Aux Enfants Gâtés

This sparky little restaurant in the 14th arrondissement might be off the beaten track for some, but there are many treasures to be found in the friendly streets around the Denfert-Rochereau métro, from boutiques to bars and from markets stalls to parks, which make it worth the trip. If you’re in the neighbourhood, Aux Enfants Gâtés (‘The Spoiled Children’) will reward you with above average cooking in a cosy, friendly atmosphere, all in a modern space that seats 20 at a squeeze.

On our visit, we enjoyed the inventiveness of the starters – a richly nutty vegetable millefeuille, creamy snail ravioli and a bright plate of soft-boiled egg with smoked salmon, salmon roe, mustardy sabayon sauce, chives and a sesame biscuit. Mains weren’t quite as lively – perhaps we should have gone for the seasonal partridge en cocotte – but were still solid, enjoyable dishes. Perhaps the best was pan-fried veal with fragrant rosemary gnocchi; oven-roast duckling with confit kumquats was good if not subtle, while the flavours in a dish of pork rib with artichokes and girolle mushrooms weren’t quite distinct enough. But none of this stopped us from heading onwards to dessert, and we were glad we did. A light chestnut mousse with meringue and whipped vanilla cream was as fluffily enjoyable as it sounds, while a cheesecake fondant (without the crumb) with mango sorbet and coulis ended it all on a high point. Coffee came with little madeleines, and the service was good-humoured and efficient.

Aux Enfants Gâtés enjoys a good reputation on the Paris grapevine, and with good reason; while it might not quite merit a trip to the 14th on its own, for locals or visitors it’s an extremely good neighbourhood address.