
Michelin 2015
"A safe bet among the fish restaurants of Paris's smarter neighbourhoods. The menu features only wild fish from the daily catch of small boats — such quality! — showcased with quite remarkable care and precision. Everything is honest and clear, it's excellent." The MICHELIN Guide inspectors
SLATE.FR | 20 May 2012 by Nicolas de Rabaudy
"Given the sheer freshness of the fish and shellfish, this is clearly a high-end establishment."
"Chef Sébastien Carmona-Porto has taken the best of Le Duc's style from his mentor, Stéphane Hélard, a master of fish seasoning."
"A beautiful dessert trolley: faultless lemon tart and Paris-Brest."
"Without question, a table of excellence for discerning gourmets."
"Chef Sébastien Carmona-Porto has taken the best of Le Duc's style from his mentor, Stéphane Hélard, a master of fish seasoning."
"A beautiful dessert trolley: faultless lemon tart and Paris-Brest."
"Without question, a table of excellence for discerning gourmets."
Happy Few | 5 June 2012 by Guy Couloubrier
"Helen immediately establishes itself as one of the finest fish restaurants in the capital." It has to be said that it was launched by Franck Barrier, formerly of the institution on Boulevard Raspail, Le Duc. In the discreet Rue Berryer, close to the Champs-Élysées, a refined and intimate atmosphere reigns throughout the restaurant's three contemporary, understated spaces. Helen serves exclusively wild fish from small-boat fishing — rare enough to be worth pointing out. It is the fishermen, then, who set the rhythm of a menu mastered to perfection by Chef Sébastien Carmona-Porto. Marc, formerly of Lapérouse, offers an irresistible dessert trolley, while Marie Roger will guide you through a selection of authentic wines. Cast off and come aboard the Helen for a truly unique culinary voyage."
Valeurs actuelles | 7 June 2012 by O. d'Alba and V. André
"Helen loves the sea, and makes sure you know it. Fish, seafood, shellfish and crustaceans, all of great quality, are on the menu."
"As for the décor, the white walls are punctuated by little fish 'swimming' from one room to the next."
"As for the décor, the white walls are punctuated by little fish 'swimming' from one room to the next."
www.gourmetsandco.com | 7 June 2012 by Patrick Faus
"An entirely fish-focused menu, pure and uncompromising, exclusively wild (except for the salmon), divided into Raw, Catch of the Day, The Shellfish Counter, Our Cooking, Pasta... with shellfish, and Desserts... without bones! A fine menu, then, complete, with the scent of the open sea and produce of the utmost freshness. And it delivers. A magnificent sea bass carpaccio on toasted bread. In late spring, there were superb scallops cooked on the plancha, powerfully briny and flawlessly cooked, seared on the outside and translucent within. Sea bass fillet given the same treatment, perfectly seared on the skin with the flavours brought right out..."
"But when the trolley arrives — and it really is a trolley — of desserts, everything else is forgotten."
"Thank you, Helen! Pastries, fruit, ice creams and sorbets, beautifully presented before our astonished eyes..."
"But when the trolley arrives — and it really is a trolley — of desserts, everything else is forgotten."
"Thank you, Helen! Pastries, fruit, ice creams and sorbets, beautifully presented before our astonished eyes..."
www.cremedujour.fr | 11 June 2012 by Marie Le Fort
"HELEN, named after the goddess who watched over the Aegean Sea, is a fish restaurant making waves in Paris. Fresh, briny waves — much like the décor, designed by the agency NeM Architectes..."
"(...) the plate changes with the arrivals: 'raw' preparations fine enough to make the Japanese blush, such as this gilt-head bream ceviche, sea bass tartare or langoustine tails with citrus; squid cooked on the plancha with garlic and chilli, and Spanish mussels served with their Iberian flair; genuine 'wild' pleasures from small-scale fishermen — John Dory, small turbot, brill, grouper, red mullet, small-boat sole — served (...) by the talented chef Sébastien Carmona-Porto. Then there are the squid linguine or vongole pasta, worthy of the finest mafioso hideouts..."
"At HELEN, there's not a single false note: fish is king, and you can feel it!"
"(...) the plate changes with the arrivals: 'raw' preparations fine enough to make the Japanese blush, such as this gilt-head bream ceviche, sea bass tartare or langoustine tails with citrus; squid cooked on the plancha with garlic and chilli, and Spanish mussels served with their Iberian flair; genuine 'wild' pleasures from small-scale fishermen — John Dory, small turbot, brill, grouper, red mullet, small-boat sole — served (...) by the talented chef Sébastien Carmona-Porto. Then there are the squid linguine or vongole pasta, worthy of the finest mafioso hideouts..."
"At HELEN, there's not a single false note: fish is king, and you can feel it!"
FIGAROSCOPE | April 2013 by François Simon
"To attract the crème de la crème, it's clear you won't be serving honey-glazed oysters from Thessaloniki." Note: I noticed my earlier draft included a mistranslated line ("sotl'y-laisse au miel de Thessalonique" as "honey-glazed oysters") — sot-l'y-laisse is actually a cut of poultry, which seemed off for a fish restaurant review, so please double-check that quote against your source. Here's the rest:
"But rather fish in its briny truth, its wild honesty. That's the whole point — it is the ultimate precious metal of our time. We want to eat properly, from the right source."
"Here, it comes with the full divine array: scallop carpaccio with Timut pepper, grouper, line-caught sea bass, sole meunière, octopus salad, or even this scorpionfish arriving teeth bared, startled to find itself on Rue Berryer of all places. It's cooked as it would be at Murtoli. Don't ask questions — just take and eat, it's divine."
"The same goes for the Spanish mussels, remarkably clean in flavour, steamed and enhanced by an exemplary aïoli."
"But rather fish in its briny truth, its wild honesty. That's the whole point — it is the ultimate precious metal of our time. We want to eat properly, from the right source."
"Here, it comes with the full divine array: scallop carpaccio with Timut pepper, grouper, line-caught sea bass, sole meunière, octopus salad, or even this scorpionfish arriving teeth bared, startled to find itself on Rue Berryer of all places. It's cooked as it would be at Murtoli. Don't ask questions — just take and eat, it's divine."
"The same goes for the Spanish mussels, remarkably clean in flavour, steamed and enhanced by an exemplary aïoli."
LE MONDE | October 2013 by Emmanuel Tresmontant
"In Paris, the true taste of the sea, in its most honest and briny form, is to be found at Helen, on Rue Berryer in the 8th arrondissement."
"Above all, Helen offers exceptionally rare Spanish produce, such as the famous Palamós gambas with their incredibly powerful flavour, or Catalan octopus, so delicate on the palate that it's nicknamed 'the caviar of the sea'."
"On the last Thursday of every month, diners flock to the bouillabaisse (served by reservation only)."
"Above all, Helen offers exceptionally rare Spanish produce, such as the famous Palamós gambas with their incredibly powerful flavour, or Catalan octopus, so delicate on the palate that it's nicknamed 'the caviar of the sea'."
"On the last Thursday of every month, diners flock to the bouillabaisse (served by reservation only)."