PWAbbott

Our family is going back to Paris and our 25 year old son is joining us for the first time. He is a "foodie" and would like to try some different and unusual things but our budget is fairly limited.

We are staying in an apartment by Place de la Madeleine but will be walking all over. I would love to have one or two nice dinners but could not spend more than $150-200 for 5 of us. Any suggestions?

Any special places (bakeries, cheese shops, etc.) that you would suggest he try?

sandi_travelnut

Would bakeries and cheese shops be "different and unusual" enough for him?

Seamus

A truly great dinner for 5 for less than $200 (that's only about 25 euro each)or less will be a challenge at most restaurants. As a general rule, lunch is cheaper and often a better value. There are plenty of places that offer tourist menus, and while epicurean foodies may sneer at many (some deservedly) they offer a way to keep body and soul together on the cheap for non-splurge meals. Some guidelines that have served me well in a similar situation:
1. If the place is full of tourists, keep walking
2. If there is a laminated English menu or a guy at the entrance hawking customers, stroll on
3. If it is a hole in the wall in an out of the way place but has a local crowd, give it a shot
4. Carry along a pocket size translation list for food items
5. Be adventurous and remember that ethnic foods often cost less
http://tinyurl.com/2tvssy
http://tinyurl.com/2swyk4

Since you have an apartment you can certainly hit the markets and whip up some meals for yourself. The quality of the products is great, and with some simple preparation you have a delicious meal. http://tinyurl.com/2slbyo

Several people have recommended the Picard frozen food stores but have not yet tried them yet because the fresh market products are just so good.
http://www.picard.fr/

QueScaisJe

Our family of 5 ate quite well in Paris in 2006 without breaking the bank. We used Sandra Gustafson's "Great Eats in Paris" book as a reference. The thing to look for are the prix fixe menus.

We felt the following all offered good value:

Les Degrés de Notre Dame (3 rue des Grands Degrés), menus at €23.50 and €25.50

La Maison de la Lozère (4 rue Hautefeuille), total for 5 €124.90

Le Caveau de L’Isle (36 rue Saint Louis en l’Isle), €24.95 menu

Le Petit Prince (12 rue Lanneau), menu €18, assiette été €19

Le Pré Verre (8 rue Thénard), €25.50 menu

USNR

If he is 25, he can darn well afford to treat you. Let him worry about the cost.

seafox

Here's what I am thinking - set a daily food budget, with a couple of days being higher than others. Take your son to a grocery and the markets. there are a couple close by to where you are staying. What is average/typical to the locals feels exotic to us...I love to shop for groceries in Paris. It's an adventure. On the days you allow more money, go for a prix fix menu. It gives you some control and ensures you meet financial expectations. Search this board for ideas, go with a list, look around and make your decisions on the fly. The exchange rate is hurting us all - the key is to keep control.

So,here's a funny story, this past year six of us arrived in Paris and none of us got there when expected. All flights were late or cancelled. After 24 hrs of travel we crashed in our apartment. I must admit it was a fabulous apartment - In Palais Royal. We were hungry and thirsty. We had wine and Vodka from duty free. I scoured the apartment and managed to build a cous cous "soufle" topped with some sort of green vegetable meatballs (from the freezer). topped with instant bechemal sauce and some unknown dried cheese....we loved it!!! It was Paris , we are the best of friends and the food was exotic.... do not be afraid to eat in!!!!

travlintoes

bookmarking for Paris cheaper eats.

hhildebrandt

kerouac recently posted in this forum about a walk from gare du nord to montmartre.
here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35095155

cathies

bookmarking

ira

Hi P,

>He is a "foodie" and would like to try some different and unusual things ..

Almost everything will be different, if not unusual.

Let him try ris de veau, Andouillette sausage , rognons, gesier de canard, filet de Cheval, museau de boef, pied de cochon.

All of the above are available without going to high-priced restos.

PWAbbott

What great help! Thanks for all the links to restaurants, markets and then specific ideas for meals. I actually think the idea of exploring all the food markets and cooking with products we can't find in our small town sounds fascinating.

sandi_travelnut: we all love bread and my husband always seemed to have a baguette in his hand.

QueScaisJe: Is there one of these that stood out as a great memory?

Luther_Brenda

Maybe this will help?

Author: tod
Date: 03/07/2008, 11:09 am
Luther- Cheap cheap food:-
A fellow Fodorite living in Paris has put forward these fantastic cheap eats:
Metro;Max Dormoy. 2 Rue de la Chapelle - Au Roi du Cafe, meals for less than 10euros.
or
Boulangerie de Mogador, 10 rue Chapelle.

94bis Rue Riquet, Indian restaurant with set meal 7.50euros-18euros.

You like Chinese food?

Rue Torcy is the main restaurant street of the local Chinatown.

La Locomotive, 25 Rue Torcy has huge meals for 8euros.
Across the street, Thai San @ no.44 or Hanouman, no.36 has set menu 10, 12 & 13 euros.

35 Rue de Torcy is Shin Juku with meals @ 9euros or La Maison Thai, 2 rue de l'Evangile ( only 2 tables)where you can eat well for 5 euros!!!

I, me, myself, can't wait to get there as I absolutely adore Eastern food!
Hope you try some too!

PWAbbott

OK Ira, I had to google most of those foods and I'm glad my son is the "foodie" and not me: pig's trotters, kidneys, and I quote: "Ris de veau is veal sweetbreads. There are two types: the pancreas and the thyroid gland, generally only used from the young animals - calves and lamb." Oh, my. I actually love to cook but don't even like giblets in our Thanksgiving gravy!

franco

OMG, but ris de veau is not exotic. It's one of the world's most famous & most outstanding gastronomic delights. Nobody may call him/herself a serious eater without having it regularly!! ("Giblets" are a gastronomic non-category. Each of them tastes so differently!, it's absolutely impossible to determine anything they have in common. If you don't like kidneys, for example, you can't conclude that you won't like ris de veau, as well. That's like saying "I don't like cheddar cheese, certainly I won't like beef steak, too" - both being cattle products!)

PWAbbott

Perhaps I need to "google" less and just be brave to try everything!

franco

Definitely. IMHO, even the notion of being brave if you try unknown food is distorted. If I'm going elsewhere, I try to sample ONLY unknown food. How boring to eat what I can have back home, too. (A dear Fodorite friend, a big foodie as well, once wanted to send me to Vietnam just to sample chicken penis - I've yet to do it, but indeed, for me, those chicken penis dishes are a strong reason to go! Where else would you find them?)

Ok, let's be serious. While I don't doubt that it may be possible to get fine food at reasonable prices in Paris, I always failed to, even with considerable research and preparation. On my last visit, I found the - for me, of course - definite solution: each day, I had brunch and dinner at home, i.e. at the apartment I had rented; or breakfast instead of brunch, plus a light, cheap, unassuming lunch somewhere out - for these meals at home, I bought cheese, first of all (the cheese shops are gorgeous in Paris - don't even think of buying cheese at the supermarket, PLEASE!), or pies/terrines/galantines (gorgeous shopping, as well), with baguette. And as far as eating out, I planned each afternoon around one of Paris' world-famous patissiers, eating two or three sweet phantasies or a gelato (which is great in Paris, not just in Italy!). Those confectioners creations cost a fortune for what they are, but that's still less than even a cheap meal!, and the quality is superb - pastry confections like nowhere else in the world, and gelato that hasn't too much competition, as well.

Coquelicot

One way to keep costs down is for just the son and one parent at a time to go for a restaurant lunch. Be sure each of you gets at least one turn.

Also, if your son likes cheese, you can buy small amounts of several kinds each day and do a cheese-tasting back at the apartment. Same with pastries and breads. Try and compare some different butters; they are a revelation. Chocolate bars--he'll have the thrill of going into a store and seeing long rows of chocolates (I like Cote d'Or from Belgium). I hope he can find caramels au beurre sale--the best candy I've ever tasted. He will love the markets and grocery stores.
I bet even the younger kids will enjoy this. You'll have so much fun cooking with your family.

ira

Hi PW,

>Perhaps I need to "google" less and just be brave to try everything!

Well, let me help you a bit.

Sweetbreads, kidneys, gizzards and pig feet are quite good.

Beef cheeks are rather unctuoous. I like them but my Lady wife doesn't.

Andouillete are tripe sausage. Definitely an acquired taste, but very good with a powerful red wine.

You can get very good Italian, Algerian, Chinese, Thai and Singaporan food in Paris.

Enjoy your visit.

tod

PW - I don't take credit for the foodie reccommendations. All came via Kerouac who has been given the link to his "walk" from hhilderbrandt.

tod

Ira - Please do tell where we can find Singaporean food in Paris!
I would kill for a good dose of Sate`!