Mini-Shoutout: Ferdi

Ferdi
32, Rue du Mont-Thabor
75001 Paris
Tel : 01 42 60 82 52

This year I was rather lucky & had a weeks long drawn out birthday with many mini-gettogethers & surprises. A few weeks after the actual day, fellow food-loving friends, Fred & Lauren, invited me to dinner at Pinxo for more belated celebration. While there are a good number of spendy bars to stop in for a pre-dinner sip in this area, I was trying to find something more reasonable in price range. Fortunately Fred had the foresight to make ressies for an apero at Ferdi.

Ferdi is a buzzing, cozy tapas joint with a long and varied menu & favored by fasionistas and fasionista wanna-bes. I love their fun & whimsical decor with the Playmobil figurines lining the walls. And, I'm impressed that they can turn out such a range of nosh yet still maintain a certain quality level. But, can they knock out a decent cocktail as well? I'd say yes.

I had a very satisfying stirred Tanqueray martini, served in a chilled glass and topped with an olive. Nicky gave her margarita a thumbs up. Of the 16 or so choices on their cocktail menu there are few big surprises. You can get your cosmos, mojitos and caipis. But two of the choices stand out as a bit more interesting. First: a Pisco Sour. With the exception of some of my preferred stops, I don't find a lot of bars in Paris featuring egg white cocktails. Another option you don't find just anywhere: a bullshot. Coincidentally, I was just tweet-encouraged by someone yesterday to finally get around to giving one of these a try. So, perhaps I'll head back soon to do so. Drinks are a reasonable 10 to 12 Euros here - with one exception: the Grey Goose martini at a silly 16 Euros.

I like Ferdi's combination of fun food, playful decor and decent prices. And, for a place that's not exclusively a cocktail bar I think they are conscious in their cocktail mixing and a reasonable alternative in a area where pricier cocktails are the norm. And, I'll take that as a final little happy birthday surprise to myself.