Le Pré Catelan 3* , Paris

My husband and I have had a bit of tasting menu fatigue lately so decided to hit a less popular 3*, somewhat last minute, for lunch instead of dinner.

I completely understand why this has 3*, the ambiance is quite opulent, the service is impeccable (at one point the sun began beating down on us through the window and before we could say anything, someone went outside to lower an awning).

Food highlights: the bread and breadsticks (naturally), the ravioli with the buttery langoustine interior, my husband has a huge pet peeve with edible gold that doesn’t add to the flavor of the dish, but even he thought the presentation was so beautiful and added to the experience. This was our favorite. The foamy broth/caviar spoon course that preceded it went unfinished by both of us. That was the only miss.

The fish course was perfectly and barely cooked.

Dessert isn’t as important to me, but hats off to this beautifully cut and play on texture/temperatures in the rhubarb finisher.

Happy I went, don’t need to return

Editing to add we did not order the marrow but admired it and am included a photo of the beautifully shaved jones for reference.

I hate to say this, but it overall looks very underwhelming. The portions are way too small (even for a restaurant of this caliber), way too much brown, and the presentation looks very mundane.