I’m forever on the lookout for great bistros, and Gilles Pudlowski has once again steered me in the right direction with a spot on one of my favorite streets in Paris, rue Montorgueil. This mainly-pedestrian shopping street was one the oyster hub of the Les Halles market; these days, it’s more of a destination for pâtisseries than bivalves, and it’s home to several historic establishments including l’Escargot Montorgueil (founded in 1832), Stohrer (Paris’ oldest pastry shop, founded in 1730), and La Grille Montorgueil, a bistro opened in 1904 that’s notably home to one of the city’s oldest zinc bars, which the bistro’s then-owner ostensibly hid from the Nazis during Occupation.
While the bistro itself is over 100 years old, it was only recently that the current owner, Laurent Nègre, truly brought it into the limelight. Nègre is a native of the Aveyron, a department that spawned a whole generation of Parisian bistrotiers. He has since revitalized three bistros in Paris, maintaining their time-tested charm while also giving their menus and attention to sourcing a coup de jeune – a youthful makeover, if you will.
If you didn’t know about Nègre’s role in this bistro, it would be easy to assume that it hasn’t changed in the more than a century it’s been open: With its tiled floors, red leather banquettes, and wood and zinc surfaces polished by the many elbows of time, La Grille Montorgueil ticks all the old-school bistro boxes.
On the menu, too, you’re mostly looking at time-tested stalwarts: Appetizers include French onion soup (12) and bone marrow (12) as well as a few newer plays on classics like a deconstructed escargot dish with farçous, a sort of Aveyronnais pancake (13) and frogs’ legs served with an herbed jus (15). Ever-changing specials might include piquillos stuffed with salt cod brandade (10) or pâté en croûte with foie gras (18).
We decided to go for simplicity: a house-made terrine (8) was richly flavored without being too fatty, and I quite liked the generosity of the traditional aspic that surrounded the edges of our slice, which was deeply meaty and flavorful. Accompaniments of cornichons and truly excellent pickled onions were perfect, as was the copious, thickly sliced Poujaran sourdough.
We also shared another bistro classic: egg-mayo (6). Four egg halves were cooked to jammy perfection and paired with generous dollops of mayo spiked with Espelette pepper. The shower of chives was a nice touch. My only quibble here is that they could probably be sourcing slightly better-quality eggs for such a simple preparation: When you keep only cage-free organic in the house, it’s easy to taste the cut corners, and a shame when the dish is otherwise executed so perfectly.
While we’re on the topic of negatives, I’ll linger – not too long! – over the rather unfortunate service, which I do believe to be an anomaly. Three waitpeople were working on the night of our visit, one of whom was very clearly either very new or a temporary extra. The ineptitude with which he served was almost comical (at one point, a knife was dropped into my dining companion’s wine glass), but his colleagues seemed to be more honed and experienced.
I was a bit more put off by a clear corner-cutting move: the substitution of the filet au poivre promised on the menu with far cheaper faux-filet. The latter was undeniably delicious, served à point (our server had not asked us our preferred cuisson, but by then, we had bigger fish to fry). I loved the rich, silky sauce, which had clearly undergone significant reduction and relied on the barest soupçon of cream. But I had to ask three different people before someone finally confirmed that the 38-euro filet we’d been promised was actually faux (sirloin), and that put an unfortunate taste in my mouth.
Luckily, it was swiftly offset by the rest of the meal. Saucisse-purée (20) has become one of the hallmarks of the menu, and in a nod to the boss’ Aveyronnais origins, not only does the sausage itself hail from his native land, but the purée is improved with the addition of tomme fraiche, transforming it into stretchy aligot. This is certainly a tasty dish, though for me, it doesn’t quite rival the one from Les Arlots.
The steak also came with a side of pommes aligot in a small side bowl. (I assume you could get fries instead, if you wanted, but we were not asked our preference.)
We did also add two other off-menu sides. First, a bowlful of sautéed carrots, peas, and onions was studded with luxuriously melting confit garlic cloves (and swimming in about a cup of butter…)
We also got a fresh, crisp salad of bitter winter greens, judiciously seasoned with a zingy mustardy vinaigrette – all the better for balancing all of those rich flavors.
This restaurant is open non-stop seven days a week, and were I not here for dinner, I might have leaned, instead, towards some of the lighter options. Salads include warm lentils with gravlax and pickles (19) or slow-cooked chicken Caesar (19), and you can also get a planche of cheese or charcuterie (20) or both (23) to accompany a glass of wine or two. At lunchtime during the week, a two- or three-course prix fixe (20/23) includes a choice of egg mayo, leek-vinaigrette, or the appetizer of the day followed by the dish of the day, a seasonal veggie main, or a burger patty topped with a fried egg.
Desserts are of the classic bistro variety: chocolate mousse (6), rice pudding with caramel (6), and lemon meringue tart (9) all feature. We said oui to the dessert of the day, a pear clafoutis (8), which was studded with bright pink slices of pear I suspect may have been cooked with pink pralines. The batter itself was just barely seasoned and enriched with almond, and the fruit was just sweet enough to elevate the dessert. My only quibble? I suspect Chef Mike(rowave) had some hand in it arriving scaldingly hot to the table.
Ultimately, this is a great bistro along one of Paris’ most picturesque historic market streets that ticks a lot of boxes: all-day service, a lovely terrace for people-watching, and a cozy, convivial, traditional ambiance inside perfect for a cold day. And ultimately, these plusses more than make up for the handful of stumbles.
La Grille Montorgueil – 50, rue Montorgueil, 75002