il duca spaghetti alla bolognaise

Spaghetti alla bolognaise - €13

When I'm in a new Italian restaurant and when I'm in doubt, choose spaghetti bolognaise (yes, what a boring choice, but it has served me well so far). Unfortunately, Il Duca did not have spaghetti bolognaise in their menu, but I asked the waiter anyway and he said that there's no problem to arrange it for me. I think you can only request this kind of thing in a small restaurant. Big restaurants won't have the patience in making something specially for you.

Il Duca is a very small restaurant, like most restaurant in Montmartre, but this one is especially small. You can hear everyone's conversation. We sat next to two British ladies, I was totally eavesdropping! The waiter (singular, one waiter in the restaurant) was very friendly, understood English perfectly well. My mere-male husband managed to singe the menu with the candle on our table, but the waiter was totally understanding and got us a new one. Ooops!

Our antipasti was the bruschetta (toast with tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil served on a bed of salad) and the pomodoro e mozzarella (tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella cheese and basil). We don't usually order appetisers, but in this case we were starving to death. I wasn't disappointed with my bruschetta, the tomatoes were fresh, the toast crusty. As I don't like to eat too much dairy, I ate only a bit of the mozzarella and it was creamy like cream cheese.

Bruschetta - €11
Pomodoro e mozzarella - €11
Spaghetti alla carbonara - €11

My spaghetti bolognaise was so yummy, I think I could have eaten another plate. My husband had the spaghetti alla carbonara. It was great for the first half, but he was totally struggling with the second half. Spaghetti carbonara can be a bit sickening if there's too much of it, and the Il Duca portion was not for the faint-hearted.

Il Duca
26 Rue Yvonne Le Tac
18e arrondissement, Île-de-France
Open 7 days lunch & dinner until 11.30pm