Paris Restaurants: Coretta

Pork Belly with Onions

Coretta
151, rue Cardinet
75017 Paris
01 42 26 55 55

In a season of highly anticipated openings last fall, Coretta was one of January’s most talked-about. It was impossible to book a table during the first months of service, so we let the soufflé collapse and took another chance last month. I recommend going with a table upstairs when you make the reservation, you’ll have the occasion to admire the view, which is rare in Paris, on the Parc Martin Luther King.

The restaurant’s decor is neat, very modern with a Nordic touch (in a more sophisticated way than Ikea).
Things started off very well with a superb appetizer: asparagus, hazelnuts and ricotta paccheri. The paccheri were an interesting discovery for me, giant rigatoni pasta that look like big round tubes were filled with fresh ricotta cream. The texture matched perfectly with the crisp asparagus and crunchy hazelnuts.
My friend had the marinated seam bream, avocado and sesame. The apple marinade was very refreshing, and brought a tangy touch to the fish.

I’d strongly recommend the pork belly at Coretta, it came slightly pink on top of two big onions. I loved how the pork was perfectly cooked, crispy outside and very tender inside. As for my friend, she was more than satisfied with her Pollack which was served with sweet potatoes and carrot-ginger puree. The fish was very lean and sweet, and married well with the puree.

For desserts, I’d suggest the homemade cinnamon bun. They ask that you order it at the beginning of the meal since it’ll come right from the oven, still hot and fluffy. The vanilla ice-cream responded perfectly to the spicy cinnamon flavors. The other dessert, a dark chocolate ganache with a corn ice cream and popcorn, was less impressive, but we quickly forgot about this as the rest of the meal was perfect. 

French Version of a Cinnamon Bun 

Coretta is not only a solid add to a Parisian neighborhood which stayed off the bistro radar for too long, it’s also worth a detrip into the 17th.

Le Grumeau is a food blog created by two passionate partners in crime who share all their good spots in Paris with you. All photos taken by Le Grumeau.

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