Le Relais de l’Entrecote Review

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Le Relais de l’Entrecote is one of those Paris institutions that gets talked up as a must-do: no menu, one dish, a secret sauce and a queue out the door. We went, and it was good. It was also, to be honest, a little overrated, and for sure not the best steak frites in Paris. This is an honest Le Relais de l’Entrecote review: how the one-dish concept works, the surprising history behind it, the famous secret sauce, what we actually thought, and whether it is worth your time. For the wider picture, see our guide to what to eat in Paris.

The concept: one dish, done one way

Walk in and there is no menu to speak of. The only question the waiter asks is how you want your steak cooked. What arrives is always the same: first a green salad with walnuts in a mustard dressing, then thin-sliced entrecote steak with a pile of fries and the restaurant’s secret sauce poured over the top. The clever part is that it comes in two servings, so half is kept back and brought out fresh when you have finished the first, which means your second helping is still hot. Dessert is the only real choice you get to make, and there are no reservations, so you turn up and queue.

A short history

The idea is older than it looks. It goes back to 1959, when Paul Gineste de Saurs, from a southern French wine family, bought a small Italian-style restaurant called Le Relais de Venise near the Porte Maillot in Paris. He wanted a steady outlet for the wines of the family estate, and he modelled the food on the Cafe de Paris in Geneva, which had been serving steak-frites with a secret buttery sauce since the 1940s. That Swiss dish, the Cafe de Paris sauce, is the direct ancestor of the sauce the restaurant is famous for today.

After Paul died in 1966, the family split the idea into separate groups, which is why you will see several similar names over similar doors. One daughter kept the original Relais de Venise at Porte Maillot, his son Henri started the L’Entrecote group down in Toulouse, and another daughter runs the Relais de l’Entrecote group. Between them the formula spread across France and beyond. Today there are several branches in Paris, two in Switzerland, and licensed locations in cities like London and New York. Whichever name is above the door, what lands on the table is almost identical.

The secret sauce

The sauce is the whole point, and nobody will tell you exactly what is in it. It is a warm, herby, buttery sauce, green from the herbs, and it is what people come back for. Over the years journalists have tried to reverse-engineer it, with Le Monde once reporting it contains chicken livers, thyme, cream, mustard and butter, an account the family has disputed. Whatever the real recipe, it shares its lineage with the Cafe de Paris sauce from Geneva, and it is good enough that people mop the plate with bread and then pour the second helping over fresh fries.

What we ate, and what we thought

We arrived about ten minutes before opening and still waited around thirty minutes, which tells you how popular it is. Once we sat down, the salad was genuinely lovely, the fries were tasty, the steak was good, and the dessert was the standout, really excellent. So why the lukewarm verdict? Because for all that, I came away thinking it is a little overrated. It is a very good steak frites, but it is not the best in Paris, and the hype runs ahead of the plate. Enjoyable, yes. A revelation, no.

The drinks

One honest note on the drinks. If you want a beer, your only options are Carlsberg or Heineken, which says a lot about how little a place like this cares about beer. This is wine country, and beer is an afterthought here. The house wine, naturally from the family’s own estate, was perfectly fine but nothing that stopped me in my tracks. Stick with the wine, and keep your expectations for it modest.

The dessert

If there is one thing to save room for, it is dessert, which for us was the best part of the meal. It is the only part of the menu where you actually get to choose, with the usual French classics on offer, and it is worth ordering even if the steak has filled you up.

No reservations and the queue

There is no way to book, so the only lever you have is timing. We turned up ten minutes before opening and were still about half an hour from a table, so if you want to cut the wait, be there before the doors open or go at an off-peak time. The queue does move steadily, because they turn tables quickly, but on a busy evening it can be long.

Is Le Relais de l’Entrecote worth it?

Here is the honest answer. If you are nearby, or you have never done it, go, because the concept is fun and the food is good. But I would not travel across the city just for this, and I would not call it the best steak frites in Paris. It is a solid, enjoyable meal with a clever format and a famous sauce, rather than the revelation some reviews promise. Go in with that expectation and you will have a good time.

Tips for visiting

A few things to know. Arrive before opening or off-peak to shorten the queue, since there are no reservations. Come knowing you are getting steak frites and nothing else, so it is not the place for a fussy eater or a vegetarian. Save room for dessert, which was the best part for us. And order the wine over the beer. For the rest of the city, see our Paris travel guide.

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