On the Island in the middle of the Lake in the middle of the Park

The boy and I had planned to go to Bois de Boulogne for a picnic so I packed a few sandwiches, snacks (including the last of the See's Awesome Nut and Chew bars) and we set off in the car to the woods, zipping past the Arc de Triomphe's horrifically confusing roundabout.

We arrived and parked near the lake and walked down near the water, where I spied a boat charging an outrageous 1 euro 50 for the short ride across to the island in the middle of the lake. I was just commenting on the money fleecing nature of the boat when the boy walked up and hopped on. Incredulously, I followed. The man on the boat asked if we were going to the dine at the restaurant, Le Chalet des Iles on the island, to which the boy replied yes.

I thought perhaps the boy misunderstood so I told him that he should tell the truth and pay up as he might know if we didn't go to the restaurant.

"But we are going to the restaurant", the boy replied.

"Are you crazy or something? We packed a lunch, did you already forget? You even put the bananas in there!", I said, exasperated.

"I made a reservation there... as a late surprise for your birthday", he said calmly.

I was suitably shamed and followed meekly but excitedly at this point.

The restaurant itself is very prettily set high up in full view of the water, with tables spilling out throughout the terrace and the lawn.

We were seated and placed our order, happily enjoying the view and each other's company when the bread and wine arrived. I reached for a roll when I looked down into our bread basket to find half a roll, a bottle cap and a cork. We had gotten the remains of someone else's breadbasket. As we waved a waitress over, we notice that a horde of pigeons and swooped onto a neighboring table, recently emptied and were in the midst of energetically pecking at all of remaining food. I must admit, this was less than appetizing. Especially when someone who had visited the washroom came back to discover his bread half gone.

In any case, we were soon distracted by our appetisers of beef carpaccio with raspberries and broccoli, and brownie foie gras. The latter turned out to be simply that. A brownie plated with foie gras, drizzled with dark chocolate. The combination, for me, didn't work at all. The chocolate sauce was much too strong and made only the texture of the foie gras as opposed to its lovely richness stand out. The brownie also, I can only guess was a play on textures as it was very crumbly and dry, tasting like a stale thin slice of brownie.

We did better with the mains. Of which we ordered three. Hey, we were hungry! Also, we couldn't pass up "posh mac n' cheese", which we ordered as a dish to share. This was on menu as a gratin de macaroni au fromage . We were surprised to find it come as a meticulously plated huge spiral of macaroni pasta, with a thin crust of cheese and a flurry of rocket on top. It was decidedly moreish with a nice peppery bite of rocket balancing out the rich cheese and pasta. Very fun to eat too. Especially if you eat it spiral by long spiral like I did.

I ordered the lightly seared salmon served with an "Asian" salad, with this latter consisting mainly of bean sprouts and julienned carrots. By the way, can someone please tell the world that including bean sprouts does not make a salad "Asian"?? In any case, the salmon was delicious, succulent, perfectly cooked and very, very moist. The salad was forgettable.

The boy's beef tartare was a bit more disappointing. Although it was a generous portion, it tasted a little too much of mayonnaise and was a little too well minced, making the texture somewhat mushy. These were served with crispy fires, not homemade but still decent.

With the three mains, we were more than stuffed and could not manage dessert. Instead the boy offered to row me around the lake so I could have a snooze. Unfortunately the counter for row boat rentals was closed by the time we got there, lazily wandering around the island exploring.

Although the food was not memorable in and of itself, the restaurant is lovely, romantic and a nice little getaway from the city.

Most of all, I will it remember it because it was there that the boy asked me an interesting question...

...to which I replied, yes.

Le Chalet des Iles

Porte de la Muette

Lac du Bois de Boulogne

75016 Paris

Tel: 01 42 88 86 74