Dear Friends,
A few months ago, while visiting Paris fort he FIAC contemporary art fair, I went on to try a new restaurant with Maria: Neva, near the Place Clichy at the northern limit of the 8th arrondissement. It came highly recommended by some friends of mine as well as by a few critics I am reading on a regular basis. The restaurant is one of these Gastro-Bistrot that popped-up in Paris like mushrooms in the last 2 years: interesting food with decent prices in a relaxed atmosphere. I actually tried a lot of them in the last moths and have to say that not all of them are really worth it. But the point here is that Neva is totally worth it!
After arriving far beyond our table booking time thanks to the delay I endured with the plane, we finally sat down to discover the menu while eating some very nice Patta Negra Spanish ham. I have to tell you that I did something qualified as “very embarrassing” in Paris while leaving the hotel: I called the restaurant to warn them that we would be 15 minutes late. I always do such things but apparently, nobody is in France. I came to the conclusion that actually if everybody was like me, French waiters would probably be nicer since the restaurant was really happy that I called.
Everything on the menu looked delicious and I have to tell you that we actually restrained ourselves cause we could have ordered the whole menu! I started of with a fantastic fried egg (looked a lot like the scotch egg from the Pig's ear in London) with a celery purée while Maria enjoyed some amazing Pastas with wild mushrooms.
We then went on to the great main courses: some delicious ris-de-veau for Maria a great fish for me. During our meal we enjoyed some great white Bourgogne wine suggested by their sommelier. I have to say that the cooking was just superbly executed and that the service was exactly how I like it: efficient, nice and relaxed, but with a perfectly polite distance.
We were already quite full but just could resist the desserts. As always, I chose the one item on the menu that had the highest amount of chocolate in it: a chocolate sphere, filled with chocolate and ice cream and topped with hot chocolate sauce. It was just amazing! I am actually still dreaming about that dessert. Maria enjoyed a delicious (well if you enjoy desserts without chocolate in it of course) dish made out of ice cream and almonds.
I can only recommend this restaurant to you for a date or a diner with a small amount of friends (I wouldn’t throw a 12 pax. diner there). The whole experience was just great and the prices were quite reasonable (80€ for a 3 courses menu with wine per persons) regarding the high standards of the place. If you are a regular reader of this blog, Neva is actually perfectly located in my mind between the Chateaubriand and the Flottes O’Trement in terms of experience.
I wish you all a very happy new year 2012. I will try to post on a more regular basis this year.
From Zürich with love,
Nico
Neva Cuisine
Rue de Berne,2
75008 Paris
+33 1 45 22 18 91
closed on sundays
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