An elegant and unassuming establishment in the heart of Paris. We were staying in the Latin Quarter and I was randomly clicking on restaurants in Google Maps when I found Restaurant L’initial, which had stellar reviews, just down the road.

The chef is Japanese, hinted at in some dishes like gyoza and ingredients like daikon, and much more evident in the clean flavours. But the bulk of the menu and the classic setting is decidedly French. There is only one (very affordable for the calibre) set menu but they are very adaptable to dietary requirements. The wine list is extensive and the service was faultless. There are a lot of white tablecloths, white napkins and silverware but the atmosphere is very relaxed and unpretentious, the tables are positioned at very respectful distances from each other to facilitate lots of intimate conversations among the mixed weeknight crowd of young couples, business diners, locals and visitors.

We tasted 6 courses plus an amuse bouche and a very delicious palate cleanser – peach sorbet with peach jelly, which actually ended up as one of the stand-outs of the evening.

The first couple of substantial courses were a bit underwhelming. The melon soup and jambon ice cream was a creative interpretation of the classic duo. This was followed by a picture perfect shrimp, chickpea, radish, picked daikon and ginger dish. Both were slightly more style over substance.

Slightly concerned at this point, all worries flew out the window and the rest of the dishes were all delightful. Third course was foie gras, mirabelle grape and Madagascar pepper. Practically faultless (the serving size was actually quite generous but it’s always hard for us to accept that restaurant serving size of foie gras poêlé is ever adequate).

The fish course was silver corvina with soup and potatoes. The corvina was like a sea bass and despite its plain appearance, it was so flaky and melt in the mouth it was a highlight of the evening.

Next was pigeon with confit leg and vegetables – exquisite, perfectly cooked pigeon, beautiful crumb for texture and a dark rich sauce. The aforementioned extremely tasty peach palate cleanser followed and we finished with a classic but forgettable and slightly too sweet Mont Blanc dessert, which was definitely upstaged by its predecessor.

All in all a fantastic evening. All the elements were cooked well even if the balance was not always to our liking and the presentation unassuming but very elegant . The value for money is unbeatable and it would be difficult to not have a great evening at L’initial if the standard of service is maintained.