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| Astair |
Astair
19 Passage des Panoramas
75002 Paris, France
Ph: +33 9 81 29 50 95
Astair is a modern Parisian brasserie, located in the beautiful Passage des Panoramas, the oldest covered passage in Paris. They have an excellent value prix fixe menu for weekday lunches - 20€ for two courses, or 25€ for three courses.
We ordered some champagne too. (I was on holiday, after all!)
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| Champagne Rosé Chartogne Taillet Brut - 16€ per glass |
We happened to be seated directly opposite the bar, and I loved the view!
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| The Bar |
We started our meal with some fantastic crusty bread.
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| Bread |
There were two options each for entrées and mains, and we ended up ordering all of them. (I may have waited for Clarice to order, then picked the other option so that I could photograph them all - heh).
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| Velouté de maïs au bourbon |
Clarice had a lovely corn soup as her entrée. The soup was velvety and smooth, with little pieces of corn kernels in various states dotted over (popcorn, whole kernels and so on), which provided a nice textural contrast. (I suppose if this dish were served in a high-end Melbourne restaurant, it would be simply be called "textures of corn").
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| Terrine de lapin aux noisettes |
My entrée was a rabbit terrine. It was dense and meaty, with the rich terrine offset by the selection of pickles. (How pretty are those translucent radish slices?)
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| Filet de rascasse, carottes glacées, coulis de coriandre |
I loved the bright colours of Clarice's main! Fresh and gently cooked pieces of rascasse fish fillet came with glazed carrots and coriander coulis. A lovely light bistro dish. (Subsequent googling has taught me that "rascasse" is known as scorpion fish in English, and it's the prime ingredient in the famous Provençal soup bouillabaise.)
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| Souris d'agneau, écrasé de pommes de terre aux herbes, coulis d'estragon |
My main was quite a bit heartier - lamb shank with herbed crushed potatoes and tarragon coulis. The lamb was meltingly tender, and the punchy tarragon coulis brightened up with might otherwise have been quite a rich dish. Both the lamb and the fish were simple dishes, executed very well.
The dessert options in the set menu were a vanilla mille feuille or a chocolate mousse, but we thought we'd splash out and order from the regular carte, as we saw a couple of our favourites on the dessert menu.
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| Baba au rhum et fruits - 9€ |
How cute was the rum baba? The baba was light and fluffy, with just the right amount of rum-and-sugar syrup. I think the generous amount of whipped cream (almost German levels of whipped cream) is a welcome, and necessary, contrast against the sweet and sticky cake. Delicious.
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| Madeleines et pot au chocolate - 10€ |
I went for madeleines as dessert. I absolutely adore madeleines, and bake them often at home. Astair's madeleines were served warm, and the edges had the best buttery crunch. They came with a pot au chocolat - similar to a chocolate mouse, but not aerated. It was rich and creamy and very decadent. Gorgeous! I loved this pairing and definitely want to try making it at home.
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| Wine cave |
I loved our lunch at Astair! It was a sophisticated yet comfortable atmosphere, with really well made and delicious food. And of course, that lunch special can't be beat. It was quite busy even on a weekday, so I'd recommend booking in advance. Thank-you Clarice for choosing this great restaurant for our lunch!
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4 comments
I wish more places here did lunch specials! They really seem to be bypassed Australia or something. So strange!
ReplyDeleteYes agree! Now that I think about it, about 15 years ago I remember there were quite a few in Melbourne, and it was such a great way to try a fancy restaurant (and I guess increase revenue for restaurants during normally quieter periods). They seem to have all but disappeared now.
DeleteYum - looks delicious. I want that corn soup!
ReplyDeleteIt was so good!
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