Back from Paris -- the food didn't impress me like I thought it would
 

I got back from Paris about a month ago. I went expecting to be impressed by their food. Much to my suprise, I thought the food was rather simple and at times bland. We ate at a variety of restaurants from moderately expensive to cheap and never was impressed. Now, I will say their pastries and coffee/hot chocolate were the BEST -- but other than that, everything was just okay. Is it just me?

No, it is not just you! The normal French cuisine -- when you do not exactly know where to go -- is not as nice as everybody thinks, especially not in Paris. In the countryside (en province) it is a lot different though. <BR>For that I say, Italian every day meals <BR>are maybe less fanicer but much nicer!!

Oh, oh, a typo, sorry. I meant to write fancier of course!

The comment on the food in the countryside does seem true. We went down into the Loire Valley one day on our trip and had lunch in one of the small villages. That lunch was one of our better tasting meals, but it still was not as flavorful as it seems we are used to in the States. I normally do not use extra salt on my food here in the States, but at almost every meal in Paris, I was reaching for the salt!

We lived for a while in France and found that if we went, for instance, to an Indian restaurant for a change, the food was so bland as to be almost unrecognisable as Indian.

I think that whilst France USED to be the gastronomique centre of the world, everywhere else has rapidly caught up in the last few years. Certainly in the UK and USA you will find more variety of cuisines because of our multicultural societies, and I've always thought that the italians do good basic food best (quality ingredients!) <BR> <BR>Though I must say my experience of american food is that it is, surprisingly, quite distinct from european in flavouring. I find US food often too sweet for my tastes (even basics like butter and bread), so perhaps our expectations are different.

It's funny how people's perceptions vary. I really enjoyed the food in Paris, though we didn't go to any of the "great" restaurants so I can't comment on those. We ate mostly in cafes and bistros, and a couple of nicer places. I liked the simpler, hearty bistro food best. The only disappointing meal I had was at an Italian restaurant in the neighborhood of our hotel. Very mediocre.

Just got back from Paris last Saturday. We really enjoyed the food there. It's all just matter of opinion and taste. We went to Italy last August and was very dissappointed with their food.

Ditto. Overall, I was not impressed with the French cooking -- I can't say I had any meals in Paris that were outstanding, regardless of cost, and I much preferred the meals in Northern Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Greece. Although, I had some wonderful meals in Antibes. The worst meal I had in Europe was at a British pub -- I have no idea what I ordered, but it was inedible. Also had dreadful pizza at an outside cafe in Venice -- was like eating cardboard. Now I thinking of some other wonderful meals -- the most wonderful mussels in Dinant, Belgium, ravioli in nut sauce in Santa Margherita. I'd better stop -- I gain weight just thinking about this.

Yes, of course it is not impossible to find poor food in France and the worst airline meal I have ever experienced was with Air France. However you may have found French food bland because it tasted of freshly prepared food. It will have had none of the artificial flavourings which you will find in American processed food and there will certainly be no monosodium glutamate in it. If you had stayed long enough for your palate to adjust, you would have begun to appreciate the subtlety of natural flavours.

Everyone's taste is different. I only hope you ate in good restaurants and not tourist traps! One can get a terrible impression of French food from some of the truly dreadful (or simply boring) chain restaurants and touristy places in Paris. I do agree that Indian Chinese, Mexican, etc. restaurants here are awful. If you want a change from French, Lebanese or North African is probably your best bet. Better luck next time!

One of the best meals I ever had in Europe was in Belgium. We had one very disappointing one in Italy last month. But on the whole, we love much more of the Italian cooking than we do the French. I very much agree with the poster who said that USA cooking is on the whole- too sweet. <BR> <BR>We love pure and subtle flavors and freshest and find that to be more evident in Italy. Fish and seafood in Italy is done so many different and interesting ways/tastes that you never miss meat at all. But then I would take fresh olive oil and bread over anything with sauce anyday. We also have been disappointed in Italian bread on the whole and in many of the Northern regions, especially. But that's because you can get better "Italian" bread in Chicago. <BR> <BR>If you want some of the best food (and some of the best European food) in the world, you can get it in Chicago. We are probably really jaded and also have had our taste buds expanded by all our spicey Asian, Mexican/Spanish and American restaurants here. But after eating at the best of these all over the Chicagoland area, we find many agreeing here that the French and English food seems way, way too bland. <BR> <BR>Now the wine is another matter entirely. None of ours comes close, and their imports with sulfites are totally different at home.

I love France, all of it. Yes, the food in the country side is amazing, and in Paris is almost as good. I will NEVER forget a lunch my husband and I experienced at the base of Mont Blanc in a small garden of a hotel. I had fish soup and he had a jambon (ham) sandwich. We shared a bottle of table wine and some of the most amazing bread. Cafe Religeuse is the most amazing tasting pastry, and maybe the prettiest, I have ever had. <BR>Americans expect too much because they hear too much about the food. Paris is not about the over-hyped food, it is about sitting in a cafe or a garden or just on a park bench and sipping wine, eating cheese and bread and just experiencing the atmosphere. p.s. go to Ile St. Louis and get the locally made ice cream. You have never tasted anything like it!

The best meal I ever had in Paris was over Thanksgiving 1994 in a little out-of-the-way restaurant somewhere near a university (not the Sorbonne) in the 5th. It was a restaurant recommended by Sandra Gustafson in her "Cheap Eats" book, we were the only tourists there, and no one spoke any English. The menu, as well, was only in French but we recognized Confit de Canard, ordered it, and it was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious. <BR> <BR>Other than that, and a few other experiences, I haven't been all that impressed by the food either...but then I don't eat in pricey restaurants either where, I suspect, the chefs can whip up some pretty inventive and delicious dishes. <BR> <BR>My favorite inexpensive place to grab a bite to eat is a falafel place on the Rue des Rosiers in the Marais. Or else I'll just make a chicken, olive, and mustard sandwich on a baguette and have it with red wine in a park. Other than that, what I look forward to most about Paris, in the food-and-beverage department, are the incredible coffee and the to-die-for pastries.

My best meal in Paris was a bottle of Pomerol, fresh baguette and chevre, on my hotel room's balcony, big enough for two chairs, overlooking Notre Dame from la rive gauche. Now, maybe I'm just easy to please, but you can't find good baguette and chevre too easily in the states. <BR> <BR>My favorite meals are in Touraine, more specifically rue Colbert, Tours. The family owned restaurants are superb. Five course dinners for two with a great bottle of Chinon for about $50. The best bargain in France. I love Tours.

Greetings, <BR> <BR>A funny topic, but I pretty much had the same feeling the first couple of times we were in Paris and France for that matter. However the more time we spend in France and the more we become familiar with the French regional cooking, the more we enjoy are meals in Paris and the rest of France. I'm not sure if this explains the previous posters opinions, but our problem was we just didn't know what to order. <BR> <BR>Several years ago we were in the southwest with friends searching for the best Cassoulet in France. We stayed in a home rental in Castlenaudary, the heart of the Cassoulet country. It was magnificent, I would definitely recomment Etiennes just outside of Castlenaudary as well as Emiles in Toulouse,we even had our copy of Saveur signed by the chef (they had an article with pictures dedicated entirely to cassoulet. <BR> <BR>The confit de canard with frites is always wonderful as well as the Maigret de canard. Also try the Moules Frites, the best I've ever had was in Bonifacio in La Corse. <BR> <BR>The sea food in France is also usually fantastic. <BR> <BR>Finally I always enjoy the Choucroute garni at the Balzar. <BR> <BR>Anyway, that's just my opinion. <BR> <BR>Ciao, <BR> <BR>Randall Smith

People, you need to travel AND eat off of the beaten path!! Go to Southern Italy for some really excellent food--no one seems to travel there as much, but you can find "real" Italian bread there and a whole lot more. The seafood there is AMAZING!! The food is very simple, but you cannot beat it. Also, I had excellent food while I was in Strasbourg--it was German influenced and very interesting. Again, it is not a tourist hot spot like Paris, but a nice place to visit . . . and eat!

I agree with you (Ilovefood), the Alsace is a great area for food. But there are others too like the Southwest, Burgundy, Provence.... <BR> <BR>And of course, there is southern Italy, but the very south like Calabria and the area of Alberobello and around Gargano/Vieste!

Yes, I agree that Parisian cuisine ain't so 'haute' --- however, admittedly I've only been to Paris once and as I've seen on similar discussions around food, most agree that you need to get outside Paris for the more outstanding culinary delights. <BR> <BR>For my money, give me Italy any day of the week. I think Italia is the true gastronomic center of Europe these days. <BR>

I think Americans in particular are inclined to order what they know, the trick is to order something out of the ordinary, We always order things we have a hard time finding at home,rabbit, duck, wonderful fresh seafood, CHEESES, breads. The most wonderful meal I ever had in Paris was so simple &gt; My husband came down with "airplane flu" and ewas tootired to get up for dinner 1 night. There ws a small cafe -bar across from our hotel that served meals, I went by myself rather early, 6:45. The youg waiter said he was sorry but dinner was not served until 7:30 but if I would be happy with an omelet and a green salad HE would go into the kitchen and fix it. I was , he did ,and along with a carafe of Sancerre it was one of the best things I've eaten, maybe because it was seasioned with kindness. <BR>The point being you have to try new things and if you don't know how you like something prepared when asked , tell the waiter you would like it the way the chef would have it if he were eating it himself.