The Great Parisian Plate Debate

15, Rue Desnouettes, 75015
Tel.01.48.56.15.36

The first time Christian and I went to Afaria, it was quite an experience.  We plucked succulent morsels of pork from chipotle-laden bouquets.  We ate tender duck breast from a giant roof shingle.  Finely shaved Ibaiona ham was served in a wooden shoe.  As the night wore on, our hilarious waiter got completely hammered and recommended we trek all the way to Saint Germain des Prés after we asked him to recommend good bar à vins in the neighborhood.

After all that, my camera managed fall out of my bag, taking with it all the photos.  After reassessing our carefully crafted rulebook, Christian and I were actually rather pleased when it became clear we had no choice but to return to redocument the experience.

It took over two months and at least three false starts, but we finally made our way back down to the 15eme.  While it had been packed the first time, now that it was nice outside, the restaurant spilled out onto the sidewalk, leaving us a little more room inside.

Afaria is split into two areas - the normal restaurant area and the bar/table d’hôte area.  If standing or seated in the latter you can order off the tapas chalkboard, as well as the normal menu.  We had been tipped to order off the tapas menu the first time we heard about Afaria, so I reserved part of the table d’hôte.

While the first experience was excellent, I would say that our return was only good.  We decided to stick entirely to the tapas menu ordering eight of the fourteen offerings.  The croquant des legumes was probably the most disappointing.  While reasonably tasty, I do not consider raw vegetable sticks with dip to be an acceptable menu option, even less so at 8€.

The persillé de cochon Basquaise was probably the least popular tapas we ordered.  It was thin slices of a layered terrine of sorts made from “interesting” pieces of pork.  It tasted alright, but the texture and appearance scared most of the people at the table.

The first time, the Lomo pork kebabs were just transcendent - by far the best thing at the table.  Succulent bite-sized morsels were served skewered on sticks, amusingly arranged in an earthenware pot.  The second time around, while the flavor was still good, they were lukewarm and a bit tough.

While I still enjoyed Afaria again, the magic of the first trip was mostly missing.  It was a light meal and the price ended up being a pretty reasonable 25€ a head, including quite a bit of wine.  If the restaurant were closer to my apartment I’d probably be a bar regular, stopping off just for a quick glass and a plate.