Chez Fernand serves homey countryside French food. It is located in the heart of Saint-Germain on rue Guisarde. There are many small restaurants and pubs on this street. It's filled with liveliness—you will find young professionals stumbling around after work. You'll rarely find any tourists at a given time, foreigners but rarely any tourists—mostly locals and French.
Food
We went two nights in a row! The first night we ordered the terrine de comte which was a special that night and string bean salad to start. It's important to start with something green and light when eating comfort French food as the entrees tend to be extremely heavy. It is very butter and cream intensive. It'll put you to sleep immediately. For the entrees, we ordered the steak with bone marrow and steak tartare. I've never had bone marrow served with steak. It was an interesting and delicious combination. The steak was cooked medium rare. The outer layer was slightly overcooked and inside was slightly undercooked—it wasn’t superb. However, the bone marrow was delicious and a nice addition. It’s like the butter to your bread but better. Nonetheless, the “entrecôte poêlée, os à moelle” is one of the signature dishes and I highly recommend. The mashed potatoes were phenomenal. I don't even like mashed potatoes but Chez Fernand did it very well. The steak tartare was perfectly mixed with the right balance of seasoning. You can also add a little hot sauce to spice things up. It was very well mixed and one of the best I’ve had. Lastly, for dessert we ordered the soufflé, the crispy top was hard and the inside was warm, thick and creamy. It was very pleasant and not too sweet.
Our second evening, we ordered the famous foie gras soup ravioli with mushrooms and bone marrow with bread (os à moelle, pain grille). The foie gras was intense and heavy—the way it’s supposed to be. It was really tasty and went nicely with mushrooms. It may have been a little too heavy for me. I recommend sharing this dish and ordering something green to calm the heaviness. The bone marrow with bread was perfect. If only I could have bone marrow with bread every time instead of butter. We were off to a very heavy start. For entrees, we ordered the special of the day: the steak au poivre and magret de canard. Both are very traditional French dishes. The duck was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The sauce complemented the meat well. The mashed potatoes were delicious as usual. At this point, we had entered a deep food coma. But we manned up and ordered the crème brûlée to finish off the meal. As always, you can’t go wrong with crème brûlée.
Salade de haricots verts frais, échalotes, graines de courges
Foie grais ravioli
Tterrine de comte
Decor / Ambiance
The decor was very simple and humble with wooden accents. It felt like a local countryside restaurant. However, this place was boisterous on the weekend filled with spirit and laughter. The only thing that bothered me about this restaurant was the horrendous place mats. It seemed they were advertising some winter resort or sport? Apparently they've never used such place mats in the past.
If you ever find yourself in Paris then you should stop by Chez Fernand for some authentic countryside French food. I recommend making a reservation—the day of will do. Also, be sure to check out their website that is in both English and French.
Steak tartare
Steak au poivre
Mi cuit au chocolat façon soufflé, glace vanille