Le Bistrot de Mauna Loa

My family and I recently visited Paris and stayed close to this restaurant. It was late one night and we hadn’t eaten after being so busy sightseeing. We were referred there by our hotel and dined late (10pm).
Although the restaurant was empty, I can’t figure out why! Maybe it was because of the lateness of the hour because it damn sure wasn’t because of the service or the food. It was nice though because we had the staff including the chef to our self and it made for a wonderfully intimate meal. The server (forgot his name!) was very attentive even taking down and bringing over the chalkboard menus to us. We ordered the traditional Beef Bourguignon followed by a ridiculously fresh Passion Fruit Crème Brulee. Both were quite simply OUTSTANDING! The beef was well flavored, tender and accompanied with deliciously fluffy mashed potatoes and of course crusty bread. Perfect. I was dubious about the passion fruit crème brûlée, but the flavor was delicate and perfect.
The chef came out to chat with us while we ate and of course we lauded him with praise. Even though it was late, our server was energetic and wonderfully animated. He even tsked and lovingly chastised my mom after she had not yet eaten her wonderful, fluffy and whole wheat Madeline that accompanied her Crème Brulee.
The décor was a mixture between elegant, trendy and shabby chic (I’m reminded of the old fashion hutch that was used for dishes), but was overall gorgeous. This was one of the highlights of our trip.
The only issue we had was when it came time for payment we had a moment of panic… this restaurant only had the Chip and Pin capability. We wanted to use our debit/​credit card but was unable to because they did not have the swipe capability. Of course both of the ATM’s on the street were inoperable at that time. We were saved by the fact that one of our dining companions had enough cash Euros to take care of the whole bill!
Simply wonderful!