Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Under the Paris sky

My Japanese dance teacher introduced me to an awesome French restaurant in Hachinohe called Sous le ciel de Paris (巴里の空の下で Pari no sora no shita de). Her nephew works as a chef (de partie?) there which is how she knew about it.

She took me, another dance student, and the mother of one of her elementary school-aged students to the restaurant last Thursday. Her niece, who lives in Hachinohe, met us there, making it a party of five. It's in a rather out of the way location so I suspect it's the type of place people only find out about by word of mouth or by reading local restaurant guides/reviews, etc.

It's got a sort of refined atmosphere--the type that makes you automatically lower your voice but isn't so intimidating that it makes you petrified of accidentally clanging your knife against your plate or something.
 
Since my teacher had made the reservations and chosen the course in advance, I'm not 100% sure, but I think we had the "Diner A".This included an amuse bouche, entrée du jour, potage de jour, plat principal le choix, dessert le choix and café ou thé (and of course "le pain"). I was probably the only one reading the French instead of the Japanese.  =P It made me feel kind of nostalgic, actually. (Strangely enough, one of the things that I occasionally miss is being able to read food labels written in both English and French.) 

amuse bouche (食前の一皿)

entrée du jour - hors d'oeuvre varie(前菜の盛り合わせ)


 potage du jour (本日のスープ)

I chose the magret de canard rôti au foie gras (roast duck Magret with foie gras) for le plat principal and the dessert varié (assorted dessert plate). I felt a little bit guilty about the foie gras, but it was really tasty!! ^o^;;
plat principal -  magret de canard rôti au foie gras (フランス鴨胸肉ローストフォアグラ添え)

dessert varié (盛り合わせデザート)
 apparently, pepper ice cream?! (こしょうアイスだそうです?!)


Everything was delicious, in fact! And the presentation was attractive as well. Even though the portion size for each individual dish was relatively small, I was quite full by the end of the meal.

It's a really nice restaurant and I would definitely like to go back. Compared to "normal" restaurants it's a little on the pricey side, but for French cuisine I think it's quite reasonable. I would especially recommend the restaurant for special celebrations--birthdays, anniversaries, etc. ^_~

 巴里の空の下で
Sous le ciel de Paris
Open: Mon-Sat.
Closed: Sun. & 3rd Mon. of the month
Lunch Hours: 11:30-15:00 (Last order 14:00)
Dinner Hours: 18:00-22:00 (Last order 20:30)
Address: 1-14 Babacho, Hachinohe, Aomori 031-0074
(〒031-0074 青森県八戸市馬場町1-14 )
Telephone: 0178-71-3818
Parking: 2 spaces in front of the restaurant; 2 spaces in the parking lot by road entrance (spaces No. 25 & No. 26)
〒0371-1-0074 青森県八戸市馬場町1-14