Franck ENÉE -- Restaurant Review

 

Franck Enée

17, rue Molière 75001 Paris

Téléphone: 01 42 96 22 19
Metro: Pyramides or Palais Royale Musée du Louvre

 closed Sundays and Mondays

reservations accepted
Website: http://www.franck-enee-restaurant.com/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)
4.5- Star..............................................................€€€............................................................2 - Bell

We had some friends stay across the street from the restaurant, and I decided to check the menu when I went to visit. I found it really interesting and vowed I'd try it out, so about a week later I asked my friends to join me there for lunch.  What a wonderful treat.

It’s a small cute elegant restaurant in the 1er arrondissement. As we perused the menu, which they have in English or French, we started off with a coupe de champagne; afterall, we were celebrating a birthday and 2-upcoming weddings.

After we made our decisions we were served an amuse bouche that was so delightful.  It was a French style cottage cheese  topped with fresh figs, what a great start. We all loved it.

Entrée:

Two of us had the razor claims with Parmesan cheese and apricots. I loved, loved this dish. First of all, razor clams by nature are extremely gritty, this can’t be avoided. However, the chef took the claims out and cleaned them and the shells first before placing them back into the shell, much minimizing the grit factor.  The sauce was heavenly albeit a little rich for me since I am lactose intolerant, but none-the-less delicious.

One person had the ravioli with muenster cheese and chanterelle mushrooms. This was an excellent, excellent dish. Very flavorful and the ravioli was flavored with a hint of cumin. Again, it’s a rich dish and not shy, since it had a nice accompanying cream based sauce.

Plats:

How original, all 3 of us got the “crusty” rabbit with fruit. As it was delivered to our table, I was surprised at the visual because it was not what I was expecting at all. In fact, it looks like little nori maki sushis, but brown. It was a beautiful presentation. It was served with a sweet sesame soy and the shredded rabbit was encased in what I assume to be also rabbit meat.  I did find parts of it a bit dry and salty, but overall it was a good dish. And, the accompanying potato with sesame was good. The Chef was definitely thinking outside of the box, in this case he was thinking “round” and gave it an Asian twist.

Desserts:

I had the Cantal cheese on toast. This was a nice simple dessert. Nice amount of saltiness from the Chantal and sweetness from the confiture.

One had the Freysinette banana flaky pastry with almond cream and kiwi fruit. The crust was flaky and crispy and it was overall delicious.  The Kiwi had been dehydrated to give it a nice crispness as well.

And, our birthday girl had the Soufflé. Nice, light and creamy and not too sweet. It was a vanilla soufflé, with a hint of a cognac or grand marnier, wasn’t sure, but it was delicious none-the-less.

This is a wonderful find. The restaurant is cozy and intimate the staff is friendly and the food is excellent. It's a little pricey for lunch, but well worth it.  The menu is not very large, but I like that, it leads me to believe they concentrate on a few things and make them well.  Would we return? absolutely, in fact, we’re going back next week!

We shared a bottle of Sancere Morin and our total bill, for 3 people, came to 150€.