What are your most memorable restaurants in London or Paris?

memorable good or memorable bad?

ya know - there are hundreds of memorable restaurants in both cities.

What sort of "memories" are you seeking? Type of food? View? Ambience? budget??

One thing I've learned over many trips to Paris is that much turns on what you select from the menu.

I was hoping for a goood memorable restaurant. Maybe another way to ask the question would be "What is your favorite restaurant in London or Paris?"

as we are trying to tell you -- "favorite for what?"

Type of cuisine, or budget or something? I've eaten in maybe 150+ restaurants between London and Paris. I can't tell you a favorite unless I have some sort of criteria.

Paris--a fairly nondescript, unspectacular restaurant in Little Athens in the 5th, under the apt. my family and I rented last Christmas. Chose the place because we were too tired to travel to any of my regular favorites. My 11-year-old son (first trip to Paris) spent two and a half hours trying out his limited French on a wonderfully fun waiter in the cave like basement of the restaurant, trying words (and food) I never thought he'd try--and falling in love with escargot in garlic butter and canard. I'd been afraid that that my kids would spend the whole trip missing their comfort food, but this second night of our trip turned a corner and led to a wonderful trip in which the boys were open to everything, food and otherwise. I've certainly had my share of amazing meals in Paris, but that meal made me realize how much a good meal in Paris is often a social experience that is rarely matched in other big cities.

Had some really, really wonderful Indian meals at Shezan in Knightsbridge.

Bibendum is another one worth splurging on in London.

Hi C,

> "What is your favorite restaurant in London or Paris?" <

Unless you are just trying to write a travel article:

What's your budget?
What are you looking for?

try the "bistro des oies", 2 Rue Marie-et-Louise 75010 PARIS: excellent french cuisine for very cheap.
An other one: "les 3 Marmites", 8, rue Julien Lacroix 75020 Paris. Again, very cheap (20€ the menu), and good little wines. very, very generous servings, basic but really fine French cuisine

I'll bite.

I guess at least one of my favorite restaurants in London is Rules (the oldest restaurant in London, supposedly). Rules is over the top decor. It looks like Henry Higgins and Col. Pickering might be at the next table. The waiters who have mostly been there for half a century are professional but oh-so-British. They seem more like butlers than waiters. The food is great. Is it the finest food you can find in London? Is there anything about it cutting edge, new, and innovative? Certainly not. But you won't find better traditional game dishes or sticky toffee pudding anywhere. So why go there instead of the latest trendy celebrity chef place with AMAZING and CREATIVE food? Because if I wanted that I could stay home and take my pick of several places very similar. We don't have anything even remotely like Rules at home. Rules is what most Americans "fantasize" an old fashioned London restaurant should be. Some of us travel to experience those "fantasies". Every meal I have there is memorable -- more for the total experience than just for the plate of food in front of me.

In Paris, it's hard to narrow it down. But give me an authentic brasserie with traditional decor and a menu that includes good foie gras, great steak tartare, super creme brulee, and good rabbit or duck dishes -- and I have a memorable meal. Again, I'm not one to go off to a starred or famous restaurant. To be honest many would remind me of eating in the formal dining room of the Ritz back home -- or a great French restaurant in New York. But no one can match the atmosphere of a classic French brasserie.

Wow, great suggestions and personal stories. At first, I didn't know exactly how to phrase what I was looking for, but Neopatrick, I think you phrased it really well.

"So why go there instead of the latest trendy celebrity chef place with AMAZING and CREATIVE food? Because if I wanted that I could stay home and take my pick of several places very similar. We don't have anything even remotely like Rules at home. Rules is what most Americans "fantasize" an old fashioned London restaurant should be. Some of us travel to experience those "fantasies"."-NeoPatrick

I want to look for resturants/eateries that can provide a tourist like me, with limited days in London and Paris, the "feel" of the city.

I look forward to more of your suggestions and stories. Thanks in advance.

Well, if you want the feel of London, you'll have dim sum at Chuen Cheng Ku and an Indian somewhere that doesn't serve terribly good, or interesting, food, but where we've all munched our way through enough papadam to keep a medium Indian state going for a month. Khan's in Westbourne Grove, for example.

A rough Paris equivalent of Rule's is Procope: the food's only OK, but it claims to be the world's oldest restaurant, and it's got what seem to be endless passages and small, tucked away rooms.

The most memorable Paris restaurant for me is Le Pied de Cochon, which served this awesomely tender pigs feet (I ordered the restaurant's namesake), and my mom ordered the most tender and fresh salmon she's ever tasted. I'm dreaming of it as I type.

It's located on rue Coquilliere, on a strip with other restaurants.

Is it lunchtime for me yet?

Yes, Precope is the counterpart of Rules.

But flanneruk, while I admit Indian or perhaps Chinese may be the TRUE food of Londoners these days -- it isn't that we tourists want to eat what Londoners eat. We want to eat the way we fantasize they should be eating (or used to). We really like to think they all sit down in chintz sofas to scones and tea promptly every afternoon, too. That's why so many questions about tea. Please don't destroy our fantasies!!

>what most Americans "fantasize" an old fashioned London restaurant should be.<

Simpson's in the Strand

In Paris:

www.le-train-bleu.com

The Flo chain: www.flobrasseries.com

Les Deux Magots, Cafe Flor

Thanks Patrick, for saying what I've always wanted to: I love Rules too, for the same reasons. I used to be sheepish about liking that place; I don't feel like I need to be, now.

Heck - my last trip I ate at both Simpson's in the Strand AND Rules - talk about being an old fogie

I love Wagamama. The yaki soba is fantastic and affordable... something I appreciate since the exchange rate is so bad. The restaurant has expanded immensely since I first visited, so there are locations all over the place...

www.wagamama.com

La Fontaine de Mars at 129 Rue St. Dominque in the 7th.