5.4 La Bulle, 48, rue Louis Blanc in the 10th (Metro: Louis Blanc), 0140.37.34.51, closed Sundays, Is a place I quite liked a few years ago (despite the hike) and when I read that a new chef who had been through the kitchens of Westerman, Bocuse and Marx, it made sense to go. I arrived at about 12h30 and the place was already packed with tables of 4-8 office workers, many with suits and ties and people just kept on coming in. The formulas are astounding - 18 E for 2 coursescand 22 E for three and were it not for the foie gras on the carte, I could have been quite happy with their choices (pumpkin soup, trout and floating island).
I started off with a Jerusalem artichoke soup with the aforementioned sauteed foie gras which was quite special; tasty and filling and warm on this cold, cold day. Then I progressed to the poitrine of veal; I always forget how much fat, despite the crisp skin, there is, and the battle to scrape it off is almost not worth the trouble. Then I had the floating island, since I had missed of ordering the brioche French toast in advance - it was OK, no more, no less.
The bill, with a pot of their roannaise bio, unfiltered, etc, etc, wine, so-so bread, no bottled water and Illy coffee, was 55.30, thus 110.60 E a couple.
Go? If it were located somewhere central, even for me, I think so, but here in the midst of nowhere, it's tough for me to recommend the journey.