In Paris for the day to see the Rudolf Steinlen exhibition at the Musée de Montmartre we’d pre-booked La Boîte aux Lettres based on its good reviews and proximity to the museum. Having avoided Montmartre since my first visit to Paris I had no local knowledge to guide the choice of eatery and left it up to my son to pick it. He chose well.

We got there early, having walked straight from Gare du Nord and got to the hill with an awkward twenty minutes to spare. But they were open and happy to serve us a cold seize while the kitchen fired up for service. It soon became apparent that we were wise to book as the room filled up with a few tourists and a lot of locals, all escaping the cold December rain.

The room is cosy, with an enviable slew of books around the walls (Blake and Mortimer caught my eye) and elbow to elbow-ish seating meaning you can tune in and out of your neighbours’ conversations. The woman running things was super-friendly and happy to indulge my massacring of pronouns. We studied the menu. Simple French cooking was the deal so I had a meaty terrine up front with a steak-frites for main. Everything was done to perfection. Alas, the cheese supplier hadn’t showed up yet so we had to settle for a tiramisu for afters. Which was not the star of the show but rescued by an excellent coffee that came with a lick of chocolate on the spoon.

Three courses for €22 is outstanding value in this part of town so we went large-ish on the wine, Le Grolleau, a natural red with a slight fizz on the tongue. We strolled out very happy with the day already.

Steinlen turned out to be a man of admirable political views but limited talent on the painting front. The cats were good, everything else distinctly average. But the museum was excellent, with a comprehensive account of the rise of artistic Montmartre and some fascinating photographs and artworks from the cabarets of the late 19th C. I guess the garden would be best seen in better weather but then it was quite nice to have it pretty much to ourselves. Worth going to once but I doubt I’ll go back.

8/10 for resto and museum.

* Technically, this should have been review 29 of 2023 as since the wonderful Villa Ostinato we had eaten at the NPG’s new basement bar, Larry’s. But Larry’s was so shit (they overcharged us on the wine and only refunded with great reluctance) that I don’t want to waste any more time or thought on it other than to wish it and its shyster management a swift demise. They made their brethren up at the road at Mediochre look professional.

0/10

To see where else I’ve been click on the google map below.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=18qCyiPZih_gzhGG8mwfacnNRWD3b0bo&ehbc=2E312F

Food Museums Paris Restaurants France Montmartre Museums Paris restaurants Steinlen