![The bistro Le Jourdain, between Belleville and Menilmontant.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-.jpg)
In Paris, as you probably already know, if you want to eat at a good restaurant, you can’t expect to reserve at the last minute or just pop in unreserved. A case in point: on Wednesday of last week, I was looking to book for two people for the following evening. I tried eight different places on my list of want-to-try restaurants. No room at the inns. Finally, I was saved by Le Jourdain.
Le Jourdain is a tiny, crowded, cozy little place with a simple decor (bar, wooden tables and chairs, one designer light fixture), rather far from the nearest Métro stop but worth the five-minute walk through the lively, restaurant- and café-filled neighborhood between Belleville and Menilmontant.
Somehow, the close-set tables are not as annoying here as they are in some places, perhaps because of the friendly ambiance. And, even though the restaurant was full, I wasn’t bothered by excessive noise levels.
In the evening, Le Jourdain serves sharable small plates. Our server recommended that we have two each, which turned out to be just right.
![Pâté de campagne.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-pate.jpg)
We started out with a simple but delicious pâté de champagne, zhooshed up with pickled red onions and greened with mesclun.
![Eggplant with soy sauce and mirin.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-eggplant.jpg)
Then came a dish of wonderfully gooey eggplant treated Asian-style with soy sauce and mirin (rice wine), topped with coriander and crunchy bits of fried onion. I loved it, but my friend admitted to being averse to the texture of eggplant.
![Grilled leeks with feta cheese and pesto.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-leeks.jpg)
He was thrilled, however, with the dish of grilled leeks with an outstandingly good almond and basil pesto, topped with plenty of high-quality feta cheese.
Our third choice was the trout gravlax with ponzu, paper-thin slices of radish and dill. Comme il faut.
![Chocolate crème caramel.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-chocolate-creme-caramel.jpg)
The server alerted us that the desserts made by chef Célia Nguyen (formerly of Chateaubriand) were not to be missed, and once again he was right. I absolutely adored the unctuous chocolate crème caramel flavored with tonka bean, something like a chocolate pudding but smoother, classier and more satisfying.
![Lemon cake with roasted figs.](https://www.parisupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Paris-Update-Jourdain-restaurant-lemon-cake.jpg)
With its intense citrusy taste, the tender lemon cake with roasted figs and orange-blossom-flavored cream came in a close second in the bake-off.
Le Jourdain is one of those bistros you would like to have in your neighborhood so that you could pop in for a sure-to-be-good meal at a reasonable price – as long as you booked at least one day ahead, that is.
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