At Le Comptoir du Vin there are no printed menus - whatever the chef feels like cooking that day is…read morescrawled on a chalkboard on the wall. The only other staff was a friendly older waiter who patiently explained some of the dishes to us in English, but who, when not waiting tables, was busy peeling potatoes behind the bar. Five minutes after the waiter explained the menu, the chef stuck his head out of the little window from the kitchen and shouted across the room to us to see if we'd chosen what we wanted.
We both ordered salads for the starter and two different mains. As soon as our salads were placed under our faces, we realized that we'd made a big mistake: these salads were massive; big enough, in fact, to be meals in their own right. Mine came with mixed greens with shrimp and smoked salmon in a kind of thick, eggy dressing, which - very importantly - came with a generous helping of chopped cilantro. This almost had a slight Asian tinge to it. My wife ordered a salad with chunks of chicken liver, which was quite good and made from super good quality, velvety chicken liver.
Our apparent error in ordering both starters and mains was confirmed when a group of locals sat next to us and only ordered the "plat du jour" and nothing else. Live and learn!
For the main, I had the "plat du jour", which on that day was braised beef served with potatoes in a "curry" sauce. I put "curry" in quotation marks because it was far too mild to be considered a real curry, but it was still really good, given that it was loaded with garlic and flat-leaf parsley. Unlike many restaurants we'd encountered up in Paris, this guy clearly understands the importance of things like garlic and herbs in cuisine, and he apparently uses them with gusto. It was cool to see how just those fresh parsley leaves alone really helped tie the dish together. And the potatoes were roasted to perfection - nice and crispy on the outside. No, this wasn't a life-altering dish, but it was a good and honest plate of food made by a guy who clearly knows what he's doing.
My wife had the andouillette sausage, which, as it turned out, is a French specialty that's stuffed with pork or veal innards. The waiter simply told her it was a local speciality, so she went for it without realizing that it was full of innards. Fortunately, my wife and I obviously have no problem eating innards, and she dug the sausage. Still, it was fun to watch her discover that it was made from innards when she was dissecting it, pulling out what looked like bits of tubing and whatnot. I thought the dish tasted rather sweet, which may have been due to the sauce it was served in.
Needless to say, after those huge salads, neither of us could finish our plates.
The chef seemed to enjoy sticking his head out his window and shouting random things into the dining area, especially when someone he appeared to know came in. When the waiter took our order, he asked us where we were from. When we said California - but living in Slovakia - he told us the chef is currently in love with a girl from New York. As we were leaving, the chef came out and shook our hands and kept shouting things like "Vive la France" and "something something [couldn't make it out, exactly] California!"
This guy may not be on the cutting edge of current culinary trends, but I think he'll serve you some good, well-prepared, honest food, and the overall vibe will make for a truly memorable experience.
