Alcazar

A Conran restaurant in Paris! We had to try it. My wife and I went with our three young kids on Sunday evening, arriving at 7pm. We were the first guests of the evening. The restaurant has a small entrance on the street, and then opens up into a huge double storey room. All very eye catching. Service was generally a bit slow, although water came quickly and food came quickly having been ordered. There seemed to be no hurray to take a wine order, whereas we were gasping for a drink! There is no kids menu so we ordered a steak and divided it in three. It came with chips which we were told were made 'in-house' - they were dreadful, semi cold and chewy, as though they'd been sitting around for a while. I had fois gras pate as a starter. It lacked any presentation but was very tasty. My wife had smoked salmon which she loved. Main course for me was veal kidneys. I asked for them to be cooked 'pink' and they were overdone - shame. The sauce was superb. Mashed potato with it was perfect. My wife had grilled tuna - it was perfect. We all shared three puddings. The raspberry creme caramel was as good as you'll get and the tarte citron was heavenly - can't remember the other one! The wine list is a bit short, but has a few interesting wine from outside France. The Morgon 2006 was disappointing - I think it was slightly corked and foolishly I didn't ask the waiter for his opinion. The sauvignon blanc Ken Forrester from New Zealand was great. Bill was €250 - horrendously expensive if you're coming from England with the rotten exchange rate, but for locals, it's probably ok value. Overall, it was an enjoyable meal, but there is a lack of attention to detail in the food in some areas and the service needs to be slicker. I think there are better offerings in Paris for the money.