Since Yves Camdeborde’s audacious, standing-room-only French pintxo bar L’Avant Comptoir opened its doors in 2009, the superlatives to describe it have all been used up. Mouth-wateringly scrumptious! Flooding with natural wine! Pork-tastic!
The subsequent opening of two nearby sibling wine-bars (L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer and L’Avant Comptoir du Marché) has done little to alleviate the mealtime crush at the original (now differentiated as L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre). The jostling, the jolly shouts from the bartenders, the thumping Latin pop on the stereo are all integral parts of a dining experience that is more experience than dining. It is a funhouse of charcuterie and offal.
L’AVANT COMPTOIR DE LA TERRE
3, carrefour de l’Odéon, 75006
Open every day of the year from noon to 11pm
No reservations
Their Instagram / Our Instagram
OUR PHOTOS OF L’AVANT COMPTOIR
Photos by Aaron Ayscough & Meg Zimbeck
IN OTHER WORDS
Time Out (2017) recounts an instance in which its reviewer helped finish the andouille of some American neighbors at L’Avant Comptoir. It applauds the restaurant for upholding the spirit of a “comptoir populaire.”
Le Fooding (2015) “Even for those disoriented diners who come for an afternoon snack, the ritual is still the same at Camdeborde’s pintxos bar: walk through the door past the plastic curtain, wait at the bar surrounded by artists, tourists or wandering souls (often all three at once…) and find a spot at this tapas bar, with a basket of Thierry Breton bread and a jar of salt from Salies-de-Béarn. You’ll be rewarded with the following: an extremely comforting croque monsieur with marinated oxtail, flash-seared piquillo peppers and a horseradish cream in buttery triangular-shaped bread.”
Epicurious (2014) cites L’Avant Comptoir as one of “10 Restaurants Parisians Won’t Tell You About.” This is true, but only to the extent that actual Paris residents almost never go to L’Avant Comptoir.
Not Drinking Poison in Paris (2011) “I should say that I actually liked the place well enough. The deal is it’s a quality-conscious, natural-wine, Bordier butter establishment that nevertheless is standing-room only, with self-service bread and condiments, and no plates.”
Dorie Greenspan (2009) “Not to be missed: Iberian ham croquettes (once fried, the ham dissolves inside its crispy shell — too bad I just used the word voluptuous, it would be perfect here, too)…”
Le Figaro (2009) “Quelques mètres carrés de néogouaille orchestrés par un Camdeborde toujours aussi fameux à faire trinquer mémoire et moderne…”
The New York Times (2009) “…This short, narrow, standing-room-only space with white tile walls, a broad pewter counter and an open kitchen is what Camdeborde calls an “hors d’oeuvres bar,” and it serves up an array of delicious small-plate Basque- and Béarnais-inspired nibbles…”
John Talbott (2009) “The entire Bayonne rugby team was celebrating; they were very drunk, very into jumping in unison on the fragile floor-boards, chanting/singing Basque fight songs, smoking and drinking much more…”
The Paris Notebook (2009) “Claustrophobics might want to abstain as it’s standing room only at the zinc bar laden with a communal bread basket, a tub of Bordier butter, white jars of pickles and peppers meant to be shared amongst your neighbors…”
Hi Maria. I’m so sorry you left with a bad feeling about this place. However, 70 euros for six glasses and a few plates of food seems correct to me. Most glasses range from 6-10 euros, and most plates are around the same price. It seems to add up correctly to me.
We were clearly ripped off last night. We had a few tapas and we paid 70€ for 6 glasses of wine. Be careful if you’re not French they take advantage of you!
Not impressed. Salad had so much vinegar it was inedible. Foie grass superb. Nothing else impressed. So overrated.,
Disappointing lunch. More PAris foutaise. Would last a month in New York. Cool Paris is pretentiou crap.
jww
In response to The Daily Bite: Uncomfortable at L’Avant Comptoir:
L’Avant Comptoir, a convivial place. Disappointed to discover on two separate occasions staff using packages of prepared peppers, cooked turkey, cheese slices, and battery eggs (Carrefour). When questioned as to the use of prepared peppers, the somewhat defensive response was “with over 500 orders per day we don’t have time to prepare everything ourselves”. Using the lowest quality prepared products does not seem a worthy alternative particularly when promoting the notion all ingredients used are of the highest quality from the best regional producteurs.If this is happening where you can see it, what’s happening on the other side (Le Comptoir)?
In response to The Daily Bite: Uncomfortable at L’Avant Comptoir:
It’s funny that Aaron should call the place a “total crapshoot”, this is what I wrote about it in the recent update of a Paris guide: “Vous vous faufilez avec un chausse-pied dans ce réduit blindé de monde, et c’est la plongée en apnée. Bien au-delà du coude-à-coude, c’est une méditation étourdissante sur la plasticité du corps humain (attention aux côtes enfoncées tout de même) et le pouvoir de la mode. Vous êtes sur le mètre carré le plus parisien de Paris…”