UPDATE: This restaurant has closed permanently.
Le Martignac
109 Rue de Grenelle, 7th
Tel 01 40 62 98 64
This tiny little brasserie and bar around the corner from the Musée Rodin and Invalides is only open at lunch, and no reservations are accepted. But the turnover is so quick you can usually get a table (or even a booth) in under five minutes. There’s no menu, just a choice of three plats du jour written on the chalkboard. Last time I went the server/owner stopped to show us what each dish looked like, explaining how each one was cooked, in English (there was lamb with mint and chèvre, duck with pears, and a fish dish I can’t recall). We all shared some house red wine and since we couldn’t decide on what to have for dessert, he made a little platter of everything (some amazing tarts and pastries). The walls here are tiled in small canvases painted by a local artist, the atmosphere is very friendly, and the tables very close. And the bill for this excellent food (we all ate until we were bursting), was about €15 each, even with coffee. Hard to beat that.
There are few places left in Paris like the Martignac. Food is excellent, Yves is the best, and the blond at the bar is a riot! Keep this secret to yourselves.
My wife & I stumbled across Le Martignac last year while wandering around Paris & had an unforgettable lunch there. It is just as you described it–ample & delicious plats du jour & the owner also made us an enormous desert plate when we couldn’t decide. Even with the dollar at record lows to the Euro, it was still a bargain. We plan to go back on our next visit to Paris!
I’m parisian, I work in the 7th. It’s the best brasserie ever. The owner, Yves, is a friend of mine; I’ve been going there for 3 years now. So excellent!