We arrived in Paris for a long weekend before heading back to the states Tuesday and headed around the corner from our hotel to Bistro FERDI which has some big name supporters(I won't say who, just google them) and the Spanish/French tapas menu sounded fun. The place was really drafty and crowded and we never really warmed up the whole time there. We saw that almost everyone was ordering their famous burger, but we would have none of that.
We ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone Saint Joseph red from Domaine Courbis 2023 that was nice and warming in the cold. We settled on some starters and tried to warm up in the teeny space with not more than a dozen tables and stuffed animals, model cars, and kitschy decor that really was quite dusty.
Croquettes de Cabrales were made with Asturias blue cheese and they were okay, but Will felt they needed more blue flavor. The Tarama a la Truffe Noir was a dream dish: taramasalata with truffles, need I say more!! Boquerones were also awesome and came in a white wine yuzu marinade with artichoke dip and salmon caviar. Two hits and one not so great.
We were still chilly and getting full, so soup seemed on the bill, and we chose the CHUPE made with chicken, corn, potato, cheese and avocado which was indeed a wonderful hot meal in itself. We squeezed our way back out between the tables trying to figure out why folks would want to dine here in such a cramped setting even with some very good dishes.
