This is our final restaurant entry on Paris. I skipped a few lackluster meals. In looking back we dined a lot at Bastille.
La Muse Vin is a bistro + wine bar that specialize in “natural wine”. Obviously their wine is the highlight but they also offer innovative fusion “bistronomy” 3 courses menu for 30 euro. Lunch is even more affordable, only 10 euro and wine is included. I like the vibe a lot, it’s causal and friendly. Our server was the most chatty and lively person we’d encountered in Paris. The later in the night the more crowded it gets. There’re still plenty of customers coming in at their supposed closing time 11:00 pm.
Wine bottles filled shelves cover all the walls. It’s definitely a great place for wine lover. There’s no wine list as one of the owners is “the list.”
He picked a glass of white and a glass of red for us based on what we ordered. Both are amazingly good. Esp. the red which is a mix of syrah and grenache. It smells wonderful! Even after we finished the glass the scent lingered.
Freda’s 1st course: Foie Gras Pumpkin Soup. Simply divine~ You can’t go wrong with this combination.
Freda’s 2nd course: Salmon sashimi with the curry sauce, pomelos foam, artichoke. Very fusion dish. The raw salmon is very fresh and good quality, the sauce is a very interesting mix of a ginger-y spice flavor and the almost wasabi-ish horseradish.
Freda’s 3rd: Dessert de Gasby. A coffee cream dessert, so smooth, very good~~
My 1st course: Pan fry shellfish with bacon. The shellfish is good and I like the sauce, but I think the bacon is kind of unncessary.
my 2nd: Poultry with the tartar of Algaem (a type of seaweed), Jerusalem Artichokes and clams. This sounded like a “creative disaster” but no, it actually worked! Who would have thought chicken and seaweed go well together. The fried thing is the chicken skin. There’re lots of flavors on the plate and they go well together. The chicken is tender and actually has “chicken flavor”! (i.e. Most of the overtly genetic enhanced chicken in the US are just plain flavorless.)
Mousse of Petit Suisse with red fruits. Very fresh and light tasting. Love it!
La Muse Vin (Tel.: 01 40 09 93 05)
101, rue Charonne, 75011 Paris
Tags: Alcohol, Bistronomy, Dessert, French, hip, Prix fixe, Wine Bar
Pumpkin soup with foie gras floating in it?! Wow! You know, I had foie gras and corn soup the other day and it tasted wonderful but it was a small cup of just soup with no foie gras chunks in it. I was telling my friend I wish some chef would chuck a big piece of fresh foie gras into corn or pumpkin soup! XD
When I was in Paris in 2000, everywhere I ate, the Salmon was excellent, raw or cooked. Salmon sushi in Paris is some of the best I’ve ever had. There’s a great tiny Korean Barbecue place off of La Bastille that had great cuts of fish.