Au bon coin, a gourmet bistro restaurant in Paris's 5th arrondissement

Au bon coin, a bistronomic restaurant on the border of the 5th and 13th arrondissements. In a quiet, off-center street off the Avenue des Gobelins, we discover a charming restaurant, with a small outdoor terrace that makes you want to sit down on sunny days. The restaurant's interior design is warm and uncluttered, with wood and warm colors that make you feel almost at home .

The Au bon coin bistro will soon be celebrating its 120th anniversary, the restaurant having been founded in 1904. Julien Guillut, the restaurant's current owner, wanted to highlight and perpetuate this French conviviality. To this end, he has teamed up with Emmanuel Chanois, the restaurant's chef, who has worked in a number of renowned Parisian establishments, to offer gourmet, tasty French dishes.

A la carte, you can choose from a wide range of starters, main courses and desserts, all of which are typically French. Once we had placed our order, we were brought eggs in verrines, as acomplimentary amuse-bouche, which already started to awaken our taste buds.

We then move on to our starters: Escargot profiteroles with garlic cream and green asparagus and a ceviche of sea bream, leche de tigre style. The profiteroles are filled in front of us by the waitress, who arrives with a small dish filled with garlic escargots, then adds them to the profiteroles, flavors spiced up so that we can still taste the escargot. The"leche de tigre" in ceviche is a seasoning based on lemon, chili pepper, aromatic herbs, coconut milk and fish trimmings. A spicy but balanced combination, although the lemon taste is quite strong and you have to like it to enjoy ceviche.

Moving on to the main courses, we choose the 25 cm long French pig sausage with espelette peppers, and the skewer of gambas flambéed with pastisand tomato concassé. With this, we have two accompaniments to choose from: we settle on homemade pommes dauphines and a pan-fried mushroom. The sausage is excellent, and the jus and pommes dauphines take us back to childhood. The prawns are flambéed before our very eyes, a delightful little spectacle. You can taste the pastis, but it doesn't overpower the taste of the prawns- a wonderful combination! The portions are very hearty indeed, and the value for money is excellent .

With our bellies already full, we decided to try the desserts anyway. There are desserts to share "by the ladle " or individual desserts. Our choices are the meadowsweet crème brûlée ( individual dessert) and the royal gala apple morning tart with vanilla ice cream (dessert "à la louche"). The crème brûlée is very well executed, with a perfectly caramelized top. The tarte tatin is very tasty and once again takes us back to childhood...

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We accompanied our dishes with glasses of white wine, recommended by theAu bon coin team.

Au bon coin is an efficient and delicious bistronomic restaurant. Their products are well chosen and of the highest quality. For a bistronomic experience, Au bon coin is worth discovering, as much for its warm setting and history, as for its gourmet cuisine. The staff are adorable and you'll be made to feel very welcome.

Au boin coin awaits you at 21 rue de la Collégiale in Paris's 5th arrondissement .