Formerly a simple working-class restaurant, Astier is newly elevated thanks to new ownership and a chef who earned his stripes at Le Meurice. The original 1950’s wood paneling and flea-market finds lend the restaurant a kitschy charm, while the service is good-humored and the staff efficient and knowledgeable.
Four-course menus might feature French favorites such as foie gras with pressed leeks, guinea fowl cooked “grandmother’s way” in red wine sauce with mushrooms, and crispy seared pork with honey-glazed radishes and beets.
The herring is very good as a first course. A large terrine is brought to your table and you help yourself to as much as you would like.
Try the pork belly as a main course. It is some of the best that you will find anywhere.
The generous cheese platter, set on your table on top of a help yourself wicker tray, is one of the best in Paris, and is included in the prix-fix menu. Be sure to sample the époisse cheese if it is on the platter.
For dessert, the baba àu rhum is delicious.