Anco, the fabulous restaurant in the Bercy district

If you're looking for a place to eat in Bercy that stands out from the crowd before a screening at the Cinémathèque Française or after a concert at theAccorHotels Arena, head for Anco, THE new spot for aperitifs with friends or more intimate dinners.

Housed in a former Hippopotamus, Anco boasts a surface area of almost 500m2, enabling it to host entire tables and organize concert evenings in a convivial, good-humored atmosphere.

For our part, we went in small groups, and were seated in a charming little corner, next to the beautiful transparent wine cellar, well stocked with wines from small producers, grands crus and even organic wines.

In the kitchen, chefs Nadia Mansouri and Adrien Capiez are busy revisiting bistronomy with brio. A point of honor is placed on the quality of products, and everything that comes out of the kitchen is homemade .

What's more, lunchtime menus are priced at €17 for starters, main courses and desserts, and €21 for starters, main courses and desserts, while evening menus are €25 and €31 respectively. There's no reason to go without, and that's just as well, because the entire menu is sure to make any gourmet's mouth water.

We had the great good fortune to sample a good number of the dishes on offer and, what can I say, it was an unforgettable culinary voyage!

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For starters, we were tempted by theperfect egg with mushroom cream (9€), the homemade gnocchi, serrano, comté and full-bodied jus (14€), a marvel; the whelk tartar, fresh herbs and green jus (10€), and the marinated salmon, be et confit and combava (12€). All excellent starters, prepared with great finesse and ingenuity.

For the main courses, the yellow poultry supreme (20€) was accompanied by a gourmet homemade semi-salted purée and a full-bodied jus; and the Thai cod (22€) won us over with the strength of its gray shrimp broth, counterbalanced by the sweetness of the pak choï. As for the pork belly (21€), it was as crisp as you could wish for, and the combination with the creamed corn and chorizo was very well thought out.

Tartar lovers won't want to miss the Charolais beef tartar au couteau (17€), prepared here in an original way, with pine nuts, coriander and soy sauce. Another favorite is the prawn risotto (18€) with its shellfish emulsion. Our taste buds still remember it.

To end this fine meal on a sweet note, we turned to the ultra-fresh vanilla, mango-passion, ginger and lemongrass cheesecake(9€); the chocolate, rosemary and popcorn moelleux (10€); the lime, mint and timut meringue sablé (10€); and the candied pear, salted butter caramel, hazelnut crumble and thyme ice cream (9€). Fresh, modern desserts, prepared with as much attention to detail as the main courses and starters.

Anco offers bristronomic cuisine of the highest level, executed with great talent by the two chefs, and accessible to all pocketbooks. One of our finest culinary discoveries of early 2019.

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.