La Ferrandaise

Packed with discerning book editors and senators at noon—the Luxembourg gardens and the French Sénat are just across the street—and a nice mix of locals and travelers in the evening, amiable Auvergnat owner Gilles Lamiot’s deservedly popular bistrot La Ferrandaise continues to prove that you can still get a good meal for a good price in Saint Germain des Prés. I hadn’t been back for a while, but recently I was impressed all over again by the excellent quality of young chef Kevin Besson’s cooking. A poached organic egg on Le Puy lentils with bacon in parsnip foam was one excellent starter; the other was mackerel marinated in white wine and served with horseradish cream and potato galettes. A delicious sauté of Ferrandais veal (Ferrandais is a cattle breed native to the Auvergne region) was accompanied by shiitake mushrooms with grain mustard, and scallops were paired with smoked haddock and cauliflower. The cheese plate offered four different farmhouse cheeses from the Auvergne and was shared over the rest of a very nice Morgon. Our only regrets were that we’d been seated in the restaurant’s new, cramped, mostly English-speaking back room, and the slightly robotic service of waitresses clearly bored by serving tourists. Drawbacks notwithstanding, it remains a good restaurant and a good buy.

8 rue de Vaugirard, 6th, 01.43.26.36.36, Métro: Cluny or RER Luxembourg. Fixed-price menu €32 per person without wine Website

Originally published in the June 2010 issue of France Today

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