Cul de poule means chicken’s arse (well, you did ask). Well, actually it’s also a metal bowl used in cooking. Either way, strange name for a restaurant you might think, but our curiosity was piqued, so we went along with a bunch of mates… and had a pretty wild, tasty time. Read all about it here!

photos : JasonW

The place used to be a butcher’s specialised in… tripe, but after that closed about six months ago a whole new look has been given to Le Cul de Poule. The owner previously ran one of our favourite restaurants Le Réfectoire (now just your ordinary bistrot) and he brings his sense of humour and style to this new establishment. The retro furniture outside is the first hint of the personality of the place.


The ground floor is a semi-minimalist space with interesting touches. More vintage furniture, quite a lot of wood, a few framed images and hidden away behind a sliding door near the kitchen (and of the owner’s trademark specialities) crazy seventies toilets with and illuminated basin and, er, blackboard for scribbling.





A simple wooden staircase leads up to the first floor with a blue wall has customised with an artist drawing. As there were six of eating, we’d been assigned a table upstairs. Except, there weren’t any tables…

In fact instead of tables, the upstairs room has a sort of communal lounging area, Romans style, where you eat your meal off a folding tray. Cushions are scattered about, the wallpaper is a giant wordsearch… it’s an original space that we almost had to ourselves. I pity the poor couple who arrived at one point, ate as fast as they could, and left!







OK, first things first. Cocktails! Ah yes, a nice Mojito for everyone!


Then onto the menu and wine. The restaurant proposes a two-course meal for 20 euros or three courses for 25. We decided to go the whole hog. Our waitress was extremely chatty and at ease, which made us feel at ease too.

Before long the first courses arrived. We’d ordered soup of the day, mozzarella rolled up in courgette (2€ extra), Basque sliced meats and pork rillettes with Basque spices. No-one complained, everyone was delighted. The music was good, the wine was helping the Mojito go down. Things were off to a good start…




The first course finished, we lounged around, chatted, drank some more wine. The Cul de Poule (especially upstairs) is a place to relax, and with only two people to serve the restaurant (even if it is small), best not to be in too much of a hurry.

Before too long the main dishes were served and we managed to convince our guests to order all the different dishes on offer: farm-raised pork rib (enormous), lamb honey conserve, wild duck (Mallard), seabass ‘à la plancha’, and cuttlefish with pesto. The dishes look fairly minimal when served (apart from the pork), but are carefully presented and served with side dishes such as roast potatoes or the delicious green bean mix we tasted. Yum! All were delicious and – frankly – we weren’t hungry any more after finishing them (indeed some of guests had a hard time finishing). Of course we were still thirsty. More wine please!





Luckily for us there was a considerable wait after the main course, leaving a little time te let everythign settle down, even if our fellow diner were anything but settled. The waitress came to take the dessert order, warning us that the coconut pannacotta had not set. Some of our party decided to try it anyway. I went for the trusty favourite: chocolate cake. Unfortunately both were underwhelming. The pannacotta was just a white soup, and the chocolate cake – although not horrible – was much more ordinary than the first two courses.


So how could we get our spirits back up? Champagne! Yep, the evening had been a Roman-style bacchanalia and champagne was the perfect way to finish it off (plus the bottle really wasn’t very dear). We loved the Cul de Poule for its intimate upstairs room that was practically our private salon for the evening, the great décor, the friendly service and the inventive cooking. Book a few days ahead if you want a table (the place is pretty small) and if you’re a party of six or more, ask for the top room for extra fun!

You can check out the full Flickr gallery here! (a quick mini-taste is below…)

The Cul de Poule is at 53 rue des Martyrs, 75009 Paris. Métro Pigalle (lines 2 & 12). Bus 67, 74, 85. Open from 12.30 – 2.30pm (1 – 3pm Saturdays) and from 8 – 11pm. Closed Sundays and Mondays. Tel. +33 1 53 16 13 07

Bigger map here