When I visited: March 2017

Location: Paris, in 2nd arrondissement

Rating in the Michelin Guide: Recommended

Dining Owl Hoot rating: 3/5

What to wear: Men – jeans or nice trousers and a shirt; women – jeans and a smart top or a smart dress

Ambience: Smart / casual, friendly

Course of the meal: French onion soup

If I could change one thing: More flavour in the truffles

Review:

The concierge at our hotel recommended Gallopin for a traditional French meal and gave us a voucher for a free drink, which turned out to be a traditional French kir aperitif of black cherries mixed with white wine (delicious).

We ordered a bottle of white Chateau de Meursault (Mersault le Limozin) 2013 to accompany the meal, which was strong and buttery with a slightly performed aftertaste.

Our traditional French meal got off to a promising start with side bread followed by my massive French onion soup (perhaps the best French onion soup I’ve ever had) and my partner Owl’s artichoke with poached egg, salmon and slaw. We moved on to steak frites (the steak was rare, although not by French standards) with peppercorn sauce and a scallop risotto with black truffle. The scallops were tender and tasty but the truffle pieces themselves were curiously lacking in flavour. We shared a profiterole dessert – it turned out to be one massive profiterole, which was light and creamy.

I would definitely recommend Brasserie Gallopin if you are in this area of Paris and want a classic French meal.