Taste of Paris: Le Relais de L'Entrecôte (75006)

When Mr. FFID and I were walking around St-Germain-des-Prés, we noticed a rather busy restaurant called 'Le Relais de L'Entrecôte'. I immediately remembered it mentioned on David Lebovitz's blog and as it was lunch time we just had to stop.

We were very lucky to get a table straight away, this restaurant is usually so busy that you have to queue outside (reservations aren't accepted). Why is it so popular you wonder? It's all down to their famous steak frites. 

As soon as we sat at our table on the terrace of the restaurant the waitress asked 'How would you like your steak?'. Steak Frites is the only dish served there so you don't get any menu brought to your table.

Before the steak course the waitress brought some fresh bread and a salad topped with a few walnuts in a mustard dressing. We were in France so naturally we had to drink wine with our meal at lunchtime.

Then the waitress brought our steak frites...

It's basically a few slices of beef covered with a mysterious green sauce. Don't be put off by the look of it, this is what makes the restaurant so popular.

I asked the waitress what was inside, she said 'C'est secret!'. We both thought it was buttery and I suspected it contained tarragon but we weren't allowed to know what was in it. We didn't really mind because it it was delicious. After my visit I did some research and apparently the secret of the sauce was revealed to French newspaper Le Monde in 2007: it's made with chicken liver, thyme, cream, mustard, butter, salt and pepper.

The fries were perfection, skinny, crispy, golden and I loved dipping them into the sauce. I asked for my meat to be cooked rare and it was as requested and also very tender.

We thought the portion wasn't that big and finished everything, we even used all the bread to clean our plates.

And then the lovely waitress came back and without asking, gave us a second serving of the steak.

Of course you can't have this scrumptious steak without the fries that go with it.

We felt like gluttons after two plates of steak frites but the price of €26.50 for the steak was more justified then. It isn't too bad when you compare to Irish prices.

The inside of the restaurant looks very French and is full of a mix of tourists and locals.

We didn't have room for dessert but I heard they have some French classics (profiteroles, crème brûlée...) on the menu. Le Relais de l'Entrecôte is worth a visit for the experience, especially if you want to try a real Parisian steak frites. It's a little overpriced (like many things in Paris) but you get the salad, bread and two servings of food that will leave you more than full and it includes the service charge.


Le Relais de l'Entrecôte
20 rue St Benoît
75006 Paris
(Other locations are available)
http://www.relaisentrecote.fr