Boulom

The concept is as old as the Chinese restaurants on Avenue de Choisy… At this all-you-can-eat buffet, pay €29 at lunch – or €43 for brunch – and it’s all yours. What’s so innovative about this place is that the “all” in question is dreamt up by the Dax-native chef Julien Douboué (A Noste, La Dalle…), who is rather obsessed with the southwest and makes really delicious things to eat. We got our fill the day we went for lunch: hake en escabèche straight out of the oven, txistorra-spiced pork loin, plenty of Eric Ospital sliced charcuterie, deviled eggs as far as the eye can see, and even some desserts, like a sublime red berry tart topped with homemade whipped cream, fromage blanc sorbet and toasted almonds… And that’s only about a tenth of what was available to brunchers this spring day! The feast is deployed to a half dozen robust communal tables of brutalist design, tucked away like a speakeasy in the backroom of the ethical bakery (Boulom stands for “boulangerie où l’on mange” or a “bakery where you eat”). At night, it’s the same self-service situation, but count on spending €10 more per head. Which ends up being a rather expensive feast… // G.M.

FEELING THIRSTY? Wines that are, on the whole, virtuous: La Folle Noire d’Ambatdu, a Fronton from the Domaine Le Roc (€36 a bottle) and glasses €5 (at lunch during the week), like an Auxey-Duresses red from the Domaine des Terres de Velle…

PRICE: All-you-can-eat buffet €29 (weekday lunch), €39 (dinner), brunch €43 (Saturday and Sunday at lunch), kids €1.50 for each year on this planet, from 4 to fourteen years old.