OktObre, 25 rue des Grands Augustins, Paris 6

My initial visit to Martin Maumet’s new restaurant was at the beginning of September last year, just after the restaurant opened. Since then, I’ve been back, always at lunch (where there is an amazing-value 32/39€ menu), and always had an excellent meal. This most recent visit, the first chance to see what the chef can do with spring offerings, was the best one yet.

The diners on this day seemed to be entirely French, except for us, and of a range of ages and dress.

The current lunch offering:

The wine list, I think, still needs work; and the markups seem to be somewhat on the high side, but I guess that helps keep the price of the food down. We ordered a red Anjou from Patrick Baudoin:

2018 was a very hot, ripe year in the Loire (and in France, in general), and I generally do not like Cabernet-based wines at 14.5% alcohol, but this one managed to work, with plenty of dark fruits to go with a medium-full body and richness.

For the first course, I took the hors d’oeuvre and L thought she had ordered the leeks and mushrooms entrée, but when she was delivered the hors d’oeuvre by mistake, she decided that was fine by her.

This was a superb set of three different palate-openers.

On the left was white asparagus with peas, horseradish cream, and a Japanese vinegar light vinaigrette. It was all fresh and pure with intense flavors.

In the middle was a savory and peppery beef broth with very thin slices of beef, mushrooms, and green onions. Very satisfying, and a good contrast to the white asparagus. 

Last, on the right was tiny cubes of celery root with a creamy mayonnaise sauce with mustard seeds above it and leaves on top. It showed excellent complexity and finesse.

For her main, L took the merlan de ligne (line-caught whiting) with celery root, artichoke, and turnip, plus a few other things not specified on the carte such as spinach and fennel in a jus of eel and yuzu. This was a lovely, pure dish with great finesse and purity.

I took the young pork with glazed eggplant, radicchio, and oyster mushrooms plus an olive-purple mustard condiment. This, too, was an excellent dish, much more spicy and flavorful than most pork dishes, which so often end up being rather bland. The olive-purple mustard condiment, in particular, added an almost barbecue-like spiciness.

L’s dessert was the apple tartlette with caramel and long pepper ice cream. I did not sample it, but she enjoyed it greatly.

I took the strawberry soup with coconut milk and strawberry ice cream and various aromatic herbs, as well as meringue bits. I enjoyed this dessert, but it was not as vibrant and intense as the two previous courses.

The check:

Oktobre is a restaurant that I continually enjoy returning to. The food itself is a great value given the very high quality of the ingredients and the inventiveness of the dishes. I highly recommend a visit when you are in Paris.

OktObre

25, rue des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris

Tuesday-Saturday lunch and dinner

website: oktobre.fr

Tél: 01 46 33 00 85

Métro: Saint-Michel, Odéon