Two weeks ago, I clued you into Sauvage, the market-driven small plates restaurant that captured my heart with its natural wine menu (and tuna with fresh cherries). I also mentioned that the manager once worked at Clown Bar. What I didn’t mention is that I had not yet made it there – until now, at least.
Clown Bar is one of those places I’ve been hearing about for months, “the-place-to-be” as the French are wont to say (heavily accented). But for some reason (the heftier price tag, the distance from home, the lack of folks who want to try dozens of market-driven-small-plates spots with me), I hadn’t yet made the trek – until last week, that is.
The aptly named Clown Bar features a rather unique décor inspired by its proximity to the Cirque d’Hiver (winter circus) right next door.
But the food is no laughing matter.
While unlike many of its neighbors, Clown Bar’s menu is, in fact, divided into appetizers, mains, and desserts, you’re more than welcome to treat it like any old small plates menu and choose a few to share (four was spot on for two of us).
We started things off with the boquerones (pickled sardines) depicted above, which were served with seaweed. The combination of bright vinegar and rich, iodic seaweed made for an intriguing flavor profile that I quite enjoyed.
The raw chinchillard (horse mackerel) didn’t hit home quite as well: while I loved the idea of the pairing of fresh almonds, seasonal apricots, and shizo, there was a dimension of acidity that was missing here: bites with loads of herb were quite nice, but overall, this dish was unfortunately a bit bland.
The same cannot be said for the burrata, a close second for my favorite dish of the night. The cheese (barely visible) is buried under a pile of red and orange beets and white and yellow peaches, along with freshly torn basil and just a few black olives. The result was, for me, the perfect blend of sweet and savory, lactic and earthy, bright and rich. It could have easily been my favorite dish of the night, if not for the buñuelos de bacalao.
Oh, man.
These salt cod fritters were light and creamy on the inside and perfectly fried on the outside. Served with a well-balanced piquillo pepper sauce, they really took the cake.
Literally the only reason that Clown Bar is not immediately shooting to the top of my list of places to revisit is the price. Opting for mostly appetizers, as I did, will keep the bill down, but appetizers range from 18 to 20 euro, while mains are closer to 33. Worth it, perhaps, for a special occasion, but hard to justify on a random Tuesday.
Clown Bar -Â 114 Rue Amelot, 75011