Les Cocottes

Paris, FR

For our first "official" meal in Paris we walked a few blocks away from the apartment to Christian Constant's Les Cocottes. Chu-Toro did all the Paris planning, so I didn't know what to expect. She described it to me as Parisian food in a cafeteria/diner setting. It seemed intriguing.

Diner inspired layout

We arrived at 9:00 PM and there were still about eight people ahead of us waiting for a seat. We waited a solid 40 minutes before finally getting seated. Our server was very kind, spoke good English and help provide us some recommendations.

Confit de foie gras de canard, pain de campagne 

We started off with a confit of duck foie gras with whole wheat toast. I was disappointed with this dish because I just figured that all foie gras in Paris would just be amazing but it was a bit too gamey for my tastes.

Fricassee de volaille, jus aux morilles

The entrees are cooked and served in staub cast iron dishes which provided a nice presentation and flavor. Chu-Toro's fricassee of chicken with morel mushroom sauce was great, juicy and tasty. But the mashed potatoes were even better, rich, savory, heavy and delicious.

Pommes de terre caramelisees farcies au pied de pore

I ordered the potatoes stuffed with pigs feet. Another rich, salty, flavor filled course. Looking back on the entire time in Paris, this was an extremely successful and unique dish combining crispy mixture of pig feet with the creamy potato. I said it before, but potatoes in Europe just taste better. A really nice combination that I never saw on another menu in Paris.

Mousse au chocolat facon Roseline

We copied the table next to us for our dessert order, a chocolate mousse Roseline presented in a small staub dish. It was awesome. Not a light mousse by any means, but instead a heavy, chocolatey, rich, filling last course. 

I don't know how famous Christian Constant is, but every restaurant of his that we passed by was packed. So there's definitely a wait if you want to dine where the local Parisians are, but I think its worth it in retrospect. At the time, I wasn't happy in the crowded, smoky line while waiting for a seat, but ended up leaving stuffed and satisfied.

Overall 7/10

May 28th, 2011