OSE, 3 rue Durantin, Paris 18, redux
As I noted in my report on OSE last week, the offerings change every couple of days. In general, this is good and I prefer it, but it should be noted that there is an element of risk in this approach, too — the chef has not had time to work out all the kinks, and so occasionally a dish may underperform. For me, that’s a risk worth taking.
When I arrived at 8 pm, many of the 26 seats had already been taken, and by 8.30, the place was full, mostly of French people (although there was a table of six Japanese.
As promised, the offerings were substantially different from the previous week:
While waiting and with the first course, I took a glass of old vine Carignan from Julien Nowak, Domaine des Célestes, located at the eastern end of the Languedoc:
This was an attractive, flavorful, relatively elegant wine that was easy to approach.
For amuse bouche, there was smoked egglant purée on the same lips-dish as before, but this time with peanuts instead of beets:
For my first course, I took the velouté of cabbage, pumpkin, and walnut oil (and I think there may possibly have been some fennel and chestnut in there as well). This was a delicious starter on a rainy night and reminded one that autumn is now here:
I was comped a second first course, the salad of mussels, beets, pickles, and bottarga:
This was an example of the risk not paying off — after the flavorful velouté, this dish seemed flat and without character to me.
Time for a second glass of wine to go with the upcoming main course and the cheese dish afterwards. I chose a somewhat heavier wine from the Languedoc:
This was a more powerful wine, but balanced and equally as attractive as the first wine. It matched well with the suckling pig and then the cheese.
The main course was described as suckling pig, parsnips, cabbage, and Jerusalem artichokes. In fact, broccoli subbed in for the cabbage and maybe the Jerusalem artichoke, too. No matter, the dish was rustic in the good sense and matched well with the wine:
The cheese plate consisted of (clockwise, beginning from the bottom) of Mimolette, Comté, and Morbier, with a tiny salad in the middle. It was adequate, but nothing special:
The bill for dinner and two glasses of good wine was most reasonable:
OSE is a friendly place to go for fresh bistronomic dishes, good wines at attractive prices, and an all-around enjoyable atmosphere.
OSE
3, rue Durantin, 75018 Paris
Tél: 01 42 59 98 35
Tuesday - Saturday evening and Thursday-Saturday lunch
Métro: Abbesses, Pigalle