5.9 Wallace, 90 Rue de Cambronne in the 15th, 01.47.34.28.39, open 7/7 (Metro: Vaugirard) was a place I talked my two friends from the 15th into going because it sounded kind of interesting. The name alone - Wallace - sounds Brit, and it is, it's in honor of Sir Richard Wallace, the illegitimate son of Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, he of the Wallace Collection in London; but to we Parisiens, he donated all the water fountains one finds all around Paris, one of which sits 20 feet outside the resto. The front room seats are lounge chairs which would throw my back out in 2 seconds so I repaired to the back room. The menu was heavy on cocktails, salads and hamburgers, even though the clientele was 100% French businessfolk.
We ordered three firsts, all ordered cold fish with enormous heaps of sliced carrots and such on top. My friends' salmon and octopus were OK (the poulpe was really tender but less than tasteful to my pal), but my daurade ceviche was absolutely superb.
Then we waited and waited and waited for our mains. And waited (like in Casablanca for the plane to Lisbon):
Finally the food arrived and when it did it was not half-bad but we were pissed off and almost had walked out. The salmon was beautifully sourced and cooked except without the toasty skin (which my friend declared a non-deal) and my 7-hour lamb did have a crusty crust that was quite nice.
To finish up, we shared a cheese plate and apricot concoction, which with two bottles and 2 glasses of wine, no bottled water, great bread and one coffee amounted to 90 E a couple.
Go? Let's run the numbers:
- uncomfortable chairs
- "out of" three fish dishes (including the special of the day at 12h30) and the house wine
- impossible wait between courses
- incredible wait
+ neat W glasses and decor
+ good food well-sourced and prepared
+ pleasant staff
+ good bread
So in sum: if you want a perfect cold fish & sliced veggie salad and are willing to twiddle your thumbs, Yes!
