|
Bistro favorites in Paris?
Hi,
My family of four is spending five nights in Paris in November. We will be staying in the Marais. We have two kids, ages 14 and 9. The 9-year-old still likes her food on the plain side, so I am thinking our best bet, restaurant-wise, will be bistros and brasseries. I'd love to hear about your favorite bistros, especially those near the Marais or near any of the sights and museums. OR: let me know which ones to avoid. Much thanks. |
The Musée des Arts Décoratifs has a all you can eat cafeteria style brunch on Sundays--or it did a couple of years ago. I think that it included non-alcoholic drinks in the price, then 15 euros. It might be the right thing for a picky eater.
|
|
We are just back from a few weeks in Paris and found a new bistr we loved. Le Bouquet Saint Paul, on the corner of Rue St Paul and Rue St Antoine. Had a good pizza lunch at Pizza Momo on Rue St Antoine and there are severaL good bistros on Square St Catherine near St Paul St Louis Cathedral
|
From my last trip..
Place des Vosges (4th/marais) Cafe Hugo,lunch, outdoor with views of square...had veal bavette, with cooked veggies and potatoes dauphinoises. Chez Clement (6th, but has a few locations), homemade terrine, small sausage appetizer, 1/2 chicken with creamy mashed potatoes, sorbet dessert Brasserie de L'ile St Louis, at bridge between Ile de la Cite and Ile St Louis, views of main street and Pantheon in distance, outdoor table, hanger steak (faux-fillet) with matchstick fries, 3 flavour ice cream desert. La Rotonde de la Muette (16th so out of the way), excellent vegetable soup and sole meuniere, chocolate mousse desert Bistrot du 7ieme (7th), small, local crowd, pork terrine, veal escalope with cream mushromm sauce,Positano ice cream desert. Others from the past... Rotisserie du Beaujolais (5th, across from Ile St Louis) has good roast chicken and mash potatoes. |
Our favorite restaurant in Paris is in fact the bistro Au Petit Marguery. It's in the 13th, not far from the Gobelins métro stop. The restaurant has been around for a long time, serves excellent food in a friendly atmosphere; if you're there in the fall/winter months, don't miss the sautéed wood mushrooms with garlic and parsley. There are usually several families celebrating birthdays or anniversaries; so it's a good family spot.
|
I don't understand why you decided bistros and brasseries are the way to go rather than, say, cafes. I don't understand your decision. A lot of brasseries serve shellfish, oysters and food I would not expect would be what a picky child would want. Most places of any kind have a variety of food, though, so you should be able to find something.
I would highly recommend Chez Clement at 21, bd Beaumarchais just a bit north of the Bastille column on the left side (facing north). It's next to a Leon de Bruxelles, I think, or close to it. It is not a bistro or brasserie, though, but a restaurant with very good prices and a wide variety of raditional food, including just roast chicken and potatoes, etc. It has children's menus and prices. They even advertise having a children's space, whatever that means (I don't recall). This is their menu bambin, with things like steak hache, poulet roti, etc. http://www.chezclement.com/RSC/image...EMENT-1010.pdf I just don't think you are picking the best things by limiting yourself to brasseries and bistros. |
I agree! Bistros focus largely on the traditional specialties, most of which a picky eater would not want to try....
|
Another article, a few years old but still valid; what the author terms as "affordable" may not be affordable to you so take care:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/03/13.../13tables.html |
The Musee D'Orsay has a lovely cafe behind the big clock. They also have a more formal dining room but the cafe would suit you better, I think. And it's a wonderful museum -- just the right size for me.
|
Within 24 hours in Paris, I think that both you and the kids will have scoped out what looks worth eating within the limits of your budget. Since this is clearly not a "foodie" trip, there is no reason to cross Paris for a meal unless there is already something else you want to do in a certain neighborhood.
|
There are some bistros that had full menus that even I wasn't interested in, because it was full of game and things like that. Actually, I think the Petit Marguery someone mentioned above (which is not a bistro by my definition of the term, nor theirs, they call themselves a restaurant) has a game-heavy menu and is not where I would take picky kids. It isn't cheap, either. This is their current menu, for example:
<<ravioles de pétoncles au coulis de crustacés, lièvre à la royale, gras double maison, dos de cabillaud aux épices et miel, perdreau gris rôti, poêlée de ris de veau sauce morilles, et le fameux soufflé au Grand-Marnier>> yeah, a good place for adults but I would never take two picky American kids there. |
Correction:
I meant the <b>Musée des Arts et Métiers</b>, which might be more interesting that the Musée des Arts décoratifs for children. |
|
BOOKMARK
|
For casul and quick salads, sandwiches, breads and pastries to eat in or to go and located in the Marais-
Miss Manon 87 Rue St Antoine 75004 Paris, France 01 48 87 87 59 For great pizza, salads and Italian (most kids love pizza or pasta) and in the Marais- Caffe Vito 12 Rue des Archives 75004 Paris, France 01 42 74 08 84 Also in the Marais- Le Passage Obligé Rue du Bourg Tibourg. It offers 10 euro lunches including salad, main dish and desert. Other choices available too. http://www.lepassageoblige.com/ |
I ate lunch at Miss Manon after finding that Patisserie Paul nearby was too busy. Not a lot of sit-down space, more a takeout location. Sandwich, drink and a sweet ~10 euro.
There was a nice wine bar ,Au Bouquet St Paul, across street from it, that I noted as a place to try out. Also near this spot is departure point for Paris Walks tour of Marais II. |
Three I ate at last week are all in the Marais.
Bistrot d'Oulette on Rue des Tournelles Chez Janou on the corner of Rue des Tournelles and Rue Roger Verlomme And the one I thought the best I went to used to be known as le Framboisy and has very recently become the Bistrot des Comperes on Rue Charlemagne. All about 17-20 euros a head before drinks. Another one worth a mention if you are on the Ile de la Cite is Ma Salle a Manger in Place Dauphine. |
I am consistently amazed at what some of you people will spend for a simple meal.
|
K, we're deprived at home :)
|
Kerouac - Someone on another thread posted a link to a site that lists non-expensive resistants in Paris: http://www.restos-pas-chers.fr/ Is that the kind of place you are talking about when you mention good deals? Some of the writeups on the site make the places seem pretty good; though of course they were probably written by the owners.
I certainly will give some of them a look for lunch if I'm nearby in May. |
I'm just saying that unless I need to find a place for a super special occasion, I almost never spend more than 20-25€ for a good meal(including wine but rarely including dessert, because it doesn't interest me).
|
Kerouac - I'd be interested in your list of favs. Are they mostly in your quartier?
|
If you are staying in the St. Paul area, L'Excuse has a menu enfant and is quite good. La Perla for Tex-Mex choices.
|
Certainly not, Michel_Paris -- I almost never eat in my neighborhood. If I am in my neighborhood, I prefer to eat at home.
|
I had great dreams is spending all my time in Paris cafe's drinking coffee and watching the world go by.
I was shocked at the how average the cafes were in Paris not to mention the awful, UHT milk coffee that they serve. The cafes here in Sydney leave the Paris ones for dead, even more so, the ones in Melbourne are better again. Agreed the scenery might not be as nice :) Maybe going out for breakfast isnt a big thing in Europe, however all we could find at any cafe was exactly the same menu - a baguette, jam, juice and a yogurt - this was standard everywhere ! We tried lots of places around the 5th and 6th arrondissements and was consisently disappointed. We found much nicer cafes in Amsterdam and Bruges believe it or not. Just based on my experience of course ! :) |
a baguette, jam, juice and a yogurt - this was standard everywhere !
That is a standard French breakfast.Though you can get eggs at Paul and if you want to go whole hog there is always Breakfast in America, sveral locations |
This forum is amazing! Thanks so much for all the information, I'll get a trip report up when we return.
Charlie |
Kerouac, I think the point is that for many of us, every meal in Paris is a super special occasion. But I too would be interested in your list of reasonably priced favorites.
|
<<Maybe going out for breakfast isnt a big thing in Europe, however all we could find at any cafe was exactly the same menu - a baguette, jam, juice and a yogurt - this was standard everywhere !>>
Right. It's been that way for centuries. |
Not sure why a croissant, cafe creme and OJ would be a disappointing breakfast, that is what I would expect if I walked into the local cafe.
|
We tried these 3 on our recent trip to Paris and just loved them:
Chez Janou A La Petite Chaise - 36, rue de Grenelle Moustache - 3, rue Sainte Beauve (Notre Dame des Champs metro) La Rotisserie d'en Face - 2 rue Christine (Odeon or St. Michel metro) Moustache has only been open a few months -- not to be confused with another place with similar name |
Your "experience" would be the "French way". What else would you have? It is what I MOST look forward to when in Paris, and always forget how crusty the bread is and abrade my mouth!! If you wanted something more for breakfast then you would have looked for a cafe that served an "american breakfast". Knowledge is everything--or nothing.
SO, the cafes in Melbourne are more "French". What square do they overlook? Stay home. |
Gretchen, i expressed my opinion from my own experience, which I believe is the point of forums.
Plus, I did say that the scenery in Paris was far nicer than anything I will see from a french cafe. I was very disappointed in the quality of coffee in Paris - again, the UHT milk was awful! |
French breakfasts are small and standard. Croissant, special long thin baguettes, jam, butter, juice, coffee. That's the way it is and that's the way the locals like it.
Local cafes in Paris usually serve good coffees, much better than the chain junk places. Personally I prefer a noissette to a cafe au lait. If you want an American style breakfast, then try hotels where they have the buffet settings. |
I am always surprised the travellers don't find out what to expect before they go and are then subsequently surprised when their destination isn't just like home or some other city they have been to. I do think there is a place called Breakfast in America and I agree a hotel that caters to American tourists are most likely to have all the extras that we are used to. I just use the smaller breakfast as an excuse to get another yummy pastry mid-morning. I absolutely love a still warm pan au chocolat with a cafe creme every morning!
|
Everywhere in the world, I have noticed that breakfasts are the most difficult item for many people to adapt to different things. Perhaps, upon awaking, many people require a familiar food item.
While this happens to me sometimes, I can generally appreciate the local offerings, and have had shrimp soup, bread dipped in cold curry sauce, kippers, beef noodle soup and many other strange items for breakfast, and I have eaten them with gusto. On the other hand, things like eggs or sausages generally disgust me, so many 'American' breakfasts do not appeal at all to me. Nevertheless, since many Americans don't mind a breakfast of coffee and doughnuts or rolls, I don't see why coffee with croissants or tartines would pose a problem. |
The poster who did not like the Parisian breakfasts in cafes said he or she was from Sydney, so I don't think the issue is American breakfasts or American tastes.
|
No, nothing to do with American breakfast at all!
|
What about un pain aux raisins for breakfast. YUMMY!!!!!
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:19 PM. |