before we even ordered, we were given cheese chouquettes and they were amazing. I mean, I LOVE everything cheese but this combined with french pastries, gosh it was perfect.
Cheese Chouquettes
We got the set menu which was 39€ for three courses which I thought was GREAT value. First up, the shrimps with spinach leaves and poached egg. I thought this was FABULOUS!
Shrimps with Spinach Leaves and Poached Egg
Mr D got the sausage with quinoa tabouleh and mustard cream. The sausage was amazing. I actually didn’t think I’d enjoy the quinoa tabouleh with mustard cream but boy, was I wrong. I liked it much better than my entree but both were wonderful (sunshine and lollipops!).
Sausage from Montreau, Quinoa Tabouleh, Mustard Cream
It was time for the mains to come out and I picked the wild duck warm pie rouennaise-style sauce. I was super excited about this dish because I LOVE MEAT!!! I even had the leek as well (take that Mr D, I can totally eat things from the onion fam bam now!). The pie was so moist on the inside and crispy on the outside. Everything was perfectly balanced and my taste buds were swimming in AWESOME food!
Wild Duck Warm Pie Rouennaise-Style Sauce
Mr D got the filet of pollack, mariniere-style shellfish and the staff said usually the ladies (YEP! I’m a LADY!!) get the fish and the men get the duck but it didn’t matter to us anyway since I GOT TO EAT EVERYTHING!. I LOVED Mr D’s fish dish. The sauce was so good and the pollack was so soft and your knife sliced through so easily. Gosh, I wished I ordered it. Both mains were delicious nonetheless.
Filet of Pollack, Mariniere-Style Shellfish
Finally desserts came out! I got the tartes and they were AMAZEBALL! The lemon tart, sooo lemony but not too sour at all. The chocolate tart was so rich and the apple tarte was, you guessed it, so apple-ly. The pastry base was so YUMMO and crunchy, just the way I liked it. I was in DESSERT heaven but I was absolutely full (like a hot air balloon) and tried to squeeze it in.
Assorted Tartes
Since Mr D wasn’t a sweet tooth, he got the ice cream and sorbet. He said it was super refreshing and not too sour which is what he found a lot of european sorbets are like. I was super duper happy with my dessert so I didn’t even touch his.
Ice Cream and Sorbet
We also got espresso and they gave us MORE CHOCOLATE (why won’t they stop feeding us?? Actually, BRING IT ON!!). The chocolate was too rich and I didn’t really like that. They also gave everyone a madeline (I KNOW, my pants button have literally popped by now) and that was DELICIOUS!! It was so soft and so cute and SO MOIST!! GOSH I LOVE BUTTER AND SUGAR!!
I would definitely recommend Benoit. It is such a great gem that’s been standing forever, service was on point and the FOOD, OH MY GOSH THE FOOD, it was all superb. Now, got to convince Mr D to take me to a 3 Michelin starred restaurant now hohoho.
20 rue Saint Martin 75004 Paris
Tel: +33 (0)1 58 00 22 05
Website: www.benoit-paris.com/en