5.0 Cantina Mundo, 7 Rue Marceau in Bagnolet (Metro: Gallieni), 01.43.63.26.95, closed Saturday noon, Sunday and Monday nights, is a place that opened in 2009 in the old Zebra Square space and was recommended to me both by my trusty East-of-town food finder and the French friend I've known the longest whom we were springing from her Rehab Center where she's recovering from a busted shoulder. It's twist is that in addition to French food it has one entree, main and dessert from another country, that changes every 15 days and this week was Romanian.
The Romanian choice for a first, an os a moelle soup, did not appeal to any of us, but the caramelized carrots and sauteed scallops were quite OK.
Then the ladies had the caramelized spareribs with potatoes and I had the stuffed cabbage: I found their ribs boring but my stuffed cabbige, while quite filling, was quite solid and better than I actually had in Romania itself.
Colette's pineapple tatin with caramel sauce was very good, the hit of the meal; my old friend's chocolate mousse OK but my Romanian mini-beignets were cold, dumpy and frankly horrid.
With a bottle and glass of Cheverny and 3 Nespresso's (couldn't prove it by me) and no bottled water our bill was 119.00 E or just under 80 E a couple.
Decibel level = 86.1 dB; the place was packed.
Go? Hummmm. The ratio of great dishes to OK ones to horrid ones - if any ratio can have three parts to it - does not lead me to say you must schlep outside the peripherique, but if springing your old pal from what she called a "modern boarding school" I suppose so.
You mean to say that Bagnolet has the french equivalent of Chicago's Grant Achatz's Next restaurant !? Who would've thought ?
I happen to know a little bit about Romanian cuisine, and am frankly surprised about the different dishes they served you, they don't sound that Romanian to me...
Posted by: T. Tilash | December 04, 2012 at 12:53 PM