Astier, 44 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris 11

Astier, which opened in 1956, is a venerable institution that once figured on all sorts of lists of recommended restaurants in Paris. The cooking is traditional (Gault & Millau has accorded it the best traditional restaurant in the Île de France, i.e., Paris and surrounding areas).

Perhaps it is because so much is going on in the restaurant scene in Paris right now that Astier has become somewhat overlooked. I confess that even though Astier is less than a ten-minute walk from my apartment, until recently I had not eaten there since 2014. But once I finally stopped in again for a meal, I found myself repeatedly returning because of the quality of the food and the value.

The current carte:

The interior is comfortable with three small rooms and tables at reasonable distances from one another:

Additionally, as the initial photo shows, there is seating outdoors on warm days.

We were a group of six and began as an aperitif and to continue to the first course with a bottle of Bourgogne-Aligoté from Domaine Manuel Olivier, a producer in Nuits-Saint-Georges; I’ve enjoyed the few wines I’ve had from this producer, and this one was a more than decent example of Aligoté with crispness and also some juiciness.

The wine list is not especially long, but is well-chosen with modest markups and wines starting in the 40-50€ range. There are some wines from difficult-to-find producers at interesting prices.

For first courses, two of our group began with the herrings, which they very much liked (not pictured, the potatoes that were served separately):

I took the excellent frogs’ legs served with a broccoli purée. They were juicy and flavorsome.

The langoustine salad with fennel and citrus, which I’ve had on a previous visit, is fresh with contrasting flavors and textures, just right for a warm summer’s evening:

And the final first course was the artichokes à la Barigoule, a specialty of Provence, with plenty of flavor:

Moving on to the main course, we ordered a bottle of Brouilly from Beaujolais produced by Jean-Claude Lapalu, a very good producer:

Lapalu produces natural wines and it took a few minutes for the initial funk in the nose to clear up, but the wine was light, fruity, and delicious, perfect for a very warm summer’s evening. The wine was served very cool, just as it should have been.

A turbot was offered as an off-carte special and three of us chose it as our main course selections:

It came with summer vegetables in a beurre blanc sauce and was light and tender.

The other half of out group all chose the excellent filet of veal served with fresh peas and black garlic:

This, too, I’ve had on a previous occasion and it is excellent with the veal being very tender and cooked just right, and the peas bursting with fresh flavors, and the portions are generous without being too much.

For dessert, one of us took the cheese plate for which Astier is famous. Unfortunately, I neglected to take a photo, but it consisted of five different cheeses along with fresh grapes.

My photos of the other desserts were taken after the diners had begun to eat. There was a delicious Pavolova with fresh red fruits, whipped cream, and ice cream:

A chocolate soufflé that had plenty of chocolate flavor. It was baked entirely dry, so it almost resembled a brownie:

And finally, caramelized rhubarb with light wafers and vanilla cream, also an excellent appreciation of summer:

One of the party picked up the check before I was able to photograph it, but as you can see from the carte pictured above, prices are not steep and considering the freshness and quality of the ingredients and the skilled nature of the cooking, it provides very good value.

If you’re looking for traditional food in Paris, Astier is as good an address as I know and well worth your investigating. Additionally, it is open daily and the well-priced 25/29€ menu at lunch is available every day except Sunday.

Astier

44 rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris

Daily lunch and dinner

https://www.restaurant-astier.com/

Tel: 01 43 57 16 35

Métro: République (lines, 3, 5, 8, 9, 11), Oberkampf (lines 5, 9), Parmentier (line 3)