2-4 Place des
ternes, 8th. 01.56.21.22.00. Metro Ternes.
Open : Daily noon-12h30 am. Average : 50 Euros. Credit : Amex,
MC, V. Non-smoking room.
Between
the Arc de Triomphe and Parc
Monceau, the Lorraine plays to stylish tourists and people watching
locals intent upon their platters of oysters, mounds of chilled seafood
and bottles of Champagne. However, eating mid-afternoon can be
perilous; we found the service rather shoddy, vacillating between
ignoring our order at the start and, by the end, rushing us to decide
on dessert and coffee. We assumed that the skeleton crew working the
dead zone between lunch and dinner was to blame. Fortunately, the
kitchen was on good form: our respectable meal began with a
teensy melon ball amuse-bouche, then an upside-down warm tomato tart
oozing with red juice and pine kernels, and a smoked salmon, artichoke
and spring onion salad. Our big fish plates were winners : broiled cod
dressed in aioli and served, unusually, with alsatian spatzle, and the
daily special sea bass fillet in a a seasonal cep cream sauce, topped
with a nest of celery and onion greens and fried until crisp. With
desserts at 8euros to 10 euros - a lovely crepe flambed in Grand
Marnier, and less lovely profiterole with trepid chocolate sauce - the
bill quickly added up. Still, if you're stuck in the neighborhood and
hungry, knowing that the Lorraine serves all day can be a comfort.
