I have a weakness of cold seafood tower, and I would always order one in a steakhouse. After my first trip to Paris in the 90s, I realised what I have been missing after all these years.
I can make a meal of a seafood tower and nothing else. And as Princess and I continued our culinary tour of Paris, we stumbled upon this place in the 4th arrondissement. Comptoir des Mers is both a seafood bar and a poissonerie (fish shop), and you can imagine the freshness of the fruits of the sea served.
The Parisians lover their seafood amongst all the other culinary delights. Besides serving some of the seafood raw like the Japanese, the French have perfected the technique of serving cold seafood, properly cooked yet retaining all the flavours of the sea. And a seafood tower is the epitome of this mastery.
After placing the order, they served some sliced baguette and a quenelle of tamara oursin. Tarama with sea urchin coral is a salted, beechwood-smoked cod roe blended into a paste. Then this tarama is mixed with different ingredients to make a flavourful, luxurious cream that is generously seasoned with purple sea urchin coral.
Plateau de Fruits de Mer “Le Majestueux”
We ordered the seafood platter aptly named “Le Majestueux“. The upper level of “The Majestic” includes 2 halves of Homard Breton (Brittany blue lobster), ½ Langouste (rock lobster), 6 Langoustines, 9 Crevettes Roses BIO de Madagascar, and 2 Oursin (sea urchins).
At the lower level, the feast continues with 1 portion of Crevettes Grises (grey shrimps), 1 portion of boiled Bulots (sea snails), and an assortment of shellfish that includes 6 Fine de Claire, 6 Gillardeau, 6 Pleine Mer and 6 Amandes de Mer (“Sea Almond” or dog cockle)
Harvest from ocean around Iceland, these sea urchins have an iodised flavour with sweet notes, and a creamy and fleeting texture in the mouth. While not as delicious as the Japanese uni as they are simply served raw, they are nevertheless great eats.
Crevette rose served are organic farmed prawns from Madagascar that are probably the best in the world. Together with the rock lobster and the blue lobster from Brittany, this is quite a spread of crustaceans.
These are tiny shrimps similar to the swalow shrimps that we use for the prawn noodles stock. Very laborious to eat as they do not have much flesh, but they are packed with flavours that only connoisseurs would appreciate.
Of larger calibre, the Gillardeau No. 2 has a firm, crunchy and voluptuous flesh. Both mineral and floral, its taste is subtly sweet with this inimitable hint of hazelnut. It’s the Roll-Royce of the fleshy oysters.
The Pleine Mer de Normandie is grown by Jean Paul Guernier in Agon Coutianville. Salty and delicate flavour.
Half a dozen of Fine de Claire n°3 from Marennes-Oléron. Not very fleshy, crunchy, finely salty and mineral. Rich in water and balanced in flavour, it is refined in the clearings of the Marennes Oléron basin.
While the English common name “dog cockle” implies an inferior food that might only be suitable for animals, this shellfish is edible and enjoyed in many European countries, although the flesh has a reputation for becoming tough if overcooked. Its name in French (amande de mer) means “sea almond”, due to its apparently sweet and almond-like flavour.
We ended the dinner with some sweets, Princess order a creme brûlée.
I asked for an affogato, but they didn’t know how to make one, and I gave them the recipe – vanilla ice cream, hot espresso, and a shot of cognac 🙂 And they charged me exactly that – one scoop of ice cream, an espresso, and an aperitif, the most expensive affogato I ever had.
I have been to many seafood bars around the world, and this is one of the best that I have tried so far. Princess enjoyed it so much, her first authentic seafood bar and the bar has been set.
Comptoir de Mers (The Seafood Restaurant)
1 Rue de Turenne, 75004 Paris, France
Tel : +33 1 42 72 66 51 (Reservations)
Visite Oct 2024
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