L’Avant Comptoir is a great little place to try little plates of French and Spanish tapas, and drink a lot of wine with friendly locals. Let’s analyze this sentence: First of all it’s great. You will have a lot of fun at L’Avant Comptoir, and the quality of food is superb, as you would probably have guessed, as the place is run by celebrity French chef Yves Camdeborde, owner of the next door e Comptoir du Relais.
Next. The place is little. It is actually tiny. No more than 12 people can rub necks inside this little narrow room, which is almost always full of people. OK, ‘try little plates of French and Spanish tapas” – that’s the reason to come here, no? The menu is not extensive but includes amazing jamon iberico (the Spanish version of the jambon, featuring pigs which were fed only (or mostly, depends on the quality of the ham) nuts), Corsican hams, chorizos and artichoke and some mushrooms for your vegetarian friends.
Wine. Let us not forget the reason we all gathered here. The wine list is nice, and begins with wine by the glass for just a couple of Euros. Bottles go from the simple to the exquisite.
Lot’s of friendly locals. This is a great place to come with friends, or just meet some sur place. People drink a lot at L’Avant Comptoir and they become friendlier as the evening matures and bottles empty out.