Le Pre Verre

We went to the Delacourcelle brothers' latin quarter restaurant last night. We liked it. The decor is modern, the menus are chalked onto the walls, and waitresses use PDAs to send your choices to the kitchen. The freres Delacourcelle stroll about the place looking like celebrities (all their recipe books are for sale in the restuarant as well) and there are obviously a lot of regular customers.

The food was undoubtedly the strong point: I started with hure de cochon aux dates, something of a signature dish, which was excellent, and Sam had guacamole of peas with prawns. We both had roast sea bream, which came with fennel and a Camargue red rice risotto. This was incredibly good, perfectly cooked and beautifully presented. There is a long list of wines from small producers, and the prices are not unreasonable (27.50 for 3 courses, our bottle of provencale rose was 24 EUR).

The service wasn't unfriendly, but it was a little brisk. You certainly get the impression that they don't necessarily need your custom. Which they don't: the place was rammed and people were queuing, even for tables in the basement. But it's certainly the finest food experience we've had at this price range, so I'm sure we'll be going back..