We found this place through Yelp. One or more of the Yelp reviews mentioned Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, on the Travel Channel, covering Les Cocottes. (If you're curious: http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/anthony-bourdain/episodes/paris). This explains why the place was packed with Americans. To be honest, this being our eighth day of being immersed in the languages of Europe, hearing and seeing some Americans while abroad ain't so bad. I didn't feel like it took me out of the Europe experience or anything.
The wait for a table for two on a Thursday night was about 35 minutes. We spent a good hour and a half dining... it was nice to give our scooby doos a rest after Champs-Élysées.
In our interaction with the hostess and waiter, we found that they spoke fluent English. Nice.
Les vins
These were recommended by the waiter. As wine doesn't agree with me when taken with food, I can't say much about it. Being from wine country, we inevitably find occasions to drink anyway. Being tired, in a hyped restaurant, on vacation, and abroad are all good reasons to drink. :D I liked the white (Mâcon-Villages Henry Fessy 2010 AOC €4) for its light and fruity taste. The red (Lussac Saint Emilion 2008, Château Haut-Gazeau AOC, €5) was more like a merlot/cab and I prefer pinot, but if you like merlot maybe you'll like this. I don't know. You should probably ask the waiter. :)
Les salades
Poached egg with crispy bacon and rocket salad, €10 - I could have done without this salad, but sometimes you just have to eat some vegetables. It could've tasted better, though. The bacon wasn't that good. It was done cubed pork belly style but wasn't crispy enough; just a bit tough to chew. The dressing was just okay. The best part was probably the egg. Order the César salad instead.
Les potages
Velouté of mushroom soup with foie gras Chantilly cream, €8 - This was so freaking good. It has some tricks up its sleeve. It doesn't look impressive, at first glance or even at first taste, but we definitely found each element of the soup standing out. It was creamy but not too rich. We cleaned this up.
Suggestions «cocottes»
Prime veal steak "en cocotte" with vegetable blanquette, €28 - I really liked this, though after the flavorful soup just slightly on the bland side. I loved the color though with all the vegetables.
Wood pigeon stuffed with foie gras cooked on toasted crouton, €28 - This was one tough bird. I've had quail stuffed with foie gras at Gary Danko in San Francisco and that bird was a lot easier to eat. To be fair, though, the sauce for this dish was amazing. I just wish the pigeon was a better vessel for that sauce. The toasted croutons were not as good, though; it got soggy and it didn't seem to go well with the rest of the dish. We pretty much left these untouched. It was slightly weird to be eating pigeon after seeing the endless flocks of them in Milan and Venice. Like, am I eating THOSE pigeons? I didn't see what farm it came from or its birth certificate, so who knows.
No room for dessert... plus we had some macarons to attach from Ladurée.
The waiter was pretty busy, so we didn't see much of him or get the water refills we needed. He gave us some directions to the subway after looking at our map. He seemed okay. After he saw the tip he got much more enthusiastic. He reiterated the directions and added more details (and flair) by gesturing wildly. Mmkay. read more