Blitz, Paris

One of the perks of our apartment in Paris was being right next door to, in my opinion, one of the best places to eat in our area. Blitz was a small, but trendy, Mediterranean restaurant, specialising in small tapas plates. It was certainly fancy, but with a relatively relaxed feel. Being Brits, we were there at the early end of the dinner spectrum, and so the restaurant was not too full. But I reckon there would have been a true atmosphere around 9pm when the French start ambling in.

The french waiters were the friendliest of all the waiters we had in Paris. They served us with a smile, and actually talked back to you in French, rather than impatiently waiting for you to struggle with a never ending sentence and then responding blandly in English.

I struggled to choose between the octopus and beef tartare, as octopus is my favourite thing to order on a menu, but I felt the tartare would have been more apt when in France.

However, my sister was keen on the tartare so I opted for the octopus, along with my other favourite thing to order on a menu: blistered aubergine with pomegranate and tahini. And, boy, was I happy. The octopus was grilled to perfection, with a slight charred taste. It wasn’t at all chewy or over-boiled and was complimented by a tangy salsa verde and fresh asparagus. It was very light, but perfect to mop up with the warm sourdough bread they served alongside.

The aubergine was also a dream, and quite filling with a generous amount of creamy tahini and an overspill of crunchy pomegranate and chopped herbs. I was also lucky enough to get a taste of the tartare, and my gosh, it was the best beef tartare I have ever eaten! It was spiced with a mediterranean twist, and also placed on a dollop of tahini. My sister also ordered the sweet potato pancakes, which came with a tzatziki-style sauce and chimichurri. This was also delicious - a charred outer skin with a velvety filing.

My cousin had the schnitzel salad, which was rather a surprising option on a mediterranean menu. However, she is a big fan of chicken, and as expected, this chicken was as good as chicken gets. Made with homemade breadcrumbs it went well with the generous garnish of marinated beetroot and pickled onions, which also made for a pretty presentation. If we were to criticise one feature of this dish, though, it would be the abundance of creamy dressing that made the salad rather rich and sickly.

All in all, this was by far my favourite meal we had in Paris, and that is saying something, considering the other restaurants and cafes were high contenders. 10/10 would recommend to anyone, fussy or foodie, smart or casual, rich or poor as, although this meal felt like a real treat, it cost nowhere near as much as expected.