Beaugrenelle Paris shopping mall boasts a reasonable choice of restaurants. With my family in Paris, we decided to try their Italian restaurant, Quindici. Divided into three distinct sections - a bar, the shop and the restaurant. I love the decor, yet unfortunately I couldn’t say the same about their service. It was a Sunday and the restaurant was fully booked and the staff was overwhelmed.
I liked the space. Black covers the walls, floor, shelves and bar of the restaurant and the lights used are inspired from street lamps. You’ll find Italian products from the terroir, an open kitchen, a bar where couples were chitchatting, a large dining table, drinks coming from behind the bar in a space filled with black tables and a few leather sofas.
Welcomed by a busy hostess talking on the phone, we waited for 20 minutes for a waiter to approach us to take the order… while other tables around us were also getting impatient. A woman, not wearing the restaurant's outfit, came and took the order and informed us that the pizzas may take more than 25 minutes. With a view on the Seine River we waited to be served.
Let's start with the lemonade. It was too sweet. It felt like I was drinking water with sugar with a faded taste of lemon. Is this what "fresh" lemonade is all about? I don't think you would want to order it.
Thirty minutes passed and the food then came.
The Lemon linguini was tasteless. It needed salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and more lemon flavor. The pasta was overlooked and sticky. It’s not Italian at all. Since this is the best of what we ordered, I added lots of salt and pepper, some olive oil and tried to enjoy it.
Gambas linguini tastes more like kids food. It’s over cooked and too creamy. It needed salt, pepper and more flavor.
The pizzas were too thick and chewy… the dough lacked that crunch feeling; the crust was soaked in sauce… They were far from being Italian.
One of my kids had a piece of fried chicken with potato purée. The chicken was tasteless. It needed more marinating… the purée was acceptable.
The food was not good, the service was bad, and the waiters were unpleasant… I am not coming back here anytime soon…
