My sister and I ended up here after a long search (nothing seemed to be open at the time). So we were quite happy to see them open. The service was good, although they were very busy and always running around. For food, we had the pork belly, a fish dish, and the pigeon. I loved the pork belly with the crepe and the pigeon was very interesting (it was my first time having pigeon). It was surprisingly tender and pleasantly smokey. The pigeon feet were a nice touch haha read more

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An absolute must in Paris! My family and I sat outside on the patio and it was by far our favorite evening of the trip. The food is a delightful experience as it is unconventional + creative while also being extremely delicious. Every dish was a hit, but the pigeon and monk fish tempura were the fan favorites. We enjoyed incredible natural wines recommend by our amazing waiter. He beautiful described the vibe and essence of what Le Clown Bar strives to be. Everyone is meant to feel special while here - it is a charming + magical place. read more

Best dinner I had at my last Paris visit. The service is fast and friendly. The food is amazing we almost tried every dish. Next to the Michelin star restaurant this place is refreshing and surprising. The desserts are amazing you should try everything read more

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Fantastic restaurant. A must for anyone in Paris. Check my full review here: https://www.sauleats.com/posts/le-clown-bar read more

They canceled our reservation and only begrudgingly admitted to being maybe wrong when we showed them the confirmation email. We were then told we could have a table but had to leave in 1.5 hours to make room for another group that had a reservation. Needless to say we didn't eat there. Hurry to eat there, because with this attitude they will be gone in a year. read more

Stopped for drinks. 24 Euros for 2 soft drinks, 1 beer and the worst cup of coffee. 4 euros for tap water. Don't bother!

Made reservation and arrived early. The bartender was angry for us asking to have coctails while we waited?? He then said we have no drinks?? Wanted to wait anyway because of all the great reviews and that seemed to make him more mad??? Can't believe I'm writing this because I visit Paris 3-4 times a year and haven"t seen this behavior since the early 80s. No reason next week to give them another chance. Also I see they are running ads on Facebook for all staff positions. Duh!!! read more

This is a terrible restaurant. The waiter asked us to leave because he felt we didn't order enough and gave us attitude. Very rude staff. Don't understand why they removed us for not ordering enough when the restaurant was empty itself. If you're in Paris, avoid at all costs. read more

Our favorite restaurant when judging purely on food. We dined at a number of the notables in Paris including septime, chateaubriand, Ellsworth, David Toutain etc. and clown bar had the best food. From appetizers to main to desserts, everything was amazing. Simple themes but incredible flavors. It's no wonder it's a favorite among Parisienne chefs. read more

Wonderful, small bistro feel. High prices in general are a bit of a disappointment. They have an interesting wine list, funky and natural options. The bread was a bit old and dry. Veal tartar was amazing. Pigeon (Squab) dish was beautiful, but underwhelming. Appetizer, entree and glass of wine for one person: $70. read more

This place is in fact the best restaurant in the world. This is actually not an opinion being stated here. The food was clownalicious.

This place is overrated. The food is ok but not outstanding. The service is very poor but not horrible. Its inattentive. Server forgot our wine, did not refill water, slow, etc etc. There are much better places in Paris. read more

Absolutely fabulous! This place is one of the newer restaurants that is bringing Paris back into progressive cooking for the next generation. Go there and order everything on the menu to share. We had about 3/4 of what they were offering and all plates were fantastic! Amazing what they are putting out from that tiny kitchen. Service was also incredible. Anyone with the chance should go. read more

Creative cuisine (eg I had sardine tempura that was in a squid ink batter), really fun and lively setting, and very nice staff. We had a reservation issue and, long story short, they could have turned us away considering their popularity, but instead graciously sat us and made sure we had a great meal. Wines were excellent. Crowd was younger but this could also be a great spot for anyone looking for creative, exceptional food in a hip setting. The location in the heart of the Marais made it a great Friday night spot. read more

The foie gras with green beans alone makes this a 5 star restaurant. Below are all the items we had: Since we had enjoyed the bulot (sea snails) at Aux Deux Amis a whole three hours ealier, we opted to have them again at Clown Bar. The bulot en beignet/aïoli (sea snail fritters with aioli, €6 = $8) were an excellent start to our meal. Meaty sea snails covered in a light but flavorful batter and served with aioli, sprinkled with cayenne. A squirt of the lemon lent a hint of brightness to the dish. We gobbled this up. Even with the batter and aioli, the dish still managed to pull off a remarkable degree of lightness. It was apparent that the sea snails were very fresh and they had a terrific meatiness to them as well. We thought about ordering the rouget (red mullet) dish, but when our server mentioned that chinchard was horse mackerel (one of Adam's favorite fishes), we opted to go with the chinchard/pomme de terre/coriandre (horse mackerel, potatoes and coriander, €12 = $16.04). This was fantastic! The fresh and meaty horse mackerel went beautifully with the cilantro (coriander) sauce and the potatoes were well seasoned and perfectly tender. This cold dish was perfect for the warm August evening. We were in a fish mood and since we had eaten a delicious tuna at Aux Deux Amis, we decided to also try the tuna at Clown Bar. The thon rouge/aubergine/eau de tomate (red tuna with eggplant and tomato water, €14 = $18.71) was such a lovely dish. The star was definitely the tomato water. Essence of tomato in a really light broth with pieces of eggplant and a lightly cured piece of tuna. The dish looks like it would be a hot dish but it was actually served cold, which was how Adam and I preferred it. Of course we couldn't come to Paris and not have some foie gras; thus, we ordered the foie gras/haricot vert/fourme d'Ambert (foie gras, green beans and fourme d'Ambert - a French blue cheese €15 = $20). Wow, this is one of those dishes that will be forever ingrained in my memory. We've eaten our fair share of foie gras, but never has it been paired with green beans. While it seems like an odd choice at first, one taste of this and we want to petition to make green beans a mandatory foie gras accompaniment. If you are at Clown Bar and this is on the menu, please order it. I've never enjoyed green beans so sweet, even at the peak of summer-they went so well with the foie gras and were much more fruit-like than vegetable. The foie was creamy and exceptionally smooth and the fourme d'Ambert added an even deeper layer of richness and saltiness to the dish. The beans lightened the whole dish (even made it slightly healthy?) and also brought together all of the elements. In case you haven't figured it out, I would definitely go back for this dish! After scanning the mains, which all looked great, we asked for a recommendation and our server shared that she really enjoyed the ris de veau and the pigeon. Again, Adam and I both took French and decided to go with the heartier of the two (or so we thought) and ordered the ris de veau. Out of practice, we had mistakenly thought the ris de veau was a veal rice...we mixed up ris with riz and so the ris de veau/pomme purée/chou pointu (€19 = $25.40) was actually sweetbreads with a potato purée and cabbage. When it arrived to the table, we thought the wrong dish had been served as we didn't see any rice (stupid American moment), but our server assured us that this was what we ordered. We were a few drinks in at this point and still thought that maybe the veal was stuffed with rice, even though we weren't tasting any rice while eating it...time to definitely brush up on our French! The sweetbread was so soft and tender, perfectly cooked and seasoned. The potato purée was creamy and smooth; exactly how I love my potatoes. The cabbage was...fine? Not something that we thought added much to the dish, since the other components were so stellar. We really loved our meal at Clown Bar. The scene at the restaurant was right at our speed, a casual-while-intimate vibe, an eye for quality ingredients and a focused menu of sharable dishes. The price for the size of the plates wasn't amazing, but overall reasonable for a trending Paris restaurant. If you're looking for a bistro with modern twists on French classics, we would definitely recommend Clown Bar. If they have the foie with green beans on the menu, run-don't walk-to get a seat. read more

Very good service. The staff spoke English and we're friendly. Excellent, interesting food. The duck and Foie Gras Pie is fantastic. The Turbot was very good. The bread was delicious. read more

Superb! Great food and natural wines. Tiny and popular so book and come early. The flavor combinations are really unique and fully delicious. Modern French done very, very well. read more

After reading other reviews, I had high expectations. This place was a bit of a letdown and it was not as inviting nor was the selection or food worthwhile. Their meat and cheese plate was very lacking. And they were out of everything on the menu except the meat plate. read more

Fantastic. Great staff, amazing food. Veal sweetbreads with Asian sauce is the best. Pigeon with smoked twigs to give it a great taste. Well done. Will definitely go back and highly recommend. read more

I had such high expectations and this place was a spectacular disappointment. Bad service, hot and sweaty with seemingly no air conditioning, the servers entirely forgot one of our entrees, couldn't answer questions about the wine list, and the restaurant had an excruciatingly limited menu which would have been good if it was well executed but unfortunately the food was mediocre, overly rich and rather sickly. Also it was full of loud american tourists - not a single local - which is always a bad sign. Oh. And they only serve gin and vodka as far as liquor goes. Avoid this place and go somewhere else. What a bunch of CLOWNS (pun intended) read more

Probably the best meal I have had, period. This is coming from someone who has eaten in a lot of great restaurants. Apps: cuttlefish was outstanding and razor clams were great. Mains: duck with fig in pastry was incredible and steak was the best I have had including the best US steakhouses. Desert: fabulous lemon tart and delicious banana ice cream with caramelized sugar. The waiter suggested a great Cote du Rone. The ambiance is casual bistro but the food is anything but ordinary. Check came to $160 euros. read more

So unique in every way and utterly satisfying. Highly recommend the duck in pastry. The pigeon was also excellent. A lunch we will remember.

Gosh what a disappointment. Had such high expectations and brought close friends for a special evening, the last of a really wonderful few days of eating and enjoying in Paris and what a sad ending. We had the best lunch at Septime that same day (if you can get a reservation, cannot recommend it enough), and were so looking forward to Clown Bar. It was inventive at times (veal brain and duck were stand-outs) but the pigeon left me feeling really nauseous into the next day, think it was not fresh. The service (and I live in Paris) was awful, honestly could not have been worse. We were made to feel more uncomfortable and unwelcome from the start. All we wanted was a nice meal but it took the greatest effort to even order a bottle of wine. I get all the cliches about the grouchy French waiters but this was really something else. The only staff who seemed remotely engaged was the bus boy. The food was good but not great and my dish was not fresh (still feeling sick this morning), there are so many wonderful restaurants in Paris, would not waste your time here. read more

I loved clown bar. Sadly this is all past tense. After 3 years of frequent patronage and raving to friends/family, those memories were single-handedly ruined by the clown of a manager who has managed to be the worse service staff I've met in my 5 years of living in Paris. I made reservations for my sister's last week in Paris at 730pm on a Thursday. We had dined at clown bar twice the last time she was here in 2015 and I thought it would be nice to come back together. They called to confirm the booking on Thursday morning, which I promptly confirmed and asked if there was a table available at 9pm as it suited my schedule better. The girl on the line said they did not have one but that she would be confirming all the reservations and get back to me if there was a drop-out. I thanked her and said if I do not hear back from them, I'd keep my original reservation at 730pm. Since I did not hear back from them, I turned up at 730pm at the restaurant and surprise surprise, the reservation had been changed to 915pm without having informed me and without my consent. I mean, even if the girl had somehow not understood my French over the phone and not heard me when I reconfirmed for 730pm - I apologize for not being a native French speaker, we can't all be perfect - who changes a customer's booking to another time without informing them, and knowing that they have been informed? Unless I'm a wizard and mind reader, there is no way I could have known to arrive at 915pm. Rather than apologizing, the manager started blaming me for not having received the voicemail from the girl who changed the reservation even though I showed him on my phone that I hadn't received any missed calls or voicemails the whole day. To make matters worse, he started blaming me for not having called back to check in with them and told me it was "strange" of me to not find it weird when I had not heard back. It was bad enough for him to challenge the technology (iPhone 7) in front proving the contrary to what he was saying, and worse still, to insult a customer when the error had been made by the establishment. I don't know about you, but I do not appreciate being told off by someone who lacks common sense and doesn't know how to even be a decent human being. To top it off, he told me that if "I'm not happy, I'm free to leave." Such arrogance coming from such a small man (in both size and dignity). Of course I yelled profanities at him before leaving and finding refuge at the bar next door. It was the first time a service staff has ever made me cry. Thankfully, the people at the bar next door (pas de loup) were kind and awesome, and the cocktails were really good - 5 stars to them and for not making me jaded about the whole French customer service industry. So I guess it is true that every cloud has a silver lining and I saved 100 euros that was better spent elsewhere. So yes, go to clown bar if you too would like to be told you lack common sense and be blamed for not having ESP powers. read more

Been in Paris for two weeks on vacation - eaten at fantastic restaurants almost every night - and this one hands down takes the prize for first place. I don't even know what to say besides it took us completely by surprise and the flavors, service, and innovation surpassed even 3 star michelin places I've been. I think they change their menu seasonally, which is of course good, but if you go soon you MUST have the white asparagus salad and the bonito ceviche. A great and delicious evening :) read more

Phenomenal meal! Very friendly staff! Tartar was fantastic, fresh seafood, and delicious duck dish! I would recommend very highly!

The lamb, was one of the best dishes I've ever eaten. The raw scallop appetizer was also incredible.

This place is a true gem. I am so happy there are alternatives to stiff, old world bistros. Laid back, charming setting with understated elegance. Unpretentious -- food speaks for itself. If you love offals, as I do, you will regale yourself here. Both the ris and cervelle de veau are unforgettable.The tartare au couteau with burrata and anchovy, an exciting play on a classic. Dessert: rose pavlova with basil, pistachio, and fresh berries. Perfect wine recommendations and good banter from our bartender, Chris (uncharacteristically kind service for Paris -- and then we realized he was a Brit...) Cannot wait to return. read more

Great food, great service, and a lovely outdoor seating area!

Holy duck! We are still here and I feel compelled to write a review on this GEM. Let me start by saying that the staff are all so welcoming and the venue itself is full of warmth and charm. We had the luxury of sitting at the bar and enjoying our meal while talking with the friendly bartender and manager - he was very helpful in selecting our wine as our meal progressed. Now to the FOOD! This place hands down, hits the spot. Undoubtedly, the 2 showstoppers were the Veal Brain in Ponzu and the Duck and Foie Gras Pie. Not to take anything away from the execution and delivery of the John Dory, but the aforementioned dishes were LIGHTS OUT, and a a special treat that one should enjoy when dining in Paris! read more

This place is a mediocre restaurant parading as haute cuisine. Consideration for texture on the plate is nonexistent. Everything is mush. Tartare - mush. Brains - mush. Line caught fish - extra mush. As far as flavors, I would say they are underdeveloped (not understated, just simply as if the chefs are missing some tastebuds). Portions are also out of whack. The appetizers are huge. The mains are moderately sized. The menu doesn't have any logical progression. Dishes are just dropped on there with no real thought behind how someone might make a composed meal. The sardine appetizer was nice but more due to the sardines being delicious than anything the chef did to them (fine - chef gets some credit for drowning them in olive oil). Overall this is not a restaurant that I would return to, recommend to a friend, or even attempt to justify getting a reservation at. There are SO many great meals to have in Paris, and this one was most definitely one of the low points of the trip. Go elsewhere. These folks have their wires crossed. Something is definitely out of whack. read more