I first have to apologize, I know how horribly blurry and dark these pictures are. I only posted them because I loved L'Ami Louis so much. This is another one of those restaurants that you either love it or hate it. It's been around since 1924 and is a down home, nothing fancy type of place. I had heard a lot about this place and even though I knew that dinner reservations were hard to get, I was determined to go. It's a pretty expensive place for a No Star, but well worth it. This was one of the places that I had the concierge from our hotel make the reservations even before we arrived in France. I tried to have Amex make it for us, but they said that the restaurant wouldn't allow them to!
We arrived at the restaurant at 8:30 pm and the place was dead, but by the time we left around 10:30, the place was packed! The waiters are very gruff , but pleasant. This is another place that is known for rude service, but we didn't get any of that :o) The waiter asks to take your coat and then he throws it up into the air where there is a shelf similar to what you would have found in an old fashioned train...lol We didn't see any celebrities, but it was pretty good people watching. Next to us was a table filled with young Russian models with short, short skirts and legs that went on forever and their rich playboy boyfriends which made for an entertaining evening! I would definitely want to go back on our next trip to Paris for the ambience and the food!
This link tells a little more of the history and also has a review...
http://www.dininginfrance.com/L'Ami_Louis.htm
Duck Confit
OMG, this was the BEST Confit I've ever had! It was cold and nothing like what we get around here. I'm so over Duck Confit because everybody serves it and it is usually mediocre at best! I'm not sure why we decided on the confit because the restaurant is known for the Fois Gras. I think because I heard that the Fois Gras was a huge portion and you'd get full by that, I ordered the confit... This was so tender, it was almost like it was pate and the fat on the edge spread like butter! We slathered it on our bread with it's natural gelee that came with it...wow, amazing!! I'm salivating thinking about it now! I posted in the past that I don't really have any restaurants that I think are the best, but I have dishes that I think are the best and this fits into that category :o) By the way, when we share food, Hubby let's me order most of the food, most of the time...of course, he has veto power!
Escargot
The escargot was a little too raw and garlicky for me, but Hubby liked them. I wish we had ordered the asparagus...it was over $100 for the dish and the reason we didn't order it. I saw it on the models' table and it looked delectable! They are called green asparagus and the outside is green, but the inside is white and they are big and fat! I saw it on the other table after we'd finished our dinner, but if I'd seen it before, I would have ordered it and Hubby probably would have killed me;o)
Pomme Frites
The restaurant is also famous for their chicken for two. I did not post that picture because the photo was way, way too blurry! I thought it was good, but not great, it's not one of the dishes that I still dream about...lol I do wish though that I could have taken the carcass to make stock! These were the fries that came with the chicken, but we also ordered their famous Pommes Gallette which were wonderful! The fries weren't too bad either.
Pommes Gallette
These potatoes are so good because they are cooked in goose or chicken fat! They are topped with garlic and parsley.
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