It’s a building dating from 1788, classified as a historical monument since 1907, and hasn’t been open to the public for over 50 years after being used as the archives for Paris’ archeological division.

Now, after two years of renovation, it’s a huge restaurant / bar / terrace / meeting space etc. and we were lucky enough to test it out just before the official opening.

Just a smart looking building then, or tasty too? Read on…

The building has intrigued us for years, grandly overlooking the Bassin de la Villette as it does. When we heard that it was to open as a restaurant, we were thrilled. And then as work went on, and on, and on, we almost thought it would never happen. Until now!

In mid-August La Rotonde opened its doors – and vast, outdoor terrace – and we hurried down to see what it was like. Situated in a not ‘unproblematic’ part of town, we wondered how a smart restaurant would work there. Would it be too expensive for the neighbourhood? After all, a great view of the Bassin de la Villette and Montmartre in the distance may not be enough.

In any case, the restoration has made the building look fine!Inside there’s a min, circular room with a glass ceiling several floors above, making the place light and airy. There are two rooms off to each side, and apparently many more spaces that can be privatised. Enticing! The fire escape plan shows that there are five levels altogether, and plenty of space…The menu is a short affair, with five choices for each course, and prices that are average for Paris. The kitchen can be seen from the main area, and while some chefs ran around all the time, a couple of others seems to have nothing to do at all!

We decided to start with a celery remoulade with mussels (a new twist on a French classic), boiled organic egg and mayonnaise (another classic French dish given an update) and the day’s special – gaspacho. Reactions were mixed; the gaspacho was obviously fresh and liberally sprinkled with delicious herbs, but still lacked a strong flavour, the mayonnaise served with the boiled egg was obviously made on the premises, and delectable, but the celery was surprisingly bland. A mixed bag.For the main course, we decided on a tomato stuffed with beef and herbs, a roasted veal chop with roasted almond crust and arabica sauce (one of the day’s specials), a beef tartar with mint and special fat chips (no ‘french fries’ here!) and a piece of salmon with spinach salad. The stuffed tomato was unremarkable and mostly tasteless, the veal was ‘OK’ (not as special as its convoluted description then), however the mint helped the tartar get full points, and the salmon – despite being practically drowned in butter, was soft and tender. Aside from one exception, the main dishes were not to leave us with a lasting impression.However, the desserts were almost certainly the saving grace of the evening. The rum baba has it’s own little pipette of rum ready to be squeezed, the strawberries with balsamic syrup (a special of the day) had a surprising mix of flavours, the “large ‘madeleine’ cake, lemon cream and raspberry sorbet was met with much appreciation, the french toast with apples was OK (although we weren’t convinced by the mix of tastes, the caramel ice cream was delish), and the chocolate Nutella tart with quark ice cream was… exceptional!We took our time at La Rotonde, as the waiters often did too, but it was their first days, and service was very friendly and relaxed. As for the cuisine, the descriptions are obviously carefully thought out, but sometimes dishes can be lacking a little taste. We’re sure that this will be perfected over time.

And the setting! There’s no other place like this in Paris, and the prices aren’t excessive. The only thing that really got on our nerves was the insipid music, so we told them! Hopefully, thing will go from OKish, to good, to great!

After a quick look round the now almost-empty, followed by an admiring glance at the illuminated exterior, we went home, perhaps not completely contented, but hopeful at least.

La Rotonde is open every day of the week from 8am – 2am. Tel. +33 (0)1 80 48 33 40 or book via The Fork here.

Official site: www.larotonde.com

Facebook page: ici

To check out all our photos, click the play button below, followed by the four little arrows bottom right to go into fullscreen mode.