We had a big family lunch at Pink Mamma a few weeks ago after a Sunday morning visit to Montmartre…read more I booked the table about a month in advance, and it was easy to do, even for a party of 11. There was no back-and-forth prior to our lunch, we just made the reservation online and showed up.
Pink Mamma is part of the Big Mamma family, a popular French Italian restaurant group (Italian restaurants, French group) with locations across Europe. This one occupies four stories in a flatiron-shaped building in Pigalle, the exterior tiled in a bright flamingo pink. Our table was on the top level, a sunny space with a cheerful greenhouse aesthetic, sheer curtains over walls of windows, vines lacing through ceiling beams and chandeliers. We glimpsed the other floors on our way up, and every space seemed to be decorated to the max, including the stairwells. I guessing this place plays well on social media.
Our lunch got off to a bumpy start when we were presented with a family style menu and told it was the only option for a party of our size. It came with starters, pizzas, pastas, all good stuff, for €55 per person. This seemed fair, except that the children were also counted, and we'd have to pay €55 each for my six-year-old (who eats nothing), my three-year-old (who eats like a three-year-old), and my niece, a two-year-old in a high chair (who, in fairness, eats as much as some adults). A lot of money, and likely a lot of wasted food. Our server was this Italian woman who showed everything on her face, and we could all tell she was annoyed that we questioned this policy, and annoyed further that she had to go ask management about our kids. It felt a little adversarial, and her attitude persisted when she came back with the regular menus.
We ended up ordering a big a la carte spread, and it was plenty of food and much cheaper than €55 a head. Thankfully, our waiter softened up once the meal got going, and she was quite nice to us for most of our visit. This was a relief, especially towards the end, when my six-year-old threw up all over the floor. It was mostly water, and I cleaned it up, but both our server and another employee showed up and offered their help and kindness.
Traveling with kids is an adventure, and I did indulge in a cocktail with lunch. I got The Big Pisco and it was delicious, a refreshing, summery drink with Cuatro Gallos Pisco Puro Italia, apricot liqueur, fennel, and lime. My husband got the French Touch, a cool gin drink with Tanqueray, elderflower, raspberry, cucumber, lemon, and R. Gerbaux l'Epicurien champagne.
The food was great. We started with a few orders of the melone, prosciutto, and mozzarella appetizer, as well as the insalata Siciliana. The melon, Parma prosciutto, and buffalo were high quality and delicious, drizzled with olive oil and a little black pepper. The salad was fresh, green, and flavorful, with Sicilian broccoli, green beans, rocket, roasted zucchini, and tzatziki. There was also a complimentary basket of good, crusty bread.
We shared a bunch of pasta, doubling up on the spaghettoni alla Vittorio, the mezze rigatoni alla Gricia, and the fazzoletti ricotta e spinaci. The spaghettoni was a nice al dente pasta with Datterini tomato sauce and parmesan. The rigatoni was rich and satisfying, with salsa cacio pepe, guanciale, and black pepper. The fazzoletti were fresh pasta filled with lemony ricotta and spinach, tossed in a sage butter sauce, with parmesan on top.
We got two kinds of pizza for the table, the Mammargherita and the Spicy Calabrese. I actually booked Pink Mamma in large part because it had pizza, which I thought would be good for the kids a few days into our trip. Too bad my son couldn't enjoy it, because it was quite tasty, if a little on the wet, floppy side. The margherita came with a great San Marzano DOP tomato sauce, plus mozzarella and parmesan. The Spicy Calabrese had the same sauce and mozzarella, along with 'nduja, spicy pork salsiccia, caramelized red onion, and tarragon.
This wasn't a perfect experience, but we had a lovely lunch despite the hiccups. I'd recommend Pink Mamma if you're looking for a stylish restaurant near Montmartre.
