What a find! Delightfully French, beautiful couple running it.. we had the fixed price lunch - all outstanding. The prawn starter in a mustard sauce with fennel was amazing as was the white asparagus. The duck breast in orange sauce and the salmon bowl were both excellent. Charming and reasonably priced and so close to Musee Orsay! A definite!! The hostess was also brilliant and bilingual read more

My husband and I had a wonderful experience at this restaurant. Very friendly couple run the place. The wife did an excellent job taking care to explain the way they work, offering suggestions and making sure we enjoyed the meal. She made us feel very welcomed. For starters we chose the gambas to share. Honestly very good. Interesting how the mango and avocado mesh with the prawns. The veal and the pork tenderloins were our entrees. Also very good. The veal was tender and cooked perfectly. The pork tenderloins had very good flavor as well. For dessert, we tried the house special which is the apple tart. It's honestly the reason I wanted to visit lol. It did not disappoint. It's not only beautiful to look at, it tastes very good. The caramel sauce is a delightful addition to the dessert as well. Overall, a great experience. Would recommend. read more

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What a wonderful surprise and dining experience. We loved the veloute mushroom soup and the turbot main course. Great service, terrific flavors - complemented by lovely glass of Ruinart Champagne and Chardonnay. We'd go back in a heartbeat! read more

Food was good but overpriced compared to the dozen or so places we ate at in Paris but it's close to the D'Orsey so expected. Service good and Ambiance pleasant. If in area again would go back. read more

Excellent food, great service. Quiet, very comfortable. Highly recommended, a great experience.

This restaurant is cozy, intimate and romantic...and located a few blocks from Musée d'Orsay! I ordered the special of the day which came with an appetizer and entree for 20 euro! For the appetizer, I had a tuna salad which was the best tuna salad I've ever had. The tuna was very fresh...and the meat just melted in my mouth. The flavoring was light yet very tasty...with a dash of olive oil and some other seasonings. I HIGHLY recommend this tuna salad. It was simply amazing!! The entree was a white fish with green beans and peas. Although this was also tasty, it was average but probably typical of French cuisine. Overall, the meal was a good deal and so tasty, especially the tuna salad! I would highly recommend coming here! read more

La Bonne Excuse - Tuna salad (left), Fish with vegetables (right) - French Near Me - Paris, 75

You don't have to be a French language expert to figure out the name of this place means "the good excuse". I know zero French and even I could figure it out. This is a very nice restaurant. I was looking for a good French meal on Rue de Verneuil and another nearby restaurant, Le Cinq Mars, was booked solid for the night. So I opted to try La Bonne Excuse. Boy did I luck out. Everything was terrific, from the service to the food. The server girl working the floor was super friendly and her pleasant demeanor was my main reason for selecting this restaurant. She informed me to come back after 7:00 PM when they open, and so I did. She later was great in recommending my wine, translating some menu items, and making sure my water was filled all the time. So how was the food? It was to die for.... plump quail wrapped in a flaky breaded crust.... perfectly cooked rack of lamb... and a very fine selection of cheeses. The esquisite attention to detail for some of the items was impressive. For example, my tiny vegetables sitting next to my lamb were all orientated a particular way to form a straight line on my plate. All 25 of them were likely positioned by a fork and knife one by one. The interior atmosphere was slightly upscale, but not so much that it was stuffy. It was rather comfy and it was particularly nice that the interior wasn't too crowded. Oh, and the restroom downstairs was very clean. Overall I really don't have a good excuse to return to this restaurant for my next visit to Paris. I have about seventy five good excuses! read more

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Amazing food and amazing service. Small husband and wife owned restaurant, but not only do they own it they run it too! Husband is the chef and the wife runs the restaurant. They have no one else in there, it is incredible to see a chef come out and serve his gourmet food and ask customer if they would like anything else. You can really tell with the food and service how much love goes into this place and the food. And it makes me love it even more read more

This is an amazing small restaurant with exceptional food and service I loved dining here read more

We chose this place for my 40th birthday dinner based on a couple of key points: reviews commented on the elegance but comfort of the space; it was in walking distance to our apartment; it had been reviewed as being creative and delicious; and the service was deemed warm and friendly. A non-assuming exterior -- know the address before you set out! Inside, exposed limestone walls add a quaint bit of history to the otherwise elegant and bright decor. Menu is small but well crafted. There are about 5 or 6 options in each category. Special requests can be fulfilled if need be (ie allergies). Each dish we had was well crafted and tasty! Service is provided by a limited number of staff (one hostess/server and one of the chefs), who do a great job at being attentive and helpful without hovering. We spoke French, but many other customers were served in English. Spanish also spoken. To say any restaurant is small in Paris is a redundancy. Yes, this place fits the small-in-stature Paris mould. But the 10 or so tables are well spaced, and it doesn't feel anywhere near crowded. My wife had reserved by telephone well in advance, but many tables were open throughout our Saturday dinner. The restaurant was gracious about helping us celebrate my birthday, bringing a sparkler in my dessert -- and both the chef and server delivered it with handshakes. Very sweet. Prices are fairly high, but for a special dinner, in Paris, quite reasonable, and for what we got, we thought it was fine -- two entrees, two mains, two desserts, a pre-dinner drink each, and a shared bottle of wine, plus two post-dinner digestifs came to about 191 Euros. Set a bit off the main streets, it's not part of the crazy bustle of the 6e. Recommended! read more

The best apple tart I have ever had in the WORLD!!! The lamb was fantastic too. The best part of the restaurant is actually the couple running it. The husband is the chef and the wife runs front of house. They are so warm and caring. Despite our very poor French (thank goodness the wife speaks fluent English), they made us feel very welcomed. I will definitely come back when I'm back in Paris! read more

La Bonne Excuse - The best apple tart in the WORLD!!! - French Near Me - Paris, 75

Ate there twice during a recent stay in Paris. Totally delightful and delicious experience. Husband and wife team make this place memorable and charming. He is the chef and assists with serving, she handles the diners and speaks three languages. Have the apple tart for dessert. It is too good to share so be sure and get your own. read more

This weekend I had one of the most amazing meals of my life at La Bonne Excuse. I hesitate to try to describe the food because words will surely fail to do it justice, but in the interest of sharing... for starters, I had oysters that were served raw but out of the shell resting on a lovely and intensely flavorful puree, which I suspect included shallots and lemon. My wife's starter was the most perfectly poached egg ever on top of cepes (better known by their Italian name, porcinis). Both were amazing! For mains, my wife had lamb chops cooked to medium rare perfection and with some kind of crunchy candied glaze loosely on top - hard to describe, but transcendently good! I had a pie containing quail, foie gras, and cepes. Insanely delicious, and perhaps the most perfect crust I have every experienced! But the best was yet to come - for desert we had figs with ginger ice cream along with the chef's signature apple tart. The tart takes a while to make and so has to be ordered early, but is well worth the early commitment. Never have I had such a perfectly light, crisp, and amazingly flavorful apple tart. I hadn't even ever considered that you could make an apple tart of such epic excellence - my mind has been opened! Beyond the amazing food, this place is really lovely as an experience. It's a small place with perhaps a dozen tables, with clean, simple, modern decor. The chef is visible cooking in the kitchen, so you get to watch the artist at work. It's run by the chef and his wife, and they took the time to chat with us after our meal. They're exceedingly warm and friendly, and the chef is truly intense and passionate about his craft. I couldn't recommend this place more highly, and I cannot wait to go back. read more

Another happy accident: my sweetie had a strong recommendation for the place across the street ( Le Cinq Mars) from a colleague (a frequent visitor to Paris and serious gourmand) but they were booked, so after a little stroll around the neighborhood (a couple of blocks from the Musee D'Orsay), we settled into this cozy little space that resembled a spare, chic cafe in Soho rather than a typical Parisian bistro. Cream colored walls, banquettes and accents with crisp white tablecloths sans tchotkes or other frippery. Again (like Chez Julien), this lovely spot calls to mind the current enthusiasm in the U.S. for seasonal and local produce presented in a subdued or casual setting where the ingredients are the star (rather than the chef's brilliance). But brilliant he is, and delightful and welcoming is his wife, who runs the front of house. I started with a very simple dish of hyper-fresh raw oysters in an inventive (and perfectly balanced) take on the classic mignonette sauce: pureed green apples with shallots and a touch of cider vinegar. Paige loved her "cannelloni" of lobster, where the pasta was replaced by spinach leaves and served with a light, fragrant ginger sauce. My noix coquilles was just lovely (and again, surprising). Perfectly seared, fresh scallops ringed a bright salad of mache alternating with what looked like little boiled footballs of potato...mais non! Instead, the chef formed quenellles of celery root and balanced them on quarter sized disks of roasted purple potatoes for a visual and savory variation on your standard protein and starch combo. My gal relished her sea bass served on a ragout of girolle mushrooms that complemented the (again, ridiculously fresh) clean fish with an earthy, deep base. Desserts are a cut above as well; my darling, who is a meltingly gorgeous woman adored her molten chocolate cake (I know, this is almost a hackneyed dish after all these years, but good is good folks) and felt well rewarded for our museum marathon earlier. My apple tart (not tatin, but with a flaky pastry crust) was simply the very best apple tart of any kind I have ever tasted...period, end of discussion. Crispy, caramel coated and still bursting with sweet apple goodness...a perfect last meal for our sojourn in Paris. read more

Fantastic food, without being pretentious. Friendly husband-and-wife team -- monsieur in the kitchen, madame out front. Small, well-curated wine list. Yes, you should order the tarte fine aux pommes up front. You won't regret it. Reservations recommended, or show up early (the dinner rush starts around 8 p.m.). read more

The best meal I've had in Paris. On the pricey side but worth it. We found this place by accident, but it seems like it's smart to make a reservation. Make sure you leave room for dessert! read more

Great! Recent dinner (Sept 2016). Great service, great food, great atmosphere - a fantastic way to end our recent trip to Paris. The wife of the chef was running the floor. She was very helpful and kind, and added to the overall experience. A great place for couples, and worth a detour. read more

This was one of our favorite meals in Paris! Watching the chef create your meal was a treat. The food was perfectly cooked and prepared beautifully. The chefs wife helped us with the menu because our french is not very well. We had duck l'orange, lamb shank, cod fillet, apple tarte and all were perfection! If you are in paris go for lunch or dinner it is worth it! read more

We agree with all the other 5-star reviews. Veal and lamb plats were in the mid-30's, but with no service charge, a fantastic bargain -excellently prepared. Duck foie gras appetizer is magnifique. The husband-wife team is wonderfully cordial and caring - very attentive to food allergy issues. Two thumbs way up! read more

Arrived at the first night when the restaurant was open after the vacations. We were early guests. Our food was reasonably quick, but still took some time, since it's cooked fresh, not pre-cooked. Food was delicious, although pricey. A nice special occasion place. Nice service (not typical for french restaurants), done by the owner's wife. Her not-so-polished-professional demeanor, but rather a home-feel kind of approach is different from a typical French restaurant experience. I liked it a lot. read more

We've been here for dinner based on existing reviews, expecting a pleasant experience. However our experience has been SHOCKING, to say the least. The waitress was extremely rude insisting that couples cannot share the order and each person must order at least 1 starter and 1 entree to start off. If you would like to have a pleasant evening, STAY AWAY from this place! This has been our worst dining experience in Paris during our 1 week stay. read more