Mensae, Thibault Sombardier's excellent restaurant in the 19th arrondissement

Nestled in the heights of Belleville, Mensae is one of the restaurants run by former Top Chef finalist Thibault Sombardier. With its low prices, simple cuisine and lively emotions, this is an address worth discovering.

Top Chef 2014 finalist Thibault Sombardier invites you to his Mensae restaurant, a stone's throw from the Pyrénées metro station. A less star-studded address than Antoine, the gourmet restaurant where Sombardier officiates as chef, but at least just as tasty and more affordable.

Now it's time to delve into the menu. Or rather, the menus, since Mensae offers a daily lunch menu (starter-main course or main course-dessert) at 19€, a variety of tapas, dishes to share (faux filet de boeuf and fish of the day) and a menu at 36€, which I opt for.

The menu is simple and effective, with 3 appetizing starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts.

I chose to try the poêlée d'escargots, champignons, mousse de persil à l'aïl (13€), an intriguing dish with melting snails under a blanket of bubbling greenery; and the mi-cuit saumon d'Ecosse, sauce Tom Kha-Layu (14€), a Thai sauce with coconut milk, also hidden under a forest of coriander.

Too bad for the velouté de racines, magret de canard et noix de cajou (13€), which we were also looking forward to, but that's for another time.

We then move on to the main courses: filet of roast free-range guinea fowl (21€), deliciously accompanied by creamy risoni (bird's tongues) and topped with aged mimolette that melts over the guinea fowl as the meal progresses. Every last drop of the guinea fowl's juices is used to make the sauce.

We also try the white cod confit (22€) with its lovely roasted vegetables, still a little crunchy, and its black aioli, which we'll carry on our lips for quite some time.

For dessert, we're faced with a Thibault Sombardier classic, the chocolate praline mousse (9€), served warm, which he also offers in his Sellae restaurant. Once again, you'll get more than the promise of a simple chocolate dessert - it's a delight. And then there's the poached pear (9€) with buckwheat ice cream, a real treat.

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please mention it in the comments.