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This Review of L'Arcane Paris, with 1 Michelin Star, is from our recent site inspection visit to Paris. Read on for our experience of Chef Laurent Magnin's creations, and stay tuned for our upcoming reviews of Cheval Blanc Paris and the Hyatt Paris Madeleine.
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L'Arcane Location, Hours and Reservations
L'Arcane is located at 52 Rue Lamarck in the 18th Arrondissement in Paris, Montmartre, about a 6 minute walk from the Sacre-Coeur. From Cheval Blanc Paris, take the Metro line 4 to the Chateau Rouge stop and walk about 9 minutes to the restaurant. From the Hyatt Paris Madeleine, take the Metro 12 line to the Lamarck-Caulaincourt stop and walk 4 minutes. If coming from one of the luxury hotels near the Champs-Elysees, such as the Four Seasons George V Paris, you'll need to take Metro line 1 and transfer to the 12 at Concorde. Coming from The Peninsula Paris? Take Metro line 2 to Pigalle and transfer to the 12.
L'Arcane is open for dinner Tuesdays-Saturdays, from 7-10:15pm, with two choices: a EUR 175 tasting menu, and a EUR 95 three course menu. The restaurant offers a 65 EUR lunch on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 1:45pm. The restaurant has a charming covered terrace, so be sure to request it when making your reservation if you'd like to dine outside. And definitely make an reservation, as the restaurant is relatively small and popular with locals and visitors alike.
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L'Arcane Menu and Food
When reserving L'Arcane in advance (which we highly recommend, to avoid disappointment) you'll be asked to select either the tasting menu, for EUR 175 per person, or the Menu Esquisse, for EUR 95 per person. We opted for the latter, as we prefer shorter tasting menus. Also, since we chose different starters and desserts, we were able to taste more dishes.
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Our server started us off with a trio of delicious amuses bouches; my favorite was the initial crispy foie gras bite, although the seafood crudo and squid ink cones were also delectable.
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We were then offered a choice of regular bread and sourdough bread, both of which were fresh from the oven, served piping hot. The sourdough bread in particular was so delicious that I think my husband had three of them, although to be honest I lost count.
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I assumed we'd next be served our appetizer, but instead we were brought a glass of what turned out to be the highlight of the meal for me: a refreshing concoction of passion fruit and fresh crab, lightly spiced with saffron from Alsace:
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For our appetizers, our son chose the Red Mullet, served with artichokes and a tangy barigoule reduction, which he enjoyed:
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My husband and I were thrilled with our Frog Fritters served with morels and a vin jaune reduction, with a separate little dish of the frog legs with a mild yellow curry; it was the latter that was best with the wine pairing.
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For our main dish, we all chose the Turbot cooked in two ways. The fish fillet was cooked perfectly and wonderfully complemented by the champagne sauce and wild strawberry sauce (fraises des bois). The second dish also featured turbot, but with a more herbaceous sauce enveloping a goat cheese stuffed raviolo.
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After we concluded our main, our server asked if we preferred a pause before dessert or to proceed straight to dessert. While a lesser restaurant might have assumed one or the other, we appreciated her giving us the choice, and chose to proceed right to dessert, as we were all still jet lagged and wanted to get back to our hotel sooner rather than later.
The showier dessert was the Chocolate Sphere with Smoked Chocolate Ice Cream, which was uncovered tableside, with Chai poured over it. It went perfectly with the aged port wine my husband was poured as part of his wine tasting, and was also accompanied by a chocolate “cigar” in a crisp wafer stuffed with chocolate mousse.
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While the chocolate dessert was delicious, I actually preferred the wonderful Strawberry dessert our son ordered, with its notes of Early Grey, lime, and yuzu, with caramelized almonds providing some crunchy textural contrast.
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Mignardises provided a lovely finishing touch:
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The Verdict
L'Arcane was our favorite meal in Paris of this trip, and our favorite dinner in recent memory. If it was located in our home city, it would be our destination restaurant for every special occasion. It was simple to make and reconfirm our online reservation, we felt welcomed by each member of the very professional and friendly team, an allergy was seamlessly catered for, and most importantly, the dishes, from amuse bouches through to appetizers, mains, desserts and mignardises, were spectacular. Sometimes three and even two Michelin star restaurants seem to forget that the food should actually taste great, not only be stunning to look at. That's not the case at L'Arcane, where the dishes do happen to be presented beautifully, but taste even better than they look. Highly recommended.
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