Oeuf Mayonnaise appears as a signature dish in 1 France cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Œuf mayonnaise · Paris
Œuf mayonnaise is the cheapest serious starter in Paris: a hard-boiled egg, halved, set on lettuce with a hand-whisked mayonnaise that should cover the egg without sliding off.
The dish appears on Parisian bouillon menus from the 1880s, when the workers' canteens of Les Halles needed a sub-€1 starter. By 1955 it was standard at every Paris bistro and brasserie. The Association de Sauvegarde de l'Œuf Mayonnaise (ASOM), founded 1990 by Claude Lebey, runs an annual contest in the city for the best version, judged on the firmness of the egg yolk (just-set, not chalky), the consistency of the mayonnaise (it should coat the back of a spoon), and the proportions. Bouillon Chartier serves the bistro template at €3.20; Bistrot Paul Bert's version with extra-virgin oil mayonnaise is the editorial benchmark.
Where to eat in Paris:
- Bouillon Chartier
- Bistrot Paul Bert
- Bouillon Pigalle
- Le Petit Vendôme