We’ve rated Petit Vatel as GOOD with two stars * *
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For a very long time — at least 75 years — Le Petit Vatel was a traditional French restaurant across from the Marché Saint-Germain. It was never particularly good, but I had a soft spot for the room. It closed earlier this year and has reopened, minus the article, as Petit Vatel: a fish-first project from the Viot family, the people behind the fishmonger across the street.
The premise is new: poisson without ice. Fish arrives already gutted at the door, dry-ages on hooks in a refrigerated case stamped Viot System, and is sold by edible weight rather than padded out with ice. Why? For ecological reasons, and also because fish that don’t touch ice are supposedly tastier. Without that excess water weight, the raw flesh is denser and the fat and juices more concentrated, so the fish should grill and sear without weeping. According to Viot website, at least. The actual experience was more complicated.
The chef who’s cooking these un-iced creatures has a serious background. Masayoshi Haraguchi, who spent more than a decade as executive chef of the Michelin-starred Dominique Bouchet, leads the small team in their open kitchen. The cooking is French with Japanese touches — ikejime, miso, tataki, hojicha — and a whole-fish ethos in which little goes to waste.
There’s also a bit of theater — the daily special, a collar of sériole, is presented raw at tableside on a hook with its ikejime label before it goes to the grill. A fun idea for sharing (80€), but not for us on this particular night.
THE FOOD
We began with a crudo of pagre (sea bream), which showed the fish at its cleanest. The texture was appealing, but the apple-kiwi salsa verde that topped it was a tad overwhelming for the delicate fish (28€).
We loved what came next: spider crab with caviar and croissant perdu (38€). The crab was rich and earthy, bound in coral mayonnaise and served in its shell with some dabs of caviar. We would have loved a few more of those buttery croissant bites to pair with such a generous pile of crab.
The high point of our dinner was this dish of trout with peas and fava beans (45€) — silky and juicy under blackened skin, the lemon-caper sauce bringing lift without burying anything. It was a beautiful piece of fish, beautifully grilled.
The same cannot be said about the turbot. The most expensive dish on the menu (55€) arrived utterly carbonized. The flesh underneath the char was thin and tough. The usually-creamy coco beans were ruddy and dry, and the dish lacked any acidity. We spread around the thick quenelle of hollandaise to mask the flavors. I’m not sure what happened here, but can’t imagine this was the intended result.
The premice of this ice-free system is to yield fish that’s better for grilling, and yet this was the worst piece of grilled fish I’ve had in years.
Desserts recovered well: strawberries with yogurt sorbet and lemon verbena melted fast but were perfect on a hot night. A generous scoop of chocolate mousse was dolled up with bitter-orange marmalade, cacao nibs, and a slick of olive oil (both 15€).
THE DRINKS
The non-alcoholic program is worth seeking out here, featuring several house-made concoctions all priced at 12€ a glass. We tried the Artichoke Cold Brew, the cassis jus, and the apricot jus, and these were all lovely on a hot summer night.
The wine list is white-forward and built for seafood, leaning toward grower and biodynamic bottles, with a strong by-the-glass list (most around 12€) that includes a smart El Maestro Sierra amontillado — a sherry that flatters this kind of fish. The Champagne reaches surprisingly deep for a room this size, and there’s a fun selection of bottles from Spain. One thing to know: the filtered tap water (Castalie) is charged at 6€ for still and 8€ for sparkling. We had one of each and were surprised to pay 14€ for tap water — that’s steep for Paris.
THE VIBE
The space is attractive — a small, low-key room facing the market with a handful of stools at an open kitchen counter, a mirrored central column, warm light, and vintage gold-rimmed china. Ceiling fans (no air-conditioning) managed to keep the room relatively cool on a hot summer night. Service was warm and capable, but there were some long gaps toward the end of the night. It felt buzzy, and the room was fully booked on a weeknight.
THE VERDICT
Dinner for two came to 246€ — nearly 100€ more than the very good dinner we’d had the night before. Was it worth the extra hundred? Perhaps, if you want to eat in Saint-Germain and are willing to pay that premium. I know that many of our readers want to eat fish in this neighborhood and won’t be bothered by the price; others will find it expensive for what it delivers.
We’re calling Petit Vatel good — two stars — because most of what we ate was delicious, and I’m reading the charred turbot as a stumble rather than the measure of the place. Order the raw plates, the trout, and the house ferments, and you’ll likely leave happy. For now it’s a chic address for eating light, a trendy opening many will be glad to discover; whether it can find the consistency to last is an open question.
PETIT VATEL
5 Rue Lobineau, 75006
Open Tuesday-Saturday for dinner only
Closed Sunday & Monday
Reservations online or at +33 7 60 82 81 23
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I am surprised you did not at least complain on the turbot. Seems more like 1.5 stars.
From your description it doesn’t sound as though it deserves the two stars, definitely not worth the money given the state of the turbot.