Chez Clement, Paris and More Faith No More (Review)

Apologies for the patchy posting - I know I have a massive backlog including a tonne of Japanese goodness, but every time I start to write something, I get distracted by Ugly Betty fanfic

(yes, I did just say that out loud. Hell, I used to obsess over Chlark as penned by the esteemable Elly's Fanfiction, but the crackhounds in charge of Smallville are running that ship into the ground).

Anyway, apart from my beloved husband (natch), I'm currently crushing on three people, two of whom are called Eric (what are the chances of that, eh?).

Number 1 being Eric Mabius aka Daniel Meade from Ugly Betty, number 2 being Eric Bana aka Henry DeTamble, Time Traveller, and Number 3 being Sir Michael of Patton (whaddaya mean, Mike Patton is not God?).

So in pursuit of that last one, hubby and I drifted across the Channel to see Faith No More perform at Rock En Seine in Paris.

It was awesomesauce as expected, but then my love of FNM has been documented previously. How could you not love a band which performs the Eastenders theme tune half-way through a song?

The next day we found ourselves tired and hungry wandering the streets of Paris.

Unfortunately, I'd forgotten that everyone else leaves Paris in August and therefore nothing is open so, after a frustrating trip to Place de la Madeleine where I stared sadly at the barred windows of Ladurée, Hédiard, Fauchon etc, we eventually found sustenance in the form of Chez Clément near Opéra metro station.

For €26 a head, hubby and I indulged in "Le Plaisir du Clément" three course set menu and thankfully it proved just the ticket.

We started with six oysters for me - briny deliciousness - and crab ravioli for him - plumply full of white crab meat, with sauce so gorgeous I resorted to mopping up the dregs with lots of crusty bread.

The main for both of us was fat and juicy pork ribs with pommes de terre Pont Neuf - chunky, little chips as opposed to the usual skinny frites.

I wanted ketchup dearly, but resisted for fear of being sneered at, and as it turned out the delicious, tangy, barbecuey sauce which came with the ribs worked fantastically well for both meat and chip-dunking.

Portions were huge and we felt really bad that we weren't able to demolish it all.

The best was to come though, with a huge crème brûlée for me and chocolate moelleux for him.

The gloriously custardy crème brûlée came in a shallow dish with a huge, crunchy caramel carapace to crack into - Amélie was so right about that little joy in life (incidentally, the day before, we'd seen Yann Tiersen perform, the formidable composer of the beautiful Amélie soundtrack).

The chocolate moelleux was warm and dense with oodles of bitter chocolate sauce (Gregg Wallace would have called it a "Fon-DONT"), its only fault being a lack of cream to cut through the richness.

We left happy and replete, and staggered off into the sun towards Gare du Nord.

I know Chez Clément is a chain, but they didn't scrimp on quality or quantity and happily brought us a carafe of iced tap water and a huge basket of assorted breads, so I would gladly return.

And in other news, Oasis finally chose to split up whilst at Rock En Seine - this was my reaction:

Chez Clément (Opéra)
17 Boulevard Capucines
75002 Paris
France
01 53 43 82 00‎