Chez Fernand, founded in 1970 and located in the heart of Saint Germain des Près area is a Parisian institution. Owner Dimitri Labaye, Chef Remi Lebon, and their entire crew give this place a very friendly dining atmosphere, totally in line with the legendary neighborhood. Excellence on sourcing products, respect of French culinary traditions and simplicity are the key words to describe this restaurant where it is just good to eat and grab a part of the French cooking culture.
We started with the Duck Terrine with Pistachios. It was very rustic and heavy, but paired well with the crusty fresh French bread and red wine.
I insisted we also order Les Escargots - French farm reared snails in freshly churned garlic butter. They were tender and full of wonderful garlic flavor. The table next to us - also American tourists - coveted our dish and ended up ordering one for themselves.
There were so many classic dishes on the menu, but we decided to choose from the daily specials. Keith ordered Ribeye with Pepper Sauce, which came with roasted bone marrow and a side of scalloped potatoes. This dish is not typically made with the ribeye cut, but it was a larger portion that satisfied his hungry appetite and the Chef was happy to please.
I ordered Scallops that were prepared simply and served with mashed potatoes. I hadn't had scallops yet, which are one of my favorites, during this European trip so was very happy to see them on the specials and had to have them.
All in all we had a charming, traditional French dinner with great food. The ambience was loud and boisterous, as it was packed with patrons. This kind of affected the service though, as it took a while to get our waiter's attention.
Total Rating: 3.73
Food: 4, Price: 3.5, Service: 3, Ambience: 3, Accessibility: 4.5
