Je m'y suis arrêté pour un déjeuner rapide en semaine, mais à cause du mauvais temps, toutes les places étaient à l'intérieur. Et, malgré les grandes fenêtres et le mur en miroir, l'espace intérieur semblait un peu sombre. Le service a bien commencé, et chaque plat était intéressant et bien présenté. J'ai apprécié le rouget au fenouil et le veau Basquaise. Étrangement, pour chaque plat, la saucière était laissée à table, ce que je trouve rarement dans ce genre de restaurant. Je trouve que c'est similaire, mais en moins pire, à un restaurant qui propose des salières et des poivrières : si le client a besoin de modifier le goût de l'assiette, comment peut-il pleinement apprécier la vision du chef ? À mesure que le restaurant se remplissait, le service est devenu inégal. Notre table et trois autres personnes ont attendu nos additions pendant 20 minutes, une fois que tous nos cafés et petits fours ont été débarrassés. L'homme à la table voisine a finalement commencé à agiter sa carte de crédit en l'air pour attirer l'attention. Dommage. Mais la nourriture était excellente, malgré quelques faux pas. Je devrai y retourner. / I stopped in for a quick weekday lunch, but due to the weather, all seating was inside. And, despite the large windows and mirrored wall, the inside space did feel a bit dark. Service began well, and each dish was interesting and plated well. I enjoyed the red mullet with fennel and the Basque veal. Strangely, for each course, the saucière was left at the table - something I rarely find at this level of restaurant. I feel it is similar, but not as bad, as a restaurant providing salt and pepper shakers: if the guest needs to alter the taste of the plate, how can they fully appreciate the chef's vision? As the restaurant filled, the service became uneven. Our table and three others waited for our bills for 20 minutes after all of our coffee and petit fours were cleared away. The man at the table next to me finally began waving his credit card in the air to attract attention. Unfortunate. But the food was excellent, despite a few missteps by the servers. I'll have to return. 2025 03 28. M1. read more

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excellent tasting menu. Would absolutely go back. The wine pairing and service were impeccable. Their seafood was very fresh and incredibly tasty. It's a creative menu I'd be craving to get again. The combination of tastes is worth trying! read more

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Absolutely a must try if in Paris. Affordable Michelin restaurant experience with amazing tasting food. Definitely one that you'll be talking about for years to come. We paid about 50 euros per person for a three course meal. We've been here twice. Once in December 2022 and once in June 2023. Both times we had a menu that fit well with the season and both times we were thoroughly impressed. read more

Virtus - Poisson du jour (été 2023) - French Near Me - Paris, 75

I'm at a loss trying to understand the average 4.1 star rating of Virtus. Our visit last night was nothing short of perfection. We dined here for my girlfriends birthday, and the experience was so special, down to the smallest detail. The staff (especially Camille) were all so warm and inviting. The restaurant itself was amazingly beautiful. The food, absolutely to die for. We did the 7 course meal, with wine pairings. The presentation and flavors were both incredible. I loved the attention to detail that went into everything and loved the wines that were paired with each course. The barbecued squab was my absolutely favorite dish of the night, and the wine paired with it my favorite glass as well. The dessert came, with the addition of some fruit tartlets and a birthday candle. As well as the menu for the evening offering birthday wishes on the front page. A huge thank you to the staff and the chef for making our last meal in Paris such a special experience. Merci beaucoup! read more

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We've dined at Virtus twice, once in 2019 just after they received their Michelin star and again in 2023. We absolutely loved our initial experience. The food was amazing, the ambiance was pleasing and the service was excellent. In 2023 we had a different experience. We wanted to love it as much as the first time, but we came away a bit disappointed for the following reasons. The value was poor. At 135 euro for the seven course option, we felt it was not a good value. Each of the courses was certainly very fancy and put together with tweezers, involved things like fish eggs and edible flowers and bright green purées and drizzles of various oils: these are the symbols of starred restaurants these days it seems. The problem is there was too little "meat on the bone." We walked out of there paying $600 for a family of four, and we weren't served a single impressive or costly ingredient. There was no enormous scallop, giant shrimp, or even sashimi grade fish tartare (or any fish at all). There was no course of duck or prime beef filet or any other valuable protein. Usually these tasting menus build up from lighter courses to a climax of the main protein entree followed by a couple of dessert courses. This menu was filled with the early type of vegetable courses, and none involved truffles or anything prized or rare. The only protein-heavy courses were a very soft-boiled chicken egg with a purely liquid center with some fish eggs on top (this dish was pretty but didn't taste good). The other protein dish was the final course before the desserts, the 'main entree course,' which was veal sweetbreads. Sweetbreads are ok, but the grand finale of a pricy tasting menu should involve some fresh high end protein like filet of beef, a large scallop, a giant shrimp, some lobster, a duck breast; something more than cow thymus. Some of the courses were over engineered with too many ingredients and flavors such that they started to taste like nothing. It's hard to explain this phenomenon, but it's real. When too many different items are put together on a small plate, it can cause some sort of sensory opposition, or noise cancellation. There must be a name for this effect of which I'm not aware, but I've experienced it before. Several of the dishes would have tasted better and had more flavor if one or two ingredients, perhaps **any** one or two of the ingredients, would have been omitted. On departing we walked past some diners at an adjacent bistro who were eating a beautiful cut of beef and we were envious, even though we were overstuffed with fancy food composed of inexpensive ingredients and definitely not hungry. The waitstaff were very attentive and pleasant. They were not knowledgeable about the ingredients of the food. We didn't ask them probing questions about any of the courses. But when they arrived at the table to present each dish and spoon on various sauces on each one (this process was a lot of fun), they then introduced each dish and a couple of times they stumbled and couldn't remember what they had memorized to say about each plate. We of course smiled and said thank you and ate and enjoyed. But there was a bit of room for improvement in this regard. Finally, we have two children. When we dined in 2019, the chef was extremely kind and prepared a separate menu for them that was fewer courses and aimed at a simpler palate and smaller appetite. This time the chef, who is different (French man in 2023 rather than Japanese woman in 2019) didn't offer any different or smaller options for our kids, who are still in elementary school, prepubescent, and don't eat adult volumes. So, given no other choice we got our kids the same adult tasting menu we got for ourselves. This was ok, but we appreciated the unexpected consideration the Japanese chef afforded us in 2019. We wanted to love Virtus as much as we did the first time around, but we couldn't. If we come back again, we'll ask to check the menu in advance to see if it will include some high quality protein courses and we advise you to do similarly. read more

Amazing food and service! We had their 7 course set menu, and each dish was so delicious and amazingly presented. There were actually a few bonus pieces in the beginning and end too, so you definitely leave with a full stomach! Some highlights were the langoustine (so soft that it didn't have the regular spongy texture of shrimp!), and the dessert in a frozen lemon that was super refreshing. The staff were so friendly and helpful, and the dishes came at a good pace. Definitely recommend! read more

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This was another meal at Virtus that drenched me in sybaritic pleasure. I was fortunate enough to dine at Virtus before it earned its Michelin star. It is now better than ever and worth all accolades. We dove into the 65 Euro six course disgustation menu, a veritable bargain. Each dish brought tears of joy. Everything, I mean everything, was amazing. Two kinds of bread, an amuse bouche of six bite sized delights, a ceviche served in a scallop shell, a truffled artichoke concoction with a poached egg on top, a lovely piece of monkfish in a mushroom broth, a perfect piece of duck, a poached pear sorbet, two delectable desserts, and a finishing touch of petit fours, were all eaten with exclamations of gluttonous rapture. Service by Kevin was elegant, warm and simply perfect. Yes, he is very French, but with an incongruous American name. Virtus will charm you with its smart, comfortable and au courant space, understated but stylish. I want to go back tonight, but will show unaccustomed restraint. They probably are completely booked. Our meal, with a perfect 98 Euro bottle of Crozes-Hermitage Blanc, a Kir Royale, three vodka cocktails, two bottles of water, came to 286 Euro or 325 dollars for the two of us. What a bargain!!! Although for some, Virtus may be a journey, because it is located in the 12th Arrondissement. I don't care. Take the metro, a taxi, Kapten, Uber, horse and buggy, but get your derrière to Virtus for the meal of a lifetime. Je suis en extase! read more

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Virtus is living proof that not all Michelin restaurants are good. Because we just dropped shy of €300 and this was one of the most disappointing meals we've ever wasted our money on. We showed up for our reservation and were promptly led through a 3/4 empty restaurant to the table right next to the toilette. When I asked for another table they made a great show of "checking to see" and then happily led us to our new table... right next to our last table next to the toilette. I kid you not, they moved us four feet. When I said that wasn't going to work either they made another Big Show of tapping their computer before leading back through the 3/4 empty main floor to a two seater tucked in a dismal corner with a view of the wall. This was our punishment for refusing to eat at the original table. I guess they were saving the seats at the window for the guy in the dirty T-shirt and scuffed sneakers who came later (not joking). And then the food started coming and it got *worse*. First, there's too much salt on these dishes which is Chef 101 bush league. Second, you get served a lot of courses that seem drowned in sauce. Don't get me wrong, the Parmesan sauce is great but it completely overpowers the asparagus to the point you can't taste the vegetable at all. Finding the right balance is Chef 102, right? Otherwise I'm just eating soup. And while the asparagus was grilled it came to the table stone cold so... what's the point? The fish was good, though I can get that at any bistro, but the surrounding clams were gritty with sand. Does this place not know how to purge clams? Seriously? I learned to do that when I was seven years old and digging clams in the Pacific Northwest. WTH? It's the sort of amateur hour shellfish preparation that makes you wonder if they clean their shrimp either or wipe their boogers on their pants. The deserts were exceptionally terrible and should automatically remove their Michelin Star. Seriously, these were the worst things I've ever had in my mouth, and I once ate dog soup in Makati. One was half a frozen lemon rind filled with wince inducing nuclear citron ice cream topped with saffron which was about a gagging as it sounds. The second was a white Hostess Ding-Dong thing sitting on a bed of ice inside what can only be described as a porcelain chamber pot. The whole thing was so cold every bite made your fillings hurt. I literally watched the couple next to us eat theirs and their faces wrinkled like Kleenex with every bite. It's a special kind of hell when you enjoy others suffering just so you don't feel alone. When the best thing this kitchen can offer is the amuse bouche, you're in trouble. This restaurant is bullsh*t. This chef is bullsh*t. The staff may be mentally deficient as they all have that glassy smile that morons always have when they're f**kin' up your sh*t. How is it possible the Michelin reviewers had even a decent meal here? I seriously don't know what they were thinking. Because the very next night we ate at a Bib gourmand rated restaurant in the 13th arrondissement and that was *amazing*. Truly a spectacular meal. That chef could cook circles around the clown show at Virtus. That crew deserves a star not this utter embarrassment of a restaurant. Not to get all Werner Herzog about it but this place 'snuffs out the light of being in the darkness of the universe and mocks human existence.' On the bright side, the wine was good. So stick with things they don't make. read more

This SHOULD have been a 5 star review. The food was truly an experience. The staff began as exceptional, became a little more scarce in the middle, but by the end left us sitting 45 minutes with empty plates and glasses without us being able to signal them for a check. Put a downer on what was otherwise excellent experience. I hope to give them another chance next visit. The food was that good. read more

We had a beautiful dinner here on our trip to Paris. We were lucky enough to be staying in Bastille and our host raved about Virtus, so we had to check it out. The tasting menu is a steal (I want to say around 50 euro?) and the food & service was stellar. We met Gaia the wonderful wine director, who made sure we had the best meal during our visit. The vibe is very relaxed and serene, we could have stayed there all night enjoying our dinner and wine. read more

Virtus was one of the worst tasting menus I have ever had. First, they sat us in a corner and it was impossible to get proper service, with us needing to call and wave for several minutes at a time to get any attention. We took a sake pairing with the meal and were so ignored that they missed the pairing for two of our courses. On to the food, the starter of an oyster was nice and clean with pineapple, but not exceptional. Then we had this delicious buttery, sweet pastry, that would be great for breakfast but made no sense in the progression of the meal. Then came a crab dish that was bitter and not elegant at all, then scallops on a Jerusalem artichoke puree which was good but quite bitter. But then a piece of overcooked fish which was tasteless besides being bitter. Then pork which was very nicely cooked, but in a bitter orange sauce. This was the one dish where I thought the bitterness worked. Overall, each dish focused on a bitter note, that ended up being the one thing that united the dishes, but was not particularly interesting in terms of overall flavour. Then for desert a coconut mousse with kiwi which was yummy in a comfort food sort of way. read more