Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Eating my way through Paris (Monica) May 2007

Hi everyone,

Here’s my list of restaurants from my recent trip to Paris. It was nice to stay put in one city to have the opportunity to try so many great restaurants. I had a long list to choose from but felt I made some very good selections. I have to say all my meals on this trip were wonderful. There was one dish (the red mullet at Bistro Lepicurien) that I didn’t care for, but they served the best fabulous foie gras salad. I would return to any of these restaurants although my top favorites were: Bistrot de l’Oulette, Chez Janou, L’as du Fallafel, Chez Marianne, Les Ombres (for a splurge dinner) and Robert et Louise. The prices listed are what I paid for my meals. Echange rate was (ugh!) about $1.36 to the Euro. My friend Louisa joined me in Paris. I will post my food photos this weekend on my web site: http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html (click on Restaurants, then France).

 Restaurant Chez Julien 
1, rue du Point-Louis-Philippe, Paris IV
Tel: 01 42 78 31 64

25 Euro menu. Fricassee mushrooms in a white wine sauce; baked salmon in a tomato provencale sauce and vegetables; Nougat glas with a raspberry puree for dessert. Shared a small bottle of Sancerre red wine. Total 33€. This was an expensive lunch but a nice start to my trip.

 L’as du Fallafel 
34, rue des Rosiers, Paris IV
Tel: 01 48 87 63 60

Since we had an expensive lunch (above), Louisa and I decided to go cheap for dinner. We each ordered their Fallafel special (6.50€): A large pita bread over stuffed with fallafel, hummus, grilled eggplant, cabbage, radish, tomato, cucumber. On the table was hot sauce, which we added to our sandwich. This was quite filling and so delicious! We shared a small bottle of red wine (9€). Total 15.50€.

 Le Pot de Terre 
22, rue due Pot de Fer, Paris V
Tel: 01 43 31 15 51
http://www.lepotdeterre.com

Salad with foie gras (1.50€ supplement); Grilled lamb in a tarragon sauce with whole garlic cloves; potatoes and a puree of peas. Crème brulee for dessert. I noticed on the receipt later that they did not charge me. Their web site offers a complimentary Kir coupon, which we brought with us. We enjoyed sitting outside. This street (around the corner from rue Mouffetard) is filled with restaurants. Total 15.50€.

 La Guirlande de Julie Restaurant 
25, Place des Vosges, Paris III
Tel: 01 48 87 94 07
[email protected]

Louisa and I started the evening with a glass of Kir (wine with a touch of black current liquor) and shared the entree (starter dish): Assiette de petits delices, which consisted of 4 small dishes: A tomato-type soup; hard boiled egg topped with (?can’t remember) and haricots verts (French green beans), a house terrine, and a salad with a red pepper stuffed with a crab puree. I had the Supreme de Canette rotie la cuisse en nem (duck) while Louisa had the Souris d agneau en couscous de legumes (lamb). I think this was one of the more expensive meals on this trip, as the portions were very small, although tasty. Total 33€.

 Bar-Restaurant des Varietes 
12, Passage des Panoramas, Paris II
Tel: 01 42 36 98 09

This place is located in one of the glass covered passages. Lots of shops and cafés. Paté Mason; Beef (very tender!) with potatoes and mushrooms. Glass of red wine (Cotes de Bourg Franc-La Fleur, Bordeaux). Total 14€.

 Chez Janou 
2, rue Roger Verlomme, Paris III
Tel: 01 42 72 28 41

Moules gratinees provencale (mussels); Risotto with scallops. Shared a bottle of white wine. Very good meal and we enjoyed sitting out on the terrace of this busy, noisy, smokey restaurant! 33.50€.

 Les Ombres Restaurant 
Musée du quai Branly
25 Quai Branly, Paris VII
Tel: 01 47 53 68 00
http://www.lesombres-restaurant.com

This was our splurge dinner. Louisa and I both ordered the 95€ tasting menu and it was fabulous! We ordered an inexpensive bottle of red wine for 36€ (highest bottle of wine goes for 600€). Fresh baked bread was served along with a small dish of herring on top of a curry sauce. I thought it was an unusual starter. Our dinner began: Garden peas veloute soup flavored with fresh mint, crab meat and thin shellfish jelly. The mint was not overwhelming and I could taste the hint of dill. Next, we had the duck foie-gras terrine with sweet pepper chutney and grained mustard; Grilled rare tuna, hot piperade and “Noirmoutier” potatoes cooked with salted butter; Young lamb, cooked rare, flavored with marjoram and a spinach ricotta gnocchi (which really looked and tasted like a quiche). For dessert: “La grande Dame”: Praline-flavored light pastry with lemon like “aux Ombres” This was a really wonderful dinner with excellent service, although expensive. Les Ombres is a place for a special occasion, especially having such wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower right in our face. Once it was dark, the Eiffel Tower sparked at the top of the hour. Very special indeed! I think the most unique dish was the soup.

 Chez Marianne 
2, rue des Hospitalieres-Saint-Gervais, Paris IV
(corner of rue des Rosiers)
Metro: Hotel-de-Ville
Tel: 01 42 72 18 86

This place (like l’as du Fallafel) is located right around the corner from where we were staying. Chez Marianne is a very busy restaurant and has outdoor seating. It was drizzling when Louisa and I went there to eat, so we sat inside. We had stopped by the day before to make reservations and the man at the counter said no need to. We arrived and there were just a few empty seats. The restaurant turns their tables quickly, so I understood his comment. Chez Marianne serves Middle Eastern and Easter European dishes. Louisa and I ordered mezes (12€ per four mezes) to share. Wow, what wonderful food! We had fallafel, Kefte, hummus (the BEST!), sliced pastrami, tarama, feta cheese, grilled eggplant, olive tapenade, eggplant caviar (the waitress added this to our dish by mistake) and bread. Pita bread was extra, but the bread that was served to us was great: rye and a dark pumpernickle type bread. We shared a small bottle of wine. We walked away stuffed! 18€.

 La Terrasse du 7eme 
2,place de l'Ecole Militaire
Metro : Ecole Militaire
Tel : 01 45 55 00 02

Simple lunch of a Croque Monsieur (toasted ham/cheese sandwich) with a small salad (8€); Glass of white wine (4€).

 Robert et Louise 
64, rue Vieille du Temple, Paris III
Tel: 01 42 78 55 89

Come to this tiny restaurant if you want a good steak and make reservations, as the owner was turning away people after the restaurant filled up. This place seats about 26 and has for their stove a fireplace along the back wall. Out back they have a turkish squat toilet. Louisa and I ordered the “beef for 2” for 40€. It was well worth the price. Along with the steak we could order potatoes or a salad, so we got one of each to share. The steak was cooked perfectly rare, the only way to eat red meat in my opinion! With wine and an apple tart for dessert our meal each was 32€.

 Bistrot de l’Oulette 
38, rue des Tournelles, Paris IV
Tel: 01 42 71 43 33
Metro: Chemin Vert - Bastille
http://www.l-oulette.com/baracane.php
[email protected]

This is a small restaurant seating about 30 people. One waiter, Josie, took care of the entire dining room and the bar, while the two cooks in the back worked in a tiny kitchen. He always had a smile on his face. Louisa and I met up with some fellow fodorites/slow travelers for dinner (Sam, Anne, & Jim, and Jan). The 6 of us shared a few bottles of house wine after we all started with an appertif. I had the pate w/mushrooms followed by one of my best dishes on this trip: Cassoulet. This is a hearty stew of beans, vegetables, sausage, gizzards, and duck. I couldn’t eat all of it and I didn’t think to ask to take the rest back to the apartment (do the French allow doggie bags?). Some in the group had dessert while Louisa and I had a Ricard, a licorice flavored liqueur. 50€. Excellent, excellent dinner.

 Bistro Lepicurien 
86 bis, rue Lepic, Paris XVIII
Tel: 01 42 51 25 51
http://www.bistro-lepicurien.net

This small bistro is located near the Place du Teatre but far enough away that there were no other tourists in the restaurant. I ran into Anne and Jim on a Montmartre walking tour, so we had lunch together. I had a salad with a nice thick slab of foie gras, thinly sliced duck, and gizzards. For my main dish, I had the Filet de Rouget a la Provencale, a red mullet fish with an eggplant puree. The salad was absolutely fabulous but I didn’t care for the fish. The salad was large enough to enjoy as my lunch along with the bread, so I could have skipped the fish. 19€.

 Le Caveau de l’Isle 
36, rue Saint-Louis en l’Isle, Paris IV
Metro: Pont-Marie
Tel: 01 43 25 10 26
http://www.lecaveaudelisle.com

This restaurant is located on the Ile Saint Louis, which was about a 20 minute walk from my apartment in the Marais. I started with their foie gras, which was topped with a plum puree and serve with toast – nice combination of flavors. Next I had the lamb chops served with potatoes au gratin – both delicious. Small bottle of red wine. Although the food was very good, the foie gras salad at Bistro Lepicurien was much better and with a larger portion of foie gras. Also, one disappointing thing was that the diners were all tourists. All other places I dined in had a good mixture of locals and tourists. Very good dinner, but I wouldn’t return here. 39.50€.

 Cremerie Restaurant Polidor 
41, rue Monsieur-le-Prince, Paris VI
Metro: Odeon

Arrive early, as this place fills up quite fast for lunch. The main room seats about 80 people. I had their house terrine, which was quite delicious (4.50€) followed by chicken in a cream sauce and white rice (13€). A couple sitting next to me offered me a glass of wine, as I was only drinking water.

 L’epi Dupin 
11, rue Dupin, Paris VI
Tel: 01 42 22 64 56
Metro: Severes-Bablyone
[email protected]

I met up with Susan (a fellow fodorite), who lives in Switzerland, but was in Paris to meet her mother the next day. I had dined at L’epi Dupin several years back and wanted to try it again. I was not disappointed. The place started to fill up at 7pm. We had 7:30pm reservations. The restaurant has a 32€ menu with several items to choose from for each plat, entrée, and dessert. I had an asparagus salad, which was served with cabbage and a cream sauce, followed by Filet Canette – duck with peas, carrots and shallots. The duck was cooked to medium-rare. For dessert I had a baked peach with vanilla ice cream and a thin cookie wafer. We shared a bottle of wine (16€). The first group of diners were mostly tourists and when they left (around 8:45pm - 9pm) the place refilled with local diners. 40€

 Tante Jeanne 
1, rue de la Dodane, Amiens
Tel: 03 22 72 30 30

I had a cheese, sausage and mushroom crepe (7€). Louisa and I shared a carafe of white wine (7.50€). The crepe was good but I expected the sausage to be similar to an Italian sausage, not like hotdogs! Total. 10.75€.

 Le Bistrot des Halles 
10, rue Bannelier, Dijon
Tel: 03 80 49 94 15

Cream of white asparagus soup; Salmon in a light cream sauce. Louisa and I ordered two different desserts to share: Crème Freshe and a Pot a la Parlaine. House white wine (11€). 21.50€. This place had outdoor dining but the day we were there the tables/chairs were not set up. Not sure why, as it was a beautiful day.

 Picnic lunch in St. Germain-en-laye 

Louisa and took the opportunity to buy some picnic foods at the market: Paté, Morbier cheese, French bread, a small quiche to share, and a pickled cucumber salad. With two individual bottles of red wine (airplane size), our meal came to 7.35€ per person.

Now I need to come up with a good list for my trip to Rome in October! I’ll be there for 4 nights before going on a 2-week cruise to the Mediterranean/Black sea.

Monica ((F))

PS: If interested, this link is my posting of my trip notes: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34998495 I’ll put more detail into the journal on my web site soon, as well as my photos. ;)