Allard
“No star and no matter: Ducasse keeps Marthe Allard's 1932 bistro cooking duckling with olives. Book it for a first date.”
About Allard
Marthe Allard came from Burgundy in 1932 with her family's recipes and opened a bistro on rue Saint Andre des Arts with the kitchen facing the door, so every guest still walks past the stoves on the way to a table. Her daughter in law Fernande gave her name to the frog legs in parsley and garlic butter that never leave the menu. Nine decades on, the two small dining rooms in the 6th still look like the Paris that films keep trying to rebuild.
Alain Ducasse folded Allard into his Paris collection in 2013 and resisted the urge to improve it. Fanny Herpin has run the kitchen since 2015, cooking the house repertoire straight: Fernande Allard style frog legs, confit duck foie gras, fillet of duckling with olives brought whole for the table, rum savarin under whipped cream. No star hangs on the door and none is missed. The cellar keeps about 350 references with Burgundy at its heart, Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune in useful depth.
The weekday lunch is the door in: three courses for €34 or two for €28, served Monday to Friday except public holidays. Evenings run from the carte, where the duckling with olives for two is the anchor order and the savarin the required landing. Book through the restaurant's site, which runs on Zenchef; the rooms are small and Saint Germain fills them by eight. Come early, walk in past the copper pans, and order like the century never turned.
The Room
Two compact rooms wrapped around the kitchen: lace at the windows, wooden banquettes, tiles worn by ninety years of waiters. The front room catches the door's energy; the rear room is the one for lingering. Dress is whatever Saint Germain wears. Ask for the back room for conversation, and accept that your neighbours will hear the duckling being carved and want it.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Great kitchens are specialists in moments as much as dishes. Allard specialises in these.
For a first date that skips the audition
Nobody performs at Allard, which is precisely its power on a first date: the room does the charm, the frog legs give you something to negotiate, and a €34 lunch or a carte dinner keeps the stakes human. The tables sit close enough that silence never gets loud. Book the rear room, order the duckling for two if it is going well, and let the shared carving settle the second date question.
For an anniversary in the Paris you first met in
Couples come back to Allard because it refuses to change, and that is the anniversary argument: the same lace, the same savarin, the same duckling for two that demands you order together. It is a celebration without a tasting menu's runtime, warm rather than grand. Tell the house the occasion and book the corner table in the rear room; the staff will hold the savarin's rum bottle over it a beat longer.
For eating alone the old Left Bank way
A solo seat at Allard costs €28 at lunch for two courses and buys the best people watching in the 6th: publishers, gallery staff and the occasional actor eating rabbit in mustard sauce. The kitchen entrance means you smell the day's plan before you order. Come at opening, take a small table in the front room, drink a glass of Beaujolais or a half of Burgundy, and leave before the afternoon asks anything of you.
What to order
The menu barely moves by design, so the strategy is which monument to order and when. These are the calls.
- Fernande Allard style frog legs
Parsley, garlic, butter and a name that has been on the menu since the founding family cooked them.
- The duckling with olives for two
The house monument, brought whole and carved; ordering it is the only real argument against dining solo here.
- Rum savarin with whipped cream
Doused generously at the table; say yes when more rum is offered.
- The €34 weekday lunch
Three courses of the same repertoire, Monday to Friday except holidays; the gentlest bill in Maison Ducasse.
Practical
- Address
- 41 rue Saint Andre des Arts, 6th
- Reservations
- Restaurant site, via Zenchef
- Menus
- Weekday lunch €34, two courses €28 · carte at dinner
- Star
- None; a Ducasse bistro, not a starred table
- Chef
- Fanny Herpin, since 2015
- Founded
- 1932, by Marthe Allard
- Wine
- About 350 references, Burgundy led
- Metro
- Odeon or Saint Michel
Questions diners ask
Is Allard worth it?
Yes, if you want the bistro canon cooked seriously rather than a star chase. Ducasse's group has kept the 1932 house intact, Fanny Herpin has cooked here since 2015, and the €34 weekday lunch is one of the best value tickets in Saint Germain. Diners measuring meals in Michelin stars should book Benoit, the group's starred sibling, instead.
Does Allard have a Michelin star?
No. Allard is listed by the guide but unstarred, and the Ducasse group runs it as a bistro conservatory rather than a contender. The point is the repertoire: frog legs, duckling with olives, savarin, cooked to group standard at bistro prices. If the star matters to your table, Benoit near the Pompidou Centre carries one.
How do I get a reservation at Allard?
Book on the restaurant's site, which uses Zenchef, a few days to a week ahead for dinner; lunch is easier. The rooms are small, so parties beyond six should email the house. Evening seatings fill from eight, and the quietest tables come at opening. The weekday lunch menu runs Monday to Friday except public holidays.
What does a meal at Allard cost?
The weekday lunch runs €28 for two courses or €34 for three, remarkable for a Ducasse address in the 6th. Dinner from the carte lands most couples between €120 and €200 with wine; the duckling for two and a village Burgundy is the classic shape of the bill. Solo lunches finish under €50.