Cèpe et Figue (literally Porcini and Fig) is one of those restaurants that aren’t hyped up, don’t really advertise and don’t have a designer interior. And yet, you’d be foolish to dismiss it out of hand.

Located in the cour du Commerce-Saint-André just opposite the Hotel Saint-André des Arts, the restaurant is quite discreet (we’ve passed by at least a dozen times without really noticing it) and to be frank, it doesn’t look like anything special. But looks can be deceiving, and a quick scan of their fixed-price lunch menu is enough to make your mouth water, with a large choice of dishes for all tastes, and prices that we thought were impossible to find in Paris nowadays, especially in this chic part of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Time to to test them out…

The cour du Commerce-Saint-André seems to be going through a bit of a renaissance at the moment. The opening of Brasserie des Prés showed us that a large venue can still produce good food. Now, it’s time to check out what a teeny tiny small one can do too.

Cèpe et Figue has a lot of overt ‘authenticity’ to it, with a small French flag on the façade and a retro frenchy feel inside. Think 1960s jazz, old advertising for Byrrh and a nicotine yellow ceiling that every restaurant used to sport, back in the day.

We are welcomed with lukewarm enthusiasm (another old-school Parisian tradition) and both the rooms (there’s one hidden away upstairs) are soon very full. It looks like there are a lot of regulars, which is always a good sign.

We decided to go for the three-course fixed-price lunch menu, as there’s a wide choice (even for vegetarians) and the price is extremely reasonable (22€), allowing us to go a little crazy and order a glass of wine to wash it all down 😜

Our starters:

— ravioles du Royans (special little ravioli) in a very nice creamy mushroom sauce, served (warm rather than hot 🤔) with vegetable crisps, which was a good crunchy counterfoil to the soft pasta.

and

— cress soup with (only a few 🫤) grilled chickpeas and some ras el hanout, also served slightly less hot than we were expecting, but agreeably creamy.

Next, for the main courses, we chose:

— fish & chips, which was a success but – surprise! – served with salmon instead of cod, which was only very lightly cooked, meaning it was pink inside (we would have preferred that they ask how we wanted it), served with some traditional tartare sauce.

and

— a risotto with fregola sarda and delicious autumn vegetables (star of the show: the fresh mushrooms) and a very proficient cream of parmesan sauce.

And after two successful courses, it would be rude not to head for a dessert!

— dessert of the day was caramelised banana served with a crumble that wasn’t too sugary (thankfully) but rather dense 😳 and a scoop of vanilla ice cream, all very good.

and

— a slice of lemon meringue pie, definitely made in-house, with a very light meringue and devilishly sharp dose of lemon, which was great!

Well, what a pleasant surprise our lunch at Cèpe et Figue was! There’s an excellent choice of French classics or more, all proficiently created with an inventive twist, and it would be mean to criticise a three-course meal costing just 22€. An absolute bargain, super close to the Hotel Saint-André des Arts!

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Cèpe et Figue (here) is open Tuesday-Friday for lunch and dinner, and Saturdays non-stop from midday-11pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

Online bookings here

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Une publication partagée par Cèpe&Figue (@cepeetfigue)