Les Fables de la Fontaine

We tried to get into Cafe Constant one night in Paris, and found ourselves at the end of a long line. "For two?", the waiter said? "No way".

So we wandered up and down along Rue St. Dominique and ended up at Les Fables de la Fontaine, a one michelin star restaurant known for fish.

The one thing I will say without equivocation for Les Fables - the welcome was without fault. We walked in late, at about 10:00 pm. We made no indication we would order a bottle of wine, or a big meal, and in fact proceeded to order only a main course. Although restaurants are in the hospitality business, we all know that a one michelin star establishment, especially in France, would feel entirely within its rights to get a little sniffy. There's wasn't even the slightest whiff of it.

As for the food, we have an excellent amuse bouche of a bell pepper mousse, and each of us had a piece of fish - my fiancee dorade, and me lotte. Both fish were cooked impeccably. But there was so much on each plate. Mushrooms and foam, and onion and mashes and vegetables and herbs. Each component was delicious, but by the end we were confused and baffled. The whole was entirely less than than its parts.

I'd like to back for a full meal. Maybe a real meal would have all built up to a crescendo to that final main dish. But I'd still have left off the foam.