Astara, the restaurant dedicated to fine seafood

In the 1st arrondissement of Paris, Astara has opened a restaurant that doubles as a well-stocked seafood store. On the menu: tarama, caviar, smoked salmon and an attractive winter menu.

Specializing in seafood for almost 40 years, Astara opened its Table de la mer in the 1st arrondissement of Paris in 2019 to delight as many people as possible. Head for the rue des Petits Champs, between theOpéra and the Palais-Royal , to discover the iodized menu featuring revisited seafood classics and dishes with flavors from elsewhere.

In a neat and elegant setting, Astara spoils us from the aperitif onwards, offering cocktails based on vodka, of course, one of the other specialties of the house! So we sip a perfectly balanced moscow mule (11€) for lunch, and take a look at the à la carte menu.

At lunchtime on weekdays, Astara offers local workers and visiting tourists a 19€ lunch menu with dish of the day and coffee/tea, as well as a 24€ lunch menu with a choice of croque-caviar, tagliatelle with smoked salmon or dish of the day, plus gourmet coffee or tea.

There are also generous sharing boards, a trio of taramas, and an Astara-style blini (21€), a tart topped with Isigny AOP cream, Scottish smoked salmon, red onion pickles and trout roe, which won us over on our first visit to Astara.

Since we're here to try out the new items on the 2021 winter menu, we opt for two hot starters: fish and crab cromesquis (9€), to be dipped generously in a wakame mayonnaise, and the comforting quenelles (9€) with lobster bisque, a little marvel of sweetness.

For the rest of our cruise, we're betting on the House's must-try croque-caviar (19€), made with Carré Pain de Mie bread, candied sturgeon fillets, cream cheese and a dollop of Titane caviar. An Astara classic that seemed slightly drier than usual - yes, it's a dish we know well!

On the other hand, don't miss out on the crispy sea bass tempura (€20), really very good, accompanied by a julienne of winter vegetables. A lovely novelty. It's worth noting that Astara 's sourcing is highly specialized and emphasized: Astara caviars come mainly from the Giaveri farm in Italy, where the sturgeon are fed an organic diet . And the same attention is paid to the wines, which here are organic and biodynamic!

On the sweet side, the chef brilliantly transforms the classic rum baba into a vodka version (9€). But the sweet touch we recommend for this winter is the semolina cake (10€) topped with plump roasted plums and an orange blossom crème montée. Alternatively, you can always go for the pistachio crème brulée (8€) topped with lots of caramelized seeds - although we found it slightly too sweet.

Finally, for those of you who'd like to take a little something home with you, the Astara restaurant has a lovely grocery store offering a selection of smoked salmon and caviar, as well as sea urchin coral, taramas, salmon and trout roe, and blinis!

In short, Astara is the place to savour the products of the sea!

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