French restaurants

Old Jan 16th, 2017, 03:59 PM
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French restaurants

I will be in Paris for 3 nights.
I made reservation in Frenchie, Semilla and Ze Kitchen Galerie.
I hope that I made reasonable choices.

Now, for lunch I need some suggestions. I don't want to have elaborate lunch. Most of the reservations for dinner are at 7 or 7:30 pm. I want to have lighter lunch around Paris.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Regards,
Sankar
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 04:50 PM
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We tend to just happen upon a cafe or bistro, check the plat du jour an if there seems to be a sufficient number of diners, give it a try. We have a pretty good batting average using this approach.

I hate to have to "be somewhere" for lunch. Worse case scenario, stop in a boulangerie and pick up a sandwich or a baguette and cheese.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 10:10 PM
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Frenchie, Semilla and Ze Kitchen Galerie are all highly rated, ironically I am considering visiting Semilla on our forthcoming trip (will be staying in St Germain)

Our lunches are also light / even takeaway sometimes, so we just pick a place on the fly depending on where we are at the time. e.g. I've enjoyed L'As Du Falafel whilst in the Marais as much as a quick bite at Gerard Mulot whilst in St Germain
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 06:24 AM
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I cannot see the point of planning to be in a particular place for lunch, in Paris or anywhere else in the world. There is some value to be placed on spontaneity and just deciding to stop and eat wherever you are when you're hungry. Planning every lunch stop seems really, really obsessive to me.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 08:05 AM
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Now, if you agree to eat lunch spontaneously, as others have suggested, then here are a few tips to find decent lunches at the place where you happen to be:

- The more crowded the restaurant is, the better it might probably be
- Don't enter restaurants that are right next to touristy spot, they will be very expensive and often tourist-trap
- Don't choose the restaurants that have english menus, prefer the restaurants with more French people than tourists
- If the restaurant has Dish of the Day (Plat du jour, or Menu du jour), it is often cheaper than other dishes and of equal quality
- Brasseries and bistros can give casual lunches
- Even boulangeries (local bread shop) can give very good sandwiches and salads for a quick lunch
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 08:19 AM
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Many many restaurants in Paris have English menus, in all areas. Saying you shouldn't ever eat in one that does will really limit you.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 08:26 AM
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Did you read what the OP said, Christina? He/she doesn't want to eat elaborate lunch. Now, very few restaurants in Paris (or any city) which is not next to touristy spot, would offer menu of foreign languages for non-elaborate lunches.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 08:56 AM
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From a budget perspective, I choose the exact opposite method. I get reservations where necessary for an elaborate lunch (we call it dinner) meal. I leave the 'eat what I feel like' meal for the most expensive (generally) meal of the day, dinner (we call it supper) to save money.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 06:30 AM
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Thanks everyone.

I think I got the gist of the replies.

Have lunch wherever your heart desires.

Thanks and Regards.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 10:26 AM
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In general I agree, eat lunch wherever you are. That said, I will recommend a place in the 6th. You can get a light lunch. L'Avant Comptoir, 9 Carrefour de l'Odéon.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 10:55 AM
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yestravel, there can be quite a wait at Le Comptoir du Relais but that's #5 so this may be another place? #5 has great food and fine if you can spare the time.

fluffy, I don't totally ascribe to the view that if it's full, it's good, Paris Mickey D's are usually busy! But, you do want to see some life and I like to see business people because they are often looking for a reasonably quick but good lunch in the <15€ range.

If you find yourself near St. Sulpice around lunch, tiny rue des cannettes is lined with mid-range places, as are the streets off it. A little crêpe place is very reasonable and good, it's on left side of street, with the church at your back, about 150 m max from the Place St Sulpice. I also remember some good places on rue Soufflot leading up to the Panthéon.

My general rule of thumb is if you are on any of the boulevards or grands rues, take a few minutes to explore down the side streets, away from the super-expensive name places such as Deux Magots or similar.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 01:35 PM
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Yes, I would absolutely not plan lunch, particularly if I had planned every dinner (something which I would not do either). There are too many appealing places all over the city, often where you do not even expect to find them.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 01:41 PM
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Perhaps you can research lunch options when you have an idea of what you want to see and do every day.

Your trip is fairly short so you must have a few sites you want to see and, if you know where you might be at lunchtime, it might help people to give you restaurant suggestions.

I agree with not planning or reserving lunch but having an idea of what your options are in any given area is not a bad idea.
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Old Jan 18th, 2017, 01:42 PM
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Cathinjoetown -- you're thinking of the restaurant, Le Comptoir du Relais, which can have a line for lunch. Although this year and last when we were in the neighborhood we noticed no lines. L'Avant Comptoir is the same owner 2 doors down from Le Comptoir du Relais, small place with a long bar and a few hightop tables.
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Old Jan 19th, 2017, 10:39 PM
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The notion that if "a restaurant is crowded with French-speaking people it must be good" is not realistic.

Most working people go to the closest, cheapest restaurant near their workplace. Most of these people are subsidized by their employer for a full or partial payment of their meals.

I'd just recommend wandering around and finding something you'd like to eat.
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Old Jan 26th, 2017, 06:42 AM
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Experts always say don't eat at places close to tourist spots. On our last trip to Paris our two favorite lunches were at 1) a place one block from le Louvre - most of the patrons were French, service and food great 2) a brasserie close to a passage, full of tourists, very busy, watched a waiter racing around waiting on dozens of people, still he had stopped to find a great table. You never know!
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Old Jan 26th, 2017, 07:56 AM
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However when I go to a asian restaurant, I enter with more confidence when the staff and the clients are Asians.
;-)
The restaurants I avoid are the ones with too much English - was in the 7th lately and a nice restaurant that yelled everywhere 'French Food'. The place was complete with tablecloth of red and white squares.
I went further (and ended up in one of my worst chinese restaurants...).
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Old Jan 26th, 2017, 07:58 AM
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Food fight.
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Old Jan 26th, 2017, 10:56 AM
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Having dinner at 7:00 or 7:30 in Paris seems a bit early to me, but then we seldom go out for dinner when in Paris unless we happen to arrive too late for lunch. Of course if you want to stop by Freddy's, probably the best small plates and wine bar in Paris (http://www.patriciawells.com/blog/20...kely-to-forget), be there before 7:00 to get a seat at the front bar. The place fills up quickly and does not take reservations. And no phone number.

Since I take it this is your first adventure in the City of Light, you are probably not aware that the cost of dinner is typically much more then lunch, where you can normally have the "suggestions du jour" (à la carte) or what the chef suggests for the "plat du jour", a normally resonably priced menu of the day, which will be more if ordered at dinner.

Not having a reservation for lunch can be a mistake, as many have found out when they stop by a restaurant only to find that there are no tables available, eventhough some tables may be empty at the time. They are empty because those with reservations haven't shown up yet, and good restaurants have only one seating, not the continuous flow of a bistro or your typical brasserie.

Last week we had lunch at Philippe Excoffier, Cinq-Mars and L'Assiette and in all three cases there where open tables when people without reservations arrived, only to be turned away.

And if you do find yourself around Saint-Sulpice one afternoon around lunch time, keep an eye out for Catherine Deneuve. We crossed paths with her the other day out walking her dog. She still looks great!
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