Delaville Cafe

Sometimes just getting a meal in Paris can be a titanic battle of wills. Take the steak frites place we tried to go to on a recent night. Though recommended by a seemingly reliable guidebook (plastered on the windows there), it was nearly empty at 9:30. We walked in, walked out to consider our options, then walked back in to give it a chance. “The kitchen is now closed,” the proprietress told us. “We can’t stay open just for you. We are tired.” It was a Friday night, and two in our party had put on five fashion shows in one day. Tired.

On to the next place: Delaville, a newish addition to the slew of Costes restaurants in the city. When we asked for a table in the shabby chic dining room, we were referred to a tall guy who barely paused between waiting on tables, bartending, and managing the staff to tell us that the wait for a table would be at least an hour, though there was no sign of anyone else waiting. We were welcome, however, to eat in the bar, so we settled in there. Our table on the cold, glassed in patio had all the charm of the old Dallas BBQ on 8th Street. Ah, Paris.

At least the menu was something different: light dishes that even included some vegetarian options, which is not easy to find in this city of meat. The scallop and salmon ceviche (8.5 €) was the best thing we had all night. Buttery, fresh salmon and lightly saline scallops were cut into small strips and tossed with lime and olive oil.

We detected some king crab in the king crab with whipped avocado (11 €), but not a lot. “There’s something in here,” Ms. S. said, prodding the whipped avocado with her fork. Indeed, there was a mystery slice of off-season tomato wedged in the bottom of the cylindrical glass dish. To make the layers look pretty? Or to take up room otherwise occupied by the more expensive ingredients of avocado and crab? This bland tomato certainly wasn’t something you’d want to eat.

We ordered another bottle of wine.

If you are looking for a punch of Thai spices in the chicken in green curry (16 €) you will be disappointed, because there isn’t any. At least the accompanying mango and haricots verts lend some bright flavor to the dish.

Steak tartare (16 €) can be made two ways, traditionelle or aller retour, in which case it’s flash seared on one side then the other before being ground. As at most other places here, the steak tartare is mixed with egg and other ingredients in the kitchen, not tableside, which is disappointing if you like the whole theater of the dish. The quality of the meat in De la Ville’s tartare is quite good, but the final preparation lacked any real seasoning.

Meanwhile, we ate our main courses without any wine, because the bottle never arrived. “Is that our waitress out there…smoking?” Ms. S. indicated a woman smoking and laughing it up outside. Yes, that was our waitress. She finally brought our wine just as our plates were taken away, just so we’d have some more time to enjoy that glamorous patio.

There are no photos with this article because I left my camera at the restaurant. When I called about it, I was told that no one had turned it in.

Bien sûr.

Delaville Cafe
34, boulevard Bonne Nouvelle
10th arrondissement
Paris
01 48 24 48 09
delavillecafe.com