Restaurant Review: Glou, Paris

Bone marrow

Before arriving in Paris I created a map of places I'd like to eat and markets to visit. A lot of the inspiration came from Trina who visited Paris last year on her honeymoon. One of the restaurants she visited was Glou, a small bistro in the district of Marais that we checked out last night.

It was a tale of two side of the table.

We arrived without a reservation and luckily got the last table in the upstairs of the restaurant. We were looked after by a friendly Canadian waitress as the dining room hummed pleasantly around us. I suspect the couple next to us were having quite an entertaining conversation. I must have missed the French class at school where we learnt relationship vocab, so blocked it out and let it drift over me instead. Only coming to attention when M. (gently) slammed his fists onto the table.

Bourgogne Aligote

We got the evening started with a bottle of Bourgogne Aligote (EUR 23). Wine lists are always pot luck to me, but it turned out to be a really good choice as the white wine stood up to the robust dishes we ordered.

As a starter we shared the bone marrow with a fresh salad of endive, green apple, carrot and red cabbage (EUR 12). It was only the second time I've had bone marrow and unlike Hix, where it came disguised under a gratin, this was three bones of pure unadulterated richness.

Slathering a bit of the bone marrow on bread dipped in the juices from the plate I had the flavour of fried eggs in my mouth. The freshness of the salad helped break up the richness. I wondered whether the salad could have had a sharper dressing or would that have over powered the delicate flavour of the marrow?

I definitely enjoyed the bone marrow, but was pleased we'd chosen to share the dish.

Steak tartare

 Eating a steak tartare was on my mental to do list for Paris and seeing one on the menu I couldn't resist. The Aubrac steak tartare with new potatoes and spring greens (EUR 18) had my name on it.

When the steak tartare arrived at the table I realised that I had made a tactical error. The onion, parsley and cornichon had already been mixed through the beef, but all of the rest of the accompaniments back on the side. I had no idea how to mix a steak tartare.

After a couple of bites I decided it definitely needed the extra seasoning. I split the tartare in half and added some salt, pepper, half a teaspoon of their homemade ketchup, six splashes of Tabasco and nearly a full dessert spoon of wholegrain mustard. It was amazing. Complete beginners luck.

The roasted new potatoes had an amazing flavour and the salad dressing on the lettuce cut through everything nicely.

When it came to the second half of the steak I attempted the same formula, but slipped with the ketchup and added nearly a full teaspoon instead. I had to boost the mustard and Tobasco to compensate and it ended up just a little too spicy.

Veal piccata

It was a tale of two side of the table because Beck's veal piccata with lime and ginger vegetables from the wok (EUR 22) was a disappointment. When she gave me a mouthful to try my heart sank. While the bone marrow was rich and different and my steak tartare had so much pep, the veal was just 'generic Chinese'. The vegetables tasted neither of lime nor ginger and didn't have any crunch. The sauce on the veal wasn't particularly special either.

I don't really understand how the most expensive dish we tried went so wrong. It made me feel guilty for having such a good time with my steak tartare.

Glou
101 RUE VIEILLE DU TEMPLE
75003 PARIS
+33 1 42 74 44 32