judlar

looking for a restaurant that serves great mussels and fries in paris.thank you

ParisJo

Leon de Bruxelles has several locations and specializes in mussels/fries. It will always have a special place in my heart as the place where I spotted Robert Plant 2 years ago while we were having dinner.

Good meal at fair prices.

Jo

spaarne

Ditto for Leon de Bruxelles. Prices vary at the restaurants. Dinner is cheaper at the Blvd. du Montparnasse store than the one on Champs Elysees.

kerouac

Yes, Léon is the place to go. There are locations all over Paris and the suburbs.

Two locations that I would avoid are one on the Champs Elysées and the one in Saint Germain des Prés, where the service is beyond indifferent (probably due to overworked staff). République, Montparnasse, Bastille and Les Halles are pleasant and friendly locations.

ParisJo

We ate at the one at Bastille on the outside terrace. Very nice surroundings and good service.
Jo

Travelnut

What about some non-chain brasseries..?

Ackislander

It doesn't take much to cook mussels, so there isn't likely to be a huge difference in the way they taste from place to place, not to say that a starred restaurant won't have their own special tricks.

But if you are just looking for moules frites, there are huge advantages to a place that serves a lot of mussels. They keep a long time, but they are better when fresher. I actually have a shellfish license and dig my own, and I am always amazed at how much better they are when right out of the water.

If you do go to Leon, try the curried mussels. Yummm.

avalon

My DH thought the mussels at Leon's were mediocre. Much better at Bistrot du Dome, Bistrot de Marius, Marius et Jannette, or Le Bar de Huitres. However he says the best he has ever eaten are at La Famiglia in London. They place his order as soon as they see us coming in the door!

kerouac

<i>What about some non-chain brasseries..?</i>

The problem with the non-chain places is that you can't count on the quality or the size of the mussels. Sometimes you can order them and be given a pot of something hardly worth bothering with. Léon, on the other hand, has a guarantee for size and quality, so you are never surprised by things that should never have been pulled out of the ocean. When the North Sea mussels are not the right size, they get their supplies from Greece, Italy or Spain.

avalon

That's funny Kerouas. One of D's complaints were the mussels were teeny tiny the night we ate there

kerouac

Could have been a rare glitch.