Food Quality in Paris
May 13th, 2007, 11:32 AM
#21
I don't think the OP was insulting Brits (or anyone else) .
It was more his saying that food in London is yuck compared to Chicago - which it isn't.
But it CAN be if one goes to yuck places. Just like your illustration re Miami - or think about foreign visitors to the US eating all their meals at Denny's! If Aquaart was that "unlucky" in London he probably won't have any better "luck" in Paris.
It was more his saying that food in London is yuck compared to Chicago - which it isn't.
But it CAN be if one goes to yuck places. Just like your illustration re Miami - or think about foreign visitors to the US eating all their meals at Denny's! If Aquaart was that "unlucky" in London he probably won't have any better "luck" in Paris.
May 13th, 2007, 11:58 AM
#22
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I have been to France more times than I can remember and I don't think that I had a bad meal, in a restaurant or home cooked.
London? Well if you eat Amer-Rican food than what is wrong with English food?
Chicago, Aquaart, I like, been there a few times, love the pizza!
I have had venison (Deer & Elk), Ostrich, Squid, Octopus, Possum,
Crab, Crayfish, Rabbit, Camel, Alligator, Oysters, Clams, Mussels, fish roe (can't call it caviar legal thing, you know) and just about any other seafood swims off the East Coast of the USA that's legal, most served in local restaurants (except the Camel).
I find American food a mix of just about every cuisine available.
I live in Southeastern Virginia, transplanted New England Yankee Mick, and think ya'll should chill and come on to a Southern Virginia church "Pot Luck" or maybe our own Strawberry Festival!
Maybe you like, maybe you don't but if you walk away hungry, its your fault Cher!
London? Well if you eat Amer-Rican food than what is wrong with English food?
Chicago, Aquaart, I like, been there a few times, love the pizza!
I have had venison (Deer & Elk), Ostrich, Squid, Octopus, Possum,
Crab, Crayfish, Rabbit, Camel, Alligator, Oysters, Clams, Mussels, fish roe (can't call it caviar legal thing, you know) and just about any other seafood swims off the East Coast of the USA that's legal, most served in local restaurants (except the Camel).
I find American food a mix of just about every cuisine available.
I live in Southeastern Virginia, transplanted New England Yankee Mick, and think ya'll should chill and come on to a Southern Virginia church "Pot Luck" or maybe our own Strawberry Festival!
Maybe you like, maybe you don't but if you walk away hungry, its your fault Cher!
May 13th, 2007, 09:36 PM
#29
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London - weird food with lots of organs? Where on earth were you eating? Out of skips? Most places won't have any 'organs' at all on the menu, and the few that do (steak and kidney pie anyone?) will still only have them as a tiny fraction of their menu.
May 13th, 2007, 11:29 PM
#31
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Well I can't help but respond to this post.
I'm from Chicago, and I've taken 10 trips to Paris. The food in Paris is far better. I even prefer the pizza in Paris! (I'm a fan of thin crust, not deep dish.) The #2 reason why I keep going to Paris again and again is for the FOOD.
About London, I've only been once, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Great meals there, especially in the hotel restaurant.
I'm from Chicago, and I've taken 10 trips to Paris. The food in Paris is far better. I even prefer the pizza in Paris! (I'm a fan of thin crust, not deep dish.) The #2 reason why I keep going to Paris again and again is for the FOOD.
About London, I've only been once, but I was very pleasantly surprised. Great meals there, especially in the hotel restaurant.
May 13th, 2007, 11:47 PM
#32
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We just got back from Paris today. Everywhere we went, the food was good. We did not have any bad experience with the food. They do have food that's different than most food in the US but we're adventurous with food so it was not a problem. Some of the food can be fattening but the servings are a lot smaller than most restaurants in the US, and with all the walking we did, I think I lost a couple of pounds so no worries. Have fun!
May 14th, 2007, 02:09 AM
#33
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The OP's other posters show no sign of trolling or of a warped sense of humour.
So the question has to be taken seriously. And I'd suggest only Dukey's close to calling this right.
It's pretty easy to find crap food in London: all this stuff about gastronomic revolutions is pretty surface-deep. And finding NOTHING but crap food, except at branches of M+S or Pret, isn't impossible: it just takes very, very, odd behaviour, which you'd only contemplate if you had a strange disorder or fad.
What IS impossible, though, is finding "lots" of offal: brains have been virtually unavailable since BSE struck, and tripe, hearts or sweetbreads are confined to a handful of speciality places these days.
So, unless the poster spent the whole holiday at St John in Smithfield, we've got someone here who's not only got some kind of food fad but gets seriously fazed by the occasional mention of kidneys or liver, or by the sight of a nice bit of tongue.
Such a person will actually find Paris a great deal harder than London to deal with. The ony sensible advice is one of:
- cancel the holiday, and stay in Illinois, or
- see this as a further opportunity to lose weight. Because if the mere mention of a steak and kidney pie gives you the heeby-jeebies, the smell of the next table's andouillettes will turn you off food for life, or
- see the Paris trip as God's way of teaching you to eat properly. Whatever silly fad you're cursed with, abandon it. Order blindly off the menu, remembering that the French live longer, spend less on doctors and medicine and are a great deal thinner than Americans - not least because they'll eat (and drink) pretty much anything the good Lord provides.
So the question has to be taken seriously. And I'd suggest only Dukey's close to calling this right.
It's pretty easy to find crap food in London: all this stuff about gastronomic revolutions is pretty surface-deep. And finding NOTHING but crap food, except at branches of M+S or Pret, isn't impossible: it just takes very, very, odd behaviour, which you'd only contemplate if you had a strange disorder or fad.
What IS impossible, though, is finding "lots" of offal: brains have been virtually unavailable since BSE struck, and tripe, hearts or sweetbreads are confined to a handful of speciality places these days.
So, unless the poster spent the whole holiday at St John in Smithfield, we've got someone here who's not only got some kind of food fad but gets seriously fazed by the occasional mention of kidneys or liver, or by the sight of a nice bit of tongue.
Such a person will actually find Paris a great deal harder than London to deal with. The ony sensible advice is one of:
- cancel the holiday, and stay in Illinois, or
- see this as a further opportunity to lose weight. Because if the mere mention of a steak and kidney pie gives you the heeby-jeebies, the smell of the next table's andouillettes will turn you off food for life, or
- see the Paris trip as God's way of teaching you to eat properly. Whatever silly fad you're cursed with, abandon it. Order blindly off the menu, remembering that the French live longer, spend less on doctors and medicine and are a great deal thinner than Americans - not least because they'll eat (and drink) pretty much anything the good Lord provides.
May 14th, 2007, 02:45 AM
#34
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The OP's looking for reassurance, having (for whatever reason) had a series of meals in London that they found unpalatable.
I'm a little surprised no-one's suggested one of the menu translation guides I've seen mentioned in other threads:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34600699
That should give a few clues as to the range of things available. In most ordinary cafés and bistros of the kind you'll find at almost every crossroads in Paris and in many places in between, food will be fairly simple and straightforward. Portions will probably be smaller than you're used to.
Here's one sample menu I've found on the net from just the sort of place I had in mind:
http://www.slowtrav.com/france/resta...enu_balzar.htm
I'm a little surprised no-one's suggested one of the menu translation guides I've seen mentioned in other threads:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34600699
That should give a few clues as to the range of things available. In most ordinary cafés and bistros of the kind you'll find at almost every crossroads in Paris and in many places in between, food will be fairly simple and straightforward. Portions will probably be smaller than you're used to.
Here's one sample menu I've found on the net from just the sort of place I had in mind:
http://www.slowtrav.com/france/resta...enu_balzar.htm
May 14th, 2007, 09:36 AM
#35
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really. this must be a joke.
maybe you don't know how to pick a restaurant. but the food in london is now worldclass.
and of course, rench food is among the best, most sohpisticated cuisine in the world.
if you go to a place in the student quarter where they give you bad pizza and a coke for cheap -- then you'll get what you pay for.
but parisian food is sublime and you shold do prix fixe dinners -- three courses of the best food of the day at a reasonable price. and you'll expand your eating horizons.
take the iJourneys.com iPod walking tour of the Left Bank. They point out several cool vcafes that serve good food.
you should eat lunch in cafe once -- have the world's best omelette.
and please. open your mind and your mouth!
maybe you don't know how to pick a restaurant. but the food in london is now worldclass.
and of course, rench food is among the best, most sohpisticated cuisine in the world.
if you go to a place in the student quarter where they give you bad pizza and a coke for cheap -- then you'll get what you pay for.
but parisian food is sublime and you shold do prix fixe dinners -- three courses of the best food of the day at a reasonable price. and you'll expand your eating horizons.
take the iJourneys.com iPod walking tour of the Left Bank. They point out several cool vcafes that serve good food.
you should eat lunch in cafe once -- have the world's best omelette.
and please. open your mind and your mouth!
May 14th, 2007, 09:47 AM
#36
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WOW I am feeling like I've been slapped up side the head a bunch of times here! First, London was my first out of the U.S. Trip so I am looking for some insights into Paris.
I will clarify my London experience which is apparently what got most of you in a tiff. I did some restaurants on my own, some that got recommended by other people I met there and the concierge at the hotel. I did not eat at any chain restaurants, but must have gotten a lot of bad advice. I had two or three great meals, but I was expecting more since I was there for 2 weeks. By the way, I absolutely loved London and would go back in a heartbeat.
The few French restaurants here are pretty fancy and the food tends to be saucier and heavier apparently than what it is really like in France if I am reading some of these posts correctly.
I have no idea what to expect and was hoping to get some help. I am not a picky eater (except I don't like Indian or Chinese food), but apparently I didn't get any great advice in London on places to eat.
Also for the first 8 days of the trip I was traveling alone and many times just went into a place that looked good because I was hungry from walking all day.
I will clarify my London experience which is apparently what got most of you in a tiff. I did some restaurants on my own, some that got recommended by other people I met there and the concierge at the hotel. I did not eat at any chain restaurants, but must have gotten a lot of bad advice. I had two or three great meals, but I was expecting more since I was there for 2 weeks. By the way, I absolutely loved London and would go back in a heartbeat.
The few French restaurants here are pretty fancy and the food tends to be saucier and heavier apparently than what it is really like in France if I am reading some of these posts correctly.
I have no idea what to expect and was hoping to get some help. I am not a picky eater (except I don't like Indian or Chinese food), but apparently I didn't get any great advice in London on places to eat.
Also for the first 8 days of the trip I was traveling alone and many times just went into a place that looked good because I was hungry from walking all day.
May 14th, 2007, 09:55 AM
#37
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Oh, and thank you for all of your help. I really appreciate it. We are leaving in four weeks and I am very excited. This time I won't be on my own the whole trip. 2-1/2 days on own while husband works, 4-1/2 days more while husband works, but another couple joins us, then 5 days with all four of us when husband is done working at the Paris Air Show.
I think the husband of the other couple is going to the air show on Saturday (public day) and the last day my husband is working. My girlfriend and I will do something fun that the guys might not want to do - like shop!
I think the husband of the other couple is going to the air show on Saturday (public day) and the last day my husband is working. My girlfriend and I will do something fun that the guys might not want to do - like shop!
May 14th, 2007, 09:55 AM
#38
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Not to malign fellow americas - but I have worked with several clients in the midwest - and some of them were amazingly difficult to please in term of food even in New York. Basically they would eat chicken or beef (and pork in the form of ribs) but no other meats - not even lamb, never mind liver - or other animals. For "fish" they wanted shrimp or lobster - wouldn;t even touch sole, flounder, tuna or swordfish. One tasted my crabcake - and hated it. And the only "ethnic" food they would eat was pizza. I had one client who ate nothing but steak, baked potato and fried chicken.
That isn;t to say that all americans eat this way - most have much wider diets - esp if on one of the coasts where fresh fish and seafood is easily available. But there is also a group with very limited dietary habits - and I can understand someone like that hating food in London - or France for that matter.
That isn;t to say that all americans eat this way - most have much wider diets - esp if on one of the coasts where fresh fish and seafood is easily available. But there is also a group with very limited dietary habits - and I can understand someone like that hating food in London - or France for that matter.
May 14th, 2007, 10:21 AM
#39
You seem to have changed your tune just a bit. There is a lot of difference between "<i>Last year when in London the food was so awful (except for those bagette sandwiches) I lost 5 pounds</i>" -- and -- "<i>I had two or three great meals, but I was expecting more since I was there for 2 weeks.</i>"
Perhaps your initial post was a bit exaggerated for effect or something. Maybe it wasn't that the restaurants were uniformly bad but that you ordered midwest-type food (like steaks) and didn't get what you expected. DON'T order a steak in Paris BTW - or you will really be disappointed.
Perhaps your initial post was a bit exaggerated for effect or something. Maybe it wasn't that the restaurants were uniformly bad but that you ordered midwest-type food (like steaks) and didn't get what you expected. DON'T order a steak in Paris BTW - or you will really be disappointed.
May 14th, 2007, 10:33 AM
#40
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I had a terrific steak in Paris -- though it was still mooing a bit. Just remember that their "medium" is our rare, their rare is our "extremely rare", and "bleu" is barely touched the heat. Bleu is best.
If you like your steak American "well done", don't bother; no one will cook it that way, and they will pretend not to understand what disgusting thing you're talking about. They have approximately the same reaction to it as you would have to a raw chicken milkshake or something.
If you like your steak American "well done", don't bother; no one will cook it that way, and they will pretend not to understand what disgusting thing you're talking about. They have approximately the same reaction to it as you would have to a raw chicken milkshake or something.
