Blog | HPRG Pascade, a restaurant near Opéra, Paris – Hotels Paris Rive Gauche Blog

Pascade, a restaurant near Opéra, Paris

Chef Alexandre Bourdas has spent years perfecting his pascade, a surprising dish a little like a small crêpe that rises slightly, with an upturned edge ready to receive all sorts of fillings. Oh, and it has a curious but appealing hint of sugar (even the savoury version).

We’d never encountered anything like it before, and even the restaurant is something different – the chef (also the boss) calls it his ‘pascaderie’, or ‘cantine-hostel’. Whatever you want to call it, we loved the food!

Here are the details…

Restaurant Pascade - Paris
photos : JasonW

Pascade doesn’t necessarily draw you in from the street. Down a small street in a touristy area (rue Daunou near Opéra, also home to Harry’s Bar where the Bloody Mary was invented back in the 1920s), it’s a single room with exposed stone, blocky wood tables and a little industrial metal, a classic mix that looks much like a sea of beige. To be kind, let’s say it’s fairly neutral and in reasonably good, lowest common denominator taste.Restaurant Pascade - ParisWith fewer than thirty seats, the place is quite small but with enough space for each table to keep you from feeling cramped. Our waitress was smiley, and quickly brought olives for us to nibble on while perusing the menu. She also had little stainless steel capsules that she inserted into holes in the table, and these turned out to contain our cutlery and napkins.

We chose our wine and started deciding what we would like to eat.Restaurant Pascade - Paris - ParisRestaurant Pascade - ParisAnd the choice is fairly simple – the menu is entirely made up of pascades! There’s a pascade to share as a starter, simply served with chives and truffle oil, then a choice of five savoury pascades as main dishes (meat / fish / vegetable / deli meats / starchy) and four sweet pascades to choose from for dessert.

So, to be clear, what exactly is a pascade? Luckily, the explanation is on the restaurant menu, telling us it’s “a risen, lightly caramelised crepe originating from the southwest of France” (not that we’ve ever encountered them down there). It looks like it would be pretty simple to make, but apparently even after years of practice there’s always a chance one won’t rise, despite the fact that all the ingredients are strictly weighed, right down to the salt. The precise technique and recipe are secret (we only know that pascades are cooked to order for 12 minutes at 215 °C), the moulds are specially made and all the products are fresh and seasonal.

Our first shared pascade set the tone for the evening, with appreciative groans from all corners, demonstrating the case taking in its preparation, despite the fact that it is served super fast. It was light, both savoury and very slightly sugary, with lots of garlic in the truffle oil. Really yummy.Restaurant Pascade - ParisHaving four people to taste meant that we could sample every pascade on the menu! Luckily we are promised it will change with the season, and depending on the chef’s mood!

The  ‘spaghetti rave’ pascade is made with celeriac, hard-boiled egg, parsley, bacon bits and lamb cooked for seven hours.

The second has artichoke hearts both fried and cooked, creamed polenta, wild chanterelle mushrooms, lemon and hot spices.

The intriguing ‘apple pie and sausage’ pascade also has mashed potatoes and herbs.

And the cod pascade (also available in a lobster version for 6 euros more) is literally covered with lettuce hearts, and includes a crealy chicken sauce (we had ours without), lentil semolina and aged sherry.Restaurant Pascade - ParisRestaurant Pascade - Paris‘As you may have gathered, each pascade has few added ingredients, but they are chosen and prepared with care. None of them disappointed, in fact we were positively impressive!

The desserts was of a similar high standard. The Ti’punch & caramel variety had grated green apple with vintage rum, sugar, semi-salted butter and caramel. ‘A dose of coffee’ is coffee-flavoured Italian ice cream, hazelnut crisps, chocolate mousse and whipped cream. Ad finally, we chose the super cute assortment of mini pascades, including the mini ‘lemon/passion’ (lemon / passion fruit cream, meringues, toffee caramel and Kaffir lime.Restaurant Pascade - ParisRestaurant Pascade - ParisRestaurant Pascade - ParisWe were really pleased to have discovered Pascade and its pascades! Main dishes cost around 20€, but there’s a reasonably-priced fixed menu at 30€ (three courses) that you might also like to try. We’re certainly looking forward to going back soon.

Pascade (here) is open Tuesday – Saturday for lunch and dinner. Booking advised on +33 (0)1 42 60 11 00 or online here

Official site: ici

Facebook: facebook.com/PascadeAlexandreBourdas

To check out all our photos of the Pascade restaurant, click the play button below, then click the four little arrows bottom right to go into fullscreen mode.