6.0 (well actually 7 for the seafood, 3 for the service), 94 rue St Denis in the 1st, 09.53.58.97.13, closed Mondays (Metro: Etienne Marcel) is in the middle of hell, well I mean Halles, with teeshirt etc shops all around. From the outside it looks like an unfinished wood enclosure, which it is, with paneling like a pacqueboat and booths set like private rooms, all with two level shelves on which sit the bread and shellfish detritus pans. It's cool, very cool, even though the front window has displays of shellfish as one sees tonkatsu and sushi displays in Japan. The two-sided carte/menu has platters as well as single items and the latter looks like a spread-sheet.
I started out with an intensely flavored bisque d'etrilles that was fabulous; then two of us ordered the 14 E Moussaillon du jour and the bold guy chose the 32 E Plaisancier which had so much he begged us to take some; all the seafood was good (except my spicy sauce loving Filipino-American pal couldn't get any hot sauce). We wound up ordering a wonderful and generous assortment of seasonal fruits and the café gourmand (with great caramel chocolate ice cream and lovely mini-desserts).
With two bottles of wine, alright bread and no bottled water or other coffee/tea, our bill (with a La Fouchette reduction) was 117 E or 78 E a couple.
Go? Ah, there's the rub. While the food was excellent, the service was spotty and our dishes arrived minutes apart; we also had trouble hailing the staff from our seating below deck. But as one of us, who has been a professional chef, noted, they're young, they're new and they haven't been at it that long. On verra.
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