La Petite Hostellerie, Saint Michel, Paris, France

I’d had a lazy Sunday and didn’t have lunch… surviving instead on caffeine so by the time I’d gotten back to Saint Michel I was famished.

I’d spotted another French restaurant just past La Cochonnaille so I thought I’d give it a try.

La Petite Hostellerie, Saint Michel, Paris, France

Walking in around 5pm the tables on the ground floor were all taken except one table which is where I was seated.

La Petite Hostellerie offers several set menus for dinner and I chose the €15 option that allowed me an entree, main and dessert. Very good value.

For the entree I ordered the French onion soup, for main veal in a white wine sauce, and dessert crème brûlée.

Wine’s not included in the set menu price, so I just went with half a litre of the house red.

My wine and the obligatory half loaf of the best bread you’ve ever tasted arrived and I was able to sit back and just watch the restaurant staff and patrons while I awaited my soup.

It was a bit of a comedy of errors, the tables are packed in so tight that I had to get out of my seat to allow the table next to me to leave, and for the next set of patrons to get in. More later!

The soup arrived, super hot, but really good. The cheese on the croutons was still bubbling when it arrived.

Next to turn up was the main course, the veal in white wine, and I must say that this was superb. A simple dish with a great taste.

Finally my crème brûlée arrived with a solid sugary caramel crust on top of vanilla goodness. Yummy!

As I finished my wine I got back to watching the staff. As the tables were packed in so tight food was passed across the tables to the neighbouring table as the staff couldn’t get in.

Finally, as I was finishing up, I had some dish thrust into to face and about to be put onto the table. I said no, I didn’t order anything else but all that got was a confused looked as they insisted that it was mine… another no and the dish was gone, but the exchange got a smile and laugh from the neighbouring table, I just said “I love a cabaret with dinner”.

The food here is very good, but it’s let down by the service due to having too many tables. There is also an upstairs area.