Spiti Sou, the astonishing Greek bistronomic bar-restaurant with beautiful dishes to share

Spiti Sou is the restaurant that lets you savor Greece as you've rarely tasted it in Paris! Here, you'll find refined, sharing cuisine, where gourmet tapas and comforting dishes battle it out to the delight of gourmets.

Walk along the Quai des Grands-Augustins and you'll be carried away by the charm of the banks of the Seine and the sublime view of theÎle de la Cité, dominated by the Notre-Dame cathedral. It's in this iconic setting that a refined and highly gourmet address awaits you, ready to take you away from the City of Light to discover Greek gastronomy as it has rarely been tasted in Paris. We stop at n°53 to push open the doors of Spiti Sou, a bar-restaurant that's both elegant and convivial, where the terroir of Greece is honored through comforting dishes, inventive recipes and even signature cocktails.

We discover a refined and trendy setting, whose tones subtly recall the colors of Hellenic lands: the blue of the sea on the benches contrasts with the light woodwork and white marble tables, the whole sounding like an echo of the beautiful beaches of the Greek islands, while the restaurant immerses us in a hushed atmosphere where we feel at home. We're greeted with a smile, and from table to table, the team is on hand to offer advice and advice, contributing to the relaxed atmosphere, while a festive playlist completes the picture of Spiti Sou as the place to go for a good time. The restaurant's name sums up the spirit of the place: it refers to a Greek expression, Spiti mou Spiti Sou, in other words, Chez moi c'est chez toi.

Here, chef Paul Evangelopoulos reinvents Greek terroir through finely-dressed plates and recipes composed of hand-picked ingredients. Be warned: at Spiti Sou, EVERYTHING is shared! The menu is broadly divided into two formats: on the one hand, mezzés to share, like tapas, and on the other, main courses, all for two people. It's up to you to compose your banquet according to your appetite and desires.

To accompany these victuals, you'll find a cocktail menu with signature creations (14€) featuring Hellenic spirits, as well as the option of ordering a made-to-measure cocktail, alcoholic or non-alcoholic (8€ for a non-alcoholic mocktail). When it comes to wine, Greece is also in the spotlight, and we recommend that you let the team's advice guide your tasting, while discovering Greek producers.

The menu is designed with sharing in mind, and offers a variety of prices, depending on the format and the dishes you choose, so you can enjoy your evening for a relatively reasonable budget, given the area, the standing of the address and the quality of the products. Mezzes cost between €9 and €24 (plus a recipe that's higher than the average on the menu, set at €42), while dishes for two are generally between €30 and €40, with the exception of lamb chops (€65 for 400gr and €130 per kg) and whole grilled fish (€12 per 100gr). For the latter two recipes, the accompaniment is included in the price.

On our visit, we started the tasting with four mezzés to share, which was already quite copious. If you opt for the tarama, you'll quickly realize that here, even the classic won't be classic at all: the creamy bottarga recipe, refreshed with shallots and chives, offers all that iodized freshness without saturating the taste buds. Patzaria, a vegetarian salad, could well reconcile many with beet. On a bed of Greek yoghurt, this candied root is sweetened and spiced with Manouri cheese (milder than feta), while walnuts add a crunchy touch.

For cheese lovers, we highly recommend Saganaki, a Kasseri cheese fried in olive oil. We love the delicacy of the frying, which brings a guilty pleasure without being heavy, while the melting cheese releases all its aromas. To refresh, it's served not only with lemon, but also with a lemon jelly topped with a few sesame seeds. This is no show-off: the play of texture and the tangy notes of this jelly really add an interesting twist to the culinary experience.

Earlier, we mentioned a more expensive mezze, priced at €42. This is the crab tartare. Here, the tricky question arises: will it really be worth the price? At first glance, the price is easier to explain. Where we're used to seeing crab recipes thickened with mayonnaise, here the precious crustacean is clearly present and in the majority: pure crab rillettes are clearly at the center of this plate. They are sprinkled withTobiko roe, a flying fish also known as Japanese caviar. These add a crunchy touch while accentuating the iodized flavors. The crab tartare is also cleverly enhanced with lemon caviar grains, offering yet another playful culinary experience, as well as orange jelly for gourmet appeal. The question then arises: would we eat it again? As this is a table for sharing, the verdict is in: yes, as long as there are other seafood lovers on the table!

The problem here is that the greediness of the dishes makes us exceed the limits of our appetite. In the end, we couldn't resist discovering one of the dishes to share. And it's towards the fisherman's pasta that our hearts will finally swing. If you have reservations about this type of dish, having been disappointed by plates with a huge dose of pasta for too little shellfish, this won't be the case here. Here, we find orzo pasta (or bird's tongues) almost drowned in a bisque with metaxa (a wine brandy) with a very pronounced taste, stuffed with shellfish including mussels, gambas and octopus. The recipe varies according to availability.

Incidentally, at Spiti Sou, generosity is on the menu, but not at the expense of waste, so doggy-bagging (now compulsory, remember) is well and truly the norm. That's how we managed to save room for dessert, and guess what? it can be shared too. After much hesitation, we finally settled on the Ekmek Kataif. This Greek cake is reinterpreted here in an unstructured, low-sugar way: given the generosity of the dishes, we're very grateful. But there's no question of making concessions when it comes to indulgence! Here, we find a crème diplomate coupled with a more airy crème chantilly, Morello cherries in coulis to counterbalance the sugar, pistachios for crunch and crispy angel hair, caramelized with honey for a very satisfying side.

For us, the Spiti Sou restaurant was a wonderful experience that allowed us to rediscover the Greek terroir through cuisine that was both inventive and respectful of know-how. As we left, we promised ourselves we'd return, and we know it's now one of our gourmet haunts!

Alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health, please drink responsibly.

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