Attabler, Paris 16

Last autumn, while going to another restaurant in the neighborhood, I passed Attabler and thought it looked interesting, so I made a mental note to return and try it out. Last night, I did exactly that.

Attabler is located in Paris’s swanky 16th arrondissement, yet it is unassuming both inside and out.

Similarly, the carte is unremarkable:

It is supplemented by a daily chalk board (sorry for the blurry picture):

The wine list is well-done with reasonable markups. The wines by the glass:

To begin, I took the terrine de canard along with a glass of the Chinon.

The terrine was light and delicious with good precision. The accompanying greens were refreshing, just as they ought to be. The only thing remarkable here was the freshness and quality of the ingredients which turned what could be a ho-hum dish into something of interest. Similarly, the Chinon from a producer I did not know (Domaine de la Niverdière) was light but intense and focused with good dark fruits.

For the main course, I took the pigeon, which was accompanied by beets:

The pigeon was juicy and less gamy than some versions I’ve had recently. The beets (underneath the pigeon in the picture above) perfectly complemented the richness of the pigeon. Again, there was nothing at all inventive here, just expert cooking and high quality ingredients.

With the pigeon I took a glass of of the red Côtes-du-Rhône from Château de Serre Blanc, another producer I did not know. The wine was silky and flavorful and a bargain at 8€ for a glass.

When I was told that there was a house-made galette des rois available that was not on the carte, I immediately ordered it:

Galette des Rois (King’s Cake in English) is a marzipan-stuffed feuilleté that is traditionally eaten at Epiphany, but in fact continues to be produced and sold in boulangeries and patisseries (at least in Paris) throughout January. Here the feuilleté was a little rustic, but the dish was overall satisfying.

The bill:

Attabler is a bistrot that serves traditional foods without any modern twists. What sets it above many other trad bistrots are (1) the quality of the ingredients and (2) the meticulous cooking. On their own, they aren’t enough to make Attabler a destination restaurant, but if you are in the neighborhood and are looking for a good meal of traditional French cooking, this is your place.

Attabler

148 rue de la Pompe, 75106 Paris

Tél: 01 42 25 05 43

website: attabler-restaurant.fr

Tue-Sat lunch and dinner

Métro: Victor Hugo, Rue de la Pompe