Le Tastevin

Recommended by a stateside friend as "her favorite Parisian restaurant," we had very high expectations going in. Le Tastevin remains one of our favorite meals in Paris *ever*.

The Foie Gras was out of this world: if this is your first shot at it, get the warm version and set the bar high.

The filet was cooked to perfection and very tender. Both mustard and peppercorn sauces were tremendous.

Save room for the cheese course with fresh baguette - the owners were very gracious when we asked to take the leftover steak home (a rarity in Paris).

The dessert featured Berthillon ice cream - despite how full we were, we managed to eat all of both dishes. The Grand Marnier dessert was sweet without being overpowering.

Do yourself a favor and set a reservation (even via email from their site) for this gem in Ile Saint Louis.

Le Tastevin was one of our more memorable meals in Paris when it came to traditional French food. The building, situated on Ile St. Louis (the smaller island on the Seine river) dates to the 17th century, which makes for a great ambience, yet the noise level was also quiet and romantic.

Our service, provided by the owner and her son, was attentive and impeccable. We especially appreciated the care they displayed in serving half bottles of wine (which doesn't happen everywhere in Paris).

Our appetizers, including a foie gras salad, were amazing. My sole meunière was perfectly cooked and deboned. The only quibble we had with our dinner was that veal filet mignon was overcooked - we did order it "bien cuit", but our understanding was that in France, "well done" meant a still pink interior, and this was not the case. Dessert included Berthillon ice cream (a specialty of Ile St. Louis) and was a perfect cap to the evening.

This may have been the best meal I've ever eaten. Four courses stretched out over about four hours, and by the end of it I felt fat and happy, and I almost needed someone to roll me out the door.

We started with langoustine in a cream sauce, which... was amazing. It was certainly a bit of an ordeal to get all the meat out of the shells, but incredibly worth it. After finishing the four or five critters there was still plenty of sauce left, so we let the bread dunking begin. First course done, and i was already full. No matter, still three courses to go. Next up, a steak of course. Wonderfully prepared and tender, I only ate a couple of the potatoes that came with it because, as stated previously, I was already full. I'm not going to sit there and stare at a steak though, I would've eaten the whole thing even if I'd just had one!

At this point I didn't think I could eat anything else, but this lovely plate of four different cheeses came out and was placed in front of me. Luckily I'd had some time to digest before seeing it, because I don't think I would have survived the night otherwise. For some reason though, the cheese actually helped - I had a second wind, and I was able to eat most of the cheese.

Finally, along with an apertif, a wonderful chocolate lava cake arrived in front of me. I was in heaven. Sure, I had just eaten like a pig for almost four hours, but it was absolutely worth it. The next time I'm in Paris, I'll be going back.

The dinner we had at Le Tastevin was by far our favorite meal in Paris. It was highly recommended by a friend, but as it didn't show up in Zagat, we didn't check it out until late in th trip.
We were so glad we finally did! Run by a mother and son team, this meal felt like a timeless experience in a historic setting. Everyone works super hard to please, all the food is prepared with the most attention to detail that I may have ever experienced. The escargot in Bourgogne sauce was enlightening; the grilled chateaubriand, filet mignon in 'ancient mustard sauce' and the lamb cutlets were all shockingly good. Great wine list too.
Overall, very intimate and memorable experience and highly recommended. This restaurant is reason enough to want to return to Paris in the very near future.

We were ambling around Île Saint-Louis and happened upon Le Tastevin, which was a small and charming space - adorable comes to mind. We couldn't get in when we wanted, but the nice proprietor (an older woman) pointed us to a nearby bar where we had a glass of wine before returning 15 minutes later. I had the filet with truffle sauce and foie gras. The foie was veiny and the meal was too large, but it was good in the main - classical. The date had the veal sweetbreads with morels and tagliatelle. Her dish was good but outrageously rich - much too rich for one person. The tagliatelle was prepared correctly.

We really wanted dessert, but we could eat no more.

Everything about our experience was a pleasure, but the food, ultimately, keeps me from bumping this up to 4 stars. If you're not a demanding eater and you really like traditional French dishes, you will be happy. The ambience is first rate.

Bonus: Overheard conversation from the table behind me - an older American couple. "Everything starts falling apart at 60," he said. "65," she replied.

I believe this is my 15th visit to this place. It is one of the most charming restaurants I have ever been to in Paris.

The food is delicious, the wine selection --while a small list - has an excellent range in pricing and variety. I had the Margaux and it was incredible.

The service is impeccable. The mother / son team really care about their guests. I highly recommend this amazing place for your next trip to Paris.

Louis Edward NYC

But I am saddened to have just read that Le Tastevin's original owner and her son have quit the restaurant. That is just too bad. They were the reason my husband and I had such lovely memories of our first time dining there that cold NYE 2004. As well as on subsequent visits.

I wish them well in their new ventures.

Such a terrible experience. We had reservations and arrived 10 minutes early. It took 1 hour an 10 minutes to be asked if we wanted an aperitif. One of us was sitting close to the bar so asked for a glass of champaign, this made the owner angry. Finally we got to order something to drink. After we placed our order , it took one hour for the first course to arrive. One of us asked for bread because we were so hungry. We were lectured by the owner that in France bread arrives with the meal...not before.

The food very good good, but the terrible service made all of us upset. Three of us are fluent, so the rude treatment was not because of a language barrier, We are wine makers in the US so business takes us here often. We rate
Y have a bad dining experience here.

This establishment was terrible. The only reason I am giving it two stars is because the food was good.

We found this restaurant via Yelp while wandering around on Ile Saint-Louis. When we read that the restaurant was a Rick Steves recommendation, we were in! (we later figured out not to trust everything he says, but this one panned out)

We arrived at the restaurant at 6:35 and it wasn't open yet (doesn't open until 7pm), so we got some tea and waited. It was worth it!

The restaurant had amazing ambiance, they were very nice to us despite the fact that we speak terrible french, and the food was spectacular! We even got a fantastic wine reco that paired perfectly with our mixed of dishes. This is a low down on what we got:

Premium 4 course meal (something like 65 euros, not bad):

Appetizers:
Foie Gras - amazing and super generous portion!
Escargot - Also fantastic and generous portion

Main Dish:
Duck - Very good, great portion, and comes with a little more Foie (can't get too much)
Filet Au Poive - Very good. I actually ended up with a less than desirable cut, but still got enough to eat and the waitress was actually very apologetic despite the fact that I didn't say a word, she just noticed that I left some not so good looking scraps. That really went a long way in my book, especially since I wasn't bothered by it to begin with.

Cheese course:
Yum. You really can't go long with cheese or bread anywhere in France, can you?

Dessert:
Raspberry Sorbet - Very flavorful and fantastic
Chocolate Cake - Absolutely delicious and caused me to eat far too much, but I regret nothing!

Easily, the best meal we had in Paris. We were on our honeymoon and decided to try as many places as possible. It was not the least expensive or the most expensive. Small place, so make reservations ahead of time.