Au Vieux Comptoir - Fab Food in the 1ère arr.

We were on the go almost every moment while we were in Paris and though we made time for coffee and espresso at cafes every morning and afternoon along with the occasional pain au chocolat or quiche Lorraine, we didn't make many brasserie stops. We were so happy to buy wine, baguettes, cheese and foie gras in shops that we kind of forgot about brasseries.

We did make a point of going to at least one while we were there and found a wonderful place very near where we staying in the Les Halles area. Au Vieux Comptoir is very non-descript from the outside and petite on the inside, but is a bijoux, nonetheless.

We didn't make reservations which meant that arriving before 8:00 pm was essential to avoiding the wait. We nipped inside and were seated at a table for two right away. After chatting with the waitress for a few minutes, we discovered she was from Speyside, Scotland (Home of Baxter's Soup), when she recognized my husband's Scottish accent. We put ourselves in her capable hands from that moment on and we were not disappointed.

The foie gras starter with brioche and chili jam was perfect. Love the slate plate it was served on (we own a set of them) :-)

As evidenced, we made short work of the foie gras.

Mark, the Scot he is, ordered the Black Pudding serving with creamy potatoes. The restaurant has it made for them by Chef Christen Parra . Mark had always held the Black Pudding he had one summer at Loch Torredon as the best he'd ever had, but no more. In lieu of small flecks of fat a la the Brit version, this one held some bits of meat. The taste was dense and flavorful.

My scallops in a beurre blanc sauce were perfect. They tasted as though they'd just swam in from the sea and decided to take a butter bath after a light searing. I didn't really want to share them, but seeing as Mark shared his Black Pudding it was only fair.

Our waitress's wine recommendation was spot on, too. After taking our dining selections, we asked her opinion about the wine we had chosen. She steered us slightly into another selection (which was priced less than our original choice) and we said oui. Her pick was the 2009 Grand Reserve Domain Ollier Taillefer Rouge, made by a brother and sister vintners. It was paired almost perfectly with each dish we ate.

Criminal as it was, we did not try dessert. Everything looked tempting, but we were comfortably full and decided to leave it there.