cymbeline

I know I am missing out on the foodie experience. But, remember, there are a lot of people who can't even afford the plane ticket to Paris and London.

In Paris, I have eaten at the BVD cafeteria and The Louvre. In London, Mark & Spencer, National Portrait Gallery, British Museum cafeteria and Tate British cafeteria. The BVD in Paris was the best, with a view.

Does anyone have further suggestions for cafeterias in both cities? I ate at Selfridges in London and, without noticing, the bill, with a mini bottle of wine, came to 16 pounds for lunch - a little more than I had expected.

Last time in Paris we just ate food from grocery stores and bakeries and, twice, terrible pizza. I still loved the city.

If we were to "splurge" at a bistro or restaurant for 20 euros each at lunch, does anyone have a suggestion? How about pubs in London? Recommendations there?

My Frommer's Budget travel magazine recommends the following Paris restaurants in my budget:
Chartier, on 7 Faubourg-Montmarte, metro Grand Boulevards. The 2003 issue states two courses with wine from 11.15 euro and the picture of the interior looks charming.

Resturant Lescure, 7 rue Mondovi, metro: Concorde

La Colimacon, metro: Place du Ville

Restaurant La Peccadille, metro: Rambuteau

La Petit Keller, metro: Bastille

Le Pied de Fouet, 45 rue de Babylone, 7e.

Has anyone heard of these modest restaurants?

I'd say 12 euros for lunch, 10 pounds in London, is all I am willing (or hoping) to spend to keep up our lunch nutrional needs. Dinner we'll have to take as grocery store food in our hotels and apt. at this budget. (We have an apt. near London.)

That being said, I'd like to avoid terrible food. If I could eat at the BVD cafeteria everyday, I'd be happy!

mvor

I find the Time Out city guides to be reliable for current resto info. For London, I also like Hardens.com (need to register but it's free) and :

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/occasions/budget.asp

BTW, do you mean the BHV cafeteria?

janisj

Time Out has two really useful books: <i>Eating and Drinking Guide to London</i> and <i>Cheap Eats in London</i>.

I like the Eating and Drinking guide a bit better - but Cheap Eats has a ton of budget suggestions.

cymbeline

Thank you. I'll see if I can check them out of my library. Meant BHV. Just forget the initials...cardinal sin at this web site.

icithecat

Just a Freudian slip, no big deal.

'In Paris, I have eaten at the BVD cafeteria ........ The BVD in Paris was the best, with a view.

From Wikipedia.

'BVD is a brand of men's underwear, which are commonly referred to as &quot;BVDs.&quot;'

indytravel

Here's my opinion of Chartier:

&quot;Easy for me. Chartier in the 9th. Beautiful Belle Epoque decor. Lousy service and mediocre food to go with it.

Won't ever bother to return except maybe stand in the doorway and look at the brass. Then turn around and walk out.&quot;

This is from a thread where people discuss bad meals in Paris:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34707515

triplover

cymbeline,

I'm sorry that I don't have any answers for you.

But I have a question.
You said you have an apartment in/near London.
We're going to London Sep 1 to Sep5.
I would like to know how you found the apartment and how much you paid for it.

We'll tavel with a 15months toddler who is allergic to many things. So that the best we can do in terms of his food is to cook for him. Then, an apartment is the best choice for accomodation.

We would appreciate a lot if you share the information.

Thanks
E

janisj

Triplover: There are many, many threads on here about holiday flats in London.

Here are just two of many contacts - but if yiu do a search you'll find a lot more

www.eandeapartments.co.uk/
www.scala-house.co.uk/

You are cutting it close so book something ASAP.

Carrybean

www.londonguestsuites.com is another
place to check out, Triplover. Good luck.

Ackislander

Funny thing about restaurant reviews, Indytravel.

I have eaten well at Chartier, especially for the price. I'll have to look at your thread to see what you expected and what you got.

Kate_W

If you avoid splurging on expensive bottled drinks, you can eat within your budget in London by splitting a pizza and possibly a salad Pizza Express (I like their Veneziana pizza), at the various sandwich shops (I like EAT, which also has good soups and salads; also Pret a Manger etc). Wagamama (there's one on Wigmore Street just north of the department stores on Oxford St) might also fit your budget for lunch - or even dinner.

In Paris, as you probably already know, there are several tricks to minimise your food bills. Ask for a carafe d'eau, instead of paying for a bottled drink. If you need a caffeine fix, look for an inexpensive restaurant where people are standing at the counter and sipping coffee - coffee is much more expensive if you sit down at a cafe table. (On the other hand, if you're tired, the price of a cup of coffee rents you the real estate representing that table for as long as you want it.) Asian restaurants are relatively expensive, but Asian traiteurs (like delis) are everywhere and can provide a reasonably priced and filling meal, if you're careful about what you order. In some areas of the city, you can also find Japanese restaurants focusing primarily on skewers of chicken, beef and pork. An order of these plus a side dish or two would satisfy two people. One of my guilty pleasures is Leon de Bruxelles, a chain of restaurants serving mussels and &quot;frites a volont&eacute;&quot; (all you can eat fries). Two orders would bust your budget, but you could order one order of mussels to share between two people (the orders are fairly large) and then fill in the gaps with pretzels, bread and frites. There's a branch just south of Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. Go to a market on a Saturday or Sunday morning, buy half a poulet fermier (free range chicken) and potatoes and have a picnic (outside or in your hotel room). Get out of the high-end touristy districts (1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 16th) and head for less expensive neighbourhoods. It might be worth exploring Oberkampf (good nightlife), the less-frequented parts of the 5th (full of students so there should be some low prices somewhere), etc.

Visit Lavinia, a huge wine shop on the Right Bank, once or twice or three times to take advantage of free wine tastings. It stays open until 8 pm on Saturday. That way you can try French wine without having to pay for it. (I'm not sure it always has free samples, but I'm reasonably sure there is something on offer every Saturday afternoon.)

Britty

Check out the book Cheap Eats in Paris. I used it while I was living in Paris. It saved me from going over my budget.

mvor

&quot;...Meant BHV. Just forget the initials...cardinal sin at this web site.&quot;

cymbeline, I was asking that w/sincerity, not to correct you. I wanted to add &quot;BVD&quot; to my own list since I'd never heard of it. Hope my other info helps.

basingstoke1

To broaden this thread a bit, in Florence their is a decent cafeteria called The Leonardo. It is one flight up a block or so from the duomo and a good find for cheap eats with a nice variety of pastas and more. They also have several brands of wine by the 1/4 liter bottle for about 1 euro.

jofrommelbourne

We enjoyed Chartier - reasonable food and good service. Very chirpy and happy waiter. Interesting place - we would go back again.

samsmom1127

bkm

cymbeline

mvor, yes, that was good of you to correct my slip up. Sorry I was testy - I apologize. Thank you for the online resources you provided me.

iciticat, I think that was a big old sexual slip on my part, BVD for BHV! Thanks for the laugh. Oh la la.

Thank you, Kate. Thanks, Britty for suggesting Cheap Eats in Paris.

Now I feel I must go to Chartiers to decide for myself, perhaps. At my budget, I'm not expecting the holy grail.

Just a another note on my theme: has anyone else eaten at Paris department store cafeterias or museum cafeterias?

mvor

No problem, cymbeline!

On to your question...lots of people here like the Rodin cafeteria. Whilst I LOVE the museum, especially its garden, I'm not crazy about the cafe. Bring your own food/wine and picnic in the gardens instead.

BTW, the resto at the Tate Modern is terrific (good value for the money and wonderful view):

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/pdf/tm...urant_menu.pdf

They also have a cafeteria but I've never eaten there:

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/pdf/C2_menu_06.pdf

There's a poster here named Beatchick who has a great resto list for Paris (including lots of budget places) so hopefully she'll chime in. You can also find her at virtualtourist.com which is a great source for restos--especially budget/veggie/etc.

Here's a link to TimeOut's online Paris resto info but I'd still recommend buying--or borrowing from your local library--<i>Time Out Paris Eating &amp; Drinking</i>:

http://www.timeout.com/paris/rest/

Have a terrific trip~

Katie7

In London, the Waitrose grocery store at the Gloucester Road tube station has excellent roasted chicken, cheeses and hot take-out meals. We purchased items and took them back to the hotel or ahd picnics.

Also enjoyed Pret-a-Manger.

PalQ

FLUNCH is a Parisian institution with Parisians - these budget 'all you can eat buffet' cafeterias are all over town and you can fill yourself for around 10 euros. Meat portions are limited but you can have all the veggies, salads, etc. you want - thus good for vegetarians like myself. Carafes of wine a few euros. Clean. Typical French food that most French folks eat.