chartley

Every restaurant will have its menu posted outside. That is the time to see what type of food it serves, the price, and if you understand the words.

You can practice saying what you want to order, and may decide that you will go for what is simplest and most straightforward. Don't be ashamed. If it is on the menu, then is what the restaurant is hoping to sell you.

You may find that, even if the staff speak English, they speak British rather than U.S. English. Egg Plant is aubergine in British English, and zucchini is courgette. The British use a French word to describe these items.

logos999

All over Europe, American visitors are force fed with snails and ... Well all kind of strange foods. Once they return, they suffer and are unable to talk about their ordeal.

Poor people, they need our help
Next question, please.

cls2paris

Get a good menu translation book, I like "Eating and Drinking in France". It is small, food/drink are listed in alphabetical order and I've rarely found something on the menu that I couldn't figure out using the book. Relax, have a good time, and I'm sure you'll love the food.

You might want to try one of my favorites - Les Relais de l'Entrecote - in the 6th at 20, rue Saint-Benoît. Near the St. Germain metro. They have a fixed menu - steak with a wonderful sauce, frites and salad but, you choose the wine and dessert. No surprises there!

Have a fun trip!

WillTravel

You can eat at a kosher restaurant and you will be guaranteed not to get any escargot.

Michel_Paris

Here's the truth...there isn't a lot of flavor to escargot itself. Almost all of it comes from the sauces that it is cooked/served in. The consistency is chewy. Really, it's a mental thing, once you've done it, no biggie...really.

cls2paris

Well, if there is no taste to the escargot, why eat it?

nbbrown

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I will be adventurous and get a menu translator as well. I didn't realize most menus are posted outside, which is nice.

I'm not saying that ALL French food concerns me, but that I have preferences. Mutton, lamb, and goat's cheese all have a similar strong taste to me. It's a matter of personal preference. I will eat rare meat but not raw or near raw. And I will eat escargot now that I know they're not green, but cooked with something that is green. So you see, I'm not really picky, just choosy!

Of course I know how to order a bottle of wine. My cousin came back from a trip to Paris and said when she ordered a carafe of wine, the waiter was insulted and rolled his eyes, speaking rapidly in French as he marched off. Someone told her it was because you don't order wine by the "carafe" in France. I wouldn't have known that!

I wasn't intimidated in Italy, and we did run into a few instances when there was no English available at all in a restaurant (not that I expect it to be, nor do I expect it to be in France). My husband and I liked what we got, and maybe wouldn't have ordered it had we known ahead of time what it was. So I'm sure it will be just fine.

That said, I appreciate all of your help, and plan on enjoying myself and relaxing. I'll learn a few key words and carry a small menu translator.

PS: Was I supposed to eat the head on that baby octopus in Venice?
(I'd seriously like an answer to this.)

logos999

"Soupe d'escargots" sounds nice, that's the reason why.

WillTravel

nhbrown, I think I've been served a carafe of wine. They may have it on the menu as 0.5 liters or something, and that's probably how I ordered it. Does anyone know?

tara3056

I consider myself a decently adventurous eater and will try almost anything once. That said, I can't stand goat cheese or lamb either. The goat cheese tastes too much of barnyard to me, and lamb is very game-y and offputting to me, even when prepared well. I don't eat my meat raw, either. I do however love duck, mussels, raw oysters, all sorts of sushi, escargots, frog's legs, etc. and will try almost anything once.

So nbbrown: I too was slightly worried over the food issue before I visited Paris for the first time a couple years ago and was much more concerned for my husband than for me. He is most definitely a picky eater, but has gotten better due to my influence. Growing up, he'd never even had Chinese food! He didn't even like salads! He doesn't eat seafood or pork! (And not b/c of religious reasons) But we've been to Paris twice now and we both LOOOVE French food. We spent a month in Europe and went to Rome and Venice after a week in Paris and both agreed that we much preferred French food in general to the Italian food we had.

There are so many wonderful French foods that won't push the envelope: roasted chicken, frites, beef in lovely sauces, and all sorts of things that are probably similar to things you've had in the US that you wouldn't even know qualified as "French" food. To branch out, you should at least try escargots (when I've had them, they were already out of their shells when they brought them to me) and especially duck. Confit de canard in particular. It is my absolute favorite dish ever, and I never would have known it if I hadn't tried it in Paris the first time. (Duck breast is served pretty rare, but confit is always completely cooked) Rabbit is also a wonderful meat I'd never had before Paris.

You will be fine in Paris, absolutely fine, and you will laugh that you ever worried at all. Menus WILL have some rather exotic things on them, but they're easily avoided - Just take a good menu translator. (Slow trav has a GREAT one and it's free - just go to their website and copy/paste into a Word doc like we did, then print and take with you to meals.)

Don't miss out on the amazing pastries, chocolates, coffee, and Berthillon ice cream either!

Padraig

You can get wine in a carafe in France -- just don't call it that!

"Un demi" is a bottle or pitcher containing a half a litre (or even liter); "un quart" is a quarter litre.

Padraig

tara3056 wrote: "The goat cheese tastes too much of barnyard to me, and lamb is very game-y and offputting to me"

I'll help. Pass your plate over to me. You can have my oysters.

StCirq

There's no rule that says you have to order a bottle of wine. If the menu shows they have carafes, or pitchers, of wine, and that's what you want, order it. Even if it's not on the menu, it's not gauche to ask, except at many some really fancy establishment. Or order a glass. There's not a whit of difference between ordering wine in France from ordering it in the USA that I can think of.

People eat escargots, which are in fact fairly tasteless, because it allows them to justify slurping sinfully large quantities of herbed butter.

hopingtotravel

I don't know if they still do this, but a few years ago I went to IntimateFrance.com. They sent me a booklet called French Food glossary and Wine Guide which was very useful on our trip.
(Everything you need to know about what's in the best cuisine in the world--includes menu terms) it says on the cover. It's going with me again in May.

StCirq

Intimate France helped themselves to that food guide, which some of us from an old AOL France Board put together quite a few years ago.

I have it. If anyone wants it, email me at [email protected]. It's free, of course.

nytraveler

I have a great small book which has not only menus but everything you need to use at a restaurants (making resies, getting a table, etc) and that not only translates the names of foods - which has limited usefulness, but also explains what is in many of the popular dishes.

It's published by Berlitz and fits easily in pocket or purse.

But you should be aware:

beef in not so popular in France, steak is not that great unless imported from Argentina - and it is served quite rare (if you ask for medium it will still be bright red in the center)

chicken is popular, pork, lamb and turkey a little less so

there is a lot of fish and seafood (esp oysters, mussels and a variety of shrimp or crayfish like items)

you will also see - and may want to memorize if you don;t enjoy - rabbit, liver and other organ meats as well as pigs feet

escargot are sort of like clams - in that all you really taste is the sauce and they tend to be somewhat rubbery (if you're going to be adventurous I would pick something else)

DO NOT limit yourselves to places with menus in English - since you're likely to get poor food at inflated prices

nytraveler

Oh- and don;t think you have to eat full meals all the time. At lunch there absolutely noting wrong with wandering into a cafe or brasserie and having an omelet with frites or a croque monsier/madame or even a main course salad.

Travelnut

A glass of wine is about 12cl; sometimes the wine will be listed by a glass or by a bottle, or by a 'half-bottle'. A bottle is about 6 glasses of wine. Sometimes the wine will be listed as a 'pichet' or small container (like a little pitcher) and it will say 25cl or 50 cl...

djkbooks

Highly recommend "Food Lover's Guide to France", even if you only peruse it at the bookstore. It's a really good idea to familiarize yourself with what you would find appealing and what you would not.

A food glossary is invaluable, but one that is alphabetical rather than divided into courses or types of foor. There's a very good one on Patricia Wells' website.

There is no point in attempting to be "adventurous" if you'll more likely be disappointed, or worse.

The goat cheeses in France are entirely different from those in the US. I wish I could find something comparable at home.

Escargots - I read years ago that Montmartre was overrun (until they became more scarce and a "delicacy") with snails and the starving artists would collect them - anything, allegedly tastes great swimming in butter and garlic (the green is likely chopped parsley). (Rumors about pigeons, as well.)

It is very rare, now, that you'd have to struggle with a French menu. Nearly all places have menus in English (at least one) and/or someone who can translate for you. Still, a glossary is invaluable because often much is lost in the transation (or omitted). For example, if you don't care for curry, and it would ruin an entire dish for you, it's good to know what that is on a menu. Though, in Paris, food tends to be seasoned more with a whisper than a shout.

Ordering beef is far less problematic than it used to be. You will probably be asked "Medium?" and it will be perfectly cooked medium. (They seem to know perfectly how most Americans, anyway, prefer it these days.) You can say "a little more" or a "little less". Gone are the days when you order well done hoping it is not nearly raw.

There are wonderful classic offerings such as Choucroute, Cassoulet...to try.

With the higher prices and dismal exchange rate, it's best not to do too much guessing.

And, much depends on the preparation and other details. (This is why a glossary is really good to have along.) So many people find "poulet" or "boeuf" or "veau", etc. on a menu and point, without knowing the various parts of animals that are used in preparations and are dreadfully disappointed.

nbbrown

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. I downloaded the guide from Slowtrav, and Intimate France offered the downloadable version (Thanks, StCirq, for all your work into that!)

I'm not so worried about Paris menus, but for when we get into smaller towns in other regions. But the glossary will for sure help.

Thank you again for all your help, suggestions, and tips! I feel much better now.