I was in Paris on my 38th birthday in January 2024 and waited for an hour in the cold to eat at Le…read moreRelais de l'Entrecôte on Rue Marbeuf. It was a wonderful lunch, the food memorably delicious, and I had high hopes for L'Entrecôte de Paris when I came across it almost two years later, on an early evening walk along the Champs-Elysées.
I was with my mom, my two young sons, and my friend Ava B., who lives in Paris and had treated me to that birthday lunch. We had some inkling that this L'Entrecôte, on a conspicuously touristy block pretty close to Le Relais (only six minutes on foot, I just looked it up) might not be the same as the one we'd so enjoyed. But there was no line and we had to eat, so we decided to walk in.
I honestly can't tell, even with time and internet at my disposal, whether this L'Entrecôte is part of the historic family of restaurants that includes Le Relais de l'Entrecôte. That group has its own Wikipedia page and it seems that several branches of the family have struck out on their own, but I can't find this location among them. What is clear is that this restaurant is at best a distant cousin of the one I went to two years ago. It must benefit from the association, as it is quite clearly inferior.
The place was cute, at least, even if we were directed to the basement, where no one offered to help us lug our big American stroller. There were mirrors and Frenchy art on the walls, red gingham tablecloths on the tables. The format was the same as at Le Relais de l'Entrecôte. Small menu, very few choices, just the set with salad, steak, and fries. The kids ate dinner rolls and fries and drank water flavored with strawberry syrup. I had a glass of red wine.
The salad was okay, out-of-the-bag greens with some pecans and a creamy dressing. The fries were solid, but the steak was pretty bad. It just wasn't good beef, and the house sauce wasn't anything special. Certainly not tasty enough to make up for the meat quality.
L'Entrecôte was 100% a tourist trap, and I'm a little ashamed that I fell for it. It wasn't the worst thing to have a quick early dinner with kids, though, without going out of our way. But if you have time to walk and suffer a longer line, I'd recommend getting the real thing on Rue Marbeuf.
