rede440

O.K. Here's the deal....my friend and I are quickly chunneling over from London for two days next month for a quick Paris trip. It's her 50th bday and we're on a year long extravaganza. I so want to make sure we go to fabulous restaurants while we're there. We will be staying on the Left Bank but really are free to go where ever we want (Sans husbands!).

So we are looking for 2 lunch restaurants and 2 dinner. They don't have to be the fanciest, just with incredible food and a nice wine list.

Any recommendations?

JulieVikmanis

Fables de la Fontaine was our favorite on a recent trip that included some 25 or more meals. Click on my name and check my trip reports for one that talks about get togethers and meals. We also loved Itineraires.

kerouac

I certainly wouldn't worry about food on such a short trip. Let the chips fall where they may.

This reduces the chance of disappointment. Imagine planning a meal in a fabulous expensive restaurant and then being disappointed. If you are not expecting anything in particular in a normal place, you can be pleasantly surprised -- or laugh about it not being terrific without having paid a fortune.

(That's just the way my mind works -- probably a minority view on the matter.)

TravelinAmy

kerouac- I am the same way. I keep looking at restaurant choices, but in all reality, we will just find a place on our own and hopefully be pleasantly surprised! I try not to over-plan because I dont want to be upset that we did not go everywhere that we had planned.

suzwarr

Restaurant Au Vieux Paris d'Arcole is excellent, quaint ,romantic and friendly . It is near Notre Dame and the chef is absolutely excellent. Google it. I had an exquisite lunch there. Great staff and very friendly.
S

christycruz

We used to let the chips fall where they may, but after eating at way more duds than hits, I used Clotilde's Eating Adventures in Paris book and simply matched the area we were in to one of her recommendations. Every single place was great, some truly wonderful. Her mini Web site for the book mentions Itinéraires (also above). My favorite was an understated bistro called Au Fil des Saisons. What incredible food.

ira

Hi R,

>...looking for 2 lunch restaurants and 2 dinner.<

You can easily burn out on top quality food.

May I suggest lunch at Taillevent as your big splurge?

Where will you be staying?

StCirq

I would do ONE big splurge meal for dinner the night of your friend's birthday. But then, I'm pretty much in kerouac's camp on this one, and no way I could do 4 major meals in 2 days.

I like ira's suggestion of Taillevent.

Kyliebaby3

Le Tastevin on Ile St. Louis was great for New Year's Eve dinner, and might fit the bill for one of your meals. It looks like they do serve lunch from 12:00-2:30 p.m.. They are closed on Sundays, FYI. Here is a little blurb I found on the Rick Steve's site:

"$$ Le Tastevin is little mother-son run place serving top-notch traditional French cuisine with white-tablecloth, candlelit elegance under heavy wooden beams. The menus start with three courses at about €30 and offer plenty of classic choices that change with the season to ensure freshness (daily, good wine list, 46 rue St. Louis-en-l'Ile, tel. 01 43 54 17 31; owner Madame Puisieux speaks just enough English, while her son tends the kitchen)."

http://www.letastevin-paris.com
Metro: Pont Marie

rede440

Thank you all. What a great start. I agree go for one really fabulous meal. The other I'm hoping to find a really fabulous small fairly un touristy place. You've helped with all. From more casual to fantastic! Thanks!

rede440

Oops, forgot to add, we are staying very close to the Rodin Museum.

Proenza_Preschooler

I like to have lunch in the restaurant of the Orsay. It serves very good foie gras.

What is better than drinking a bottle of Veuve Clicquot in a restaurant then coming out to stare at a Bonnard?

Thin

HunyBadger

We just had a great meal at Le Petit Prince de Paris on Rue de Lanneau (in the Latin Quarter), down a small side street "below" the Parthenon.

However, if you are staying near the Rodin Museum, I suggest another place we ate which was great: Petit Touquet. It has about 15 tables and the food was very fresh. I had the beef bougignon which was superb. It's also down a small side street and close to Rue Cler.

Claudia99

These are supposed to be the top restaurants in Paris. They're pricey but worth it if it's a special occasion.

http://what-are-the-best.com/the-bes...staurants.html

StCirq

There's also the Bistro de Bretheuil, a short walk from the Rodin museum.

alfiebb

I live in Paris and the worst thing you can do here is to wander into the corner bistro. It's such a waste! There's a lot of bad food out there, and life is too short. You don't have to do major planning, but you should plan a little. If money is no object and you can spend 400 euros on dinner, go to Taillevent, Guy Savoy or Le Grand Vefour. If you want a simple, good restaurant where regular people go, then it depends on what kind of food you like. If you want hearty classics like duck confit, try Le Vin des Pyrennees in the 4th near the St. Paul metro, or Le Bistro des Oies on rue Marie Louise in the 10th. Both are unfancy with small, decent wine lists. For the cutting edge, Chateaubriand on Avenue Parmentier in the 11th has the most inventive tasting menu for about 40 euros. The chef is Basque but he blends French classics with Asian flavors. You never know. One menu per night. Book way ahead for dinner.

Nikki

Places I have enjoyed great food without huge price tags:

Cafe Constant, 139 rue St. Dominique, in the 7th. No reservations, get there early. Lunch menu was very reasonable.

Le Pamphlet in the 3rd.

Au Vieux Chene at 7 rue du Dahomey, in the 11th.

rede440

I love you guys! Great information and a great way to get overly excited for a trip. Not sure which way we will go, maybe one over the top restaurant and one where "regular people" go. We live in Baltimore and have some good restaurants but I am sure a small decent restaurant in Paris will out shine any Baltimore restaurant! I WANT TO GO NOW!! Thank you!!

mauitammy

Thanks for the great recommendations.

ekscrunchy

Near your base, this is a really good but casual restaurant:

http://www.amijean.eu/
..

This isi from my trip report from 2006:

."that evening, a Tuesday, the five members of our group remaining in France had dinner at Chez L'Ami Jean, Rue Malar, 27 in the 7eme close to the river. Three of us shared a taxi from the Ile St. Louis, and the ride afforded us a spectacular view of the city, including a close up of the Eiffel Tower which is dramatically lit at night.

Chez L'Ami Jean dates from 1931 and for most of its life was a popular neighborhood Basque bistro. Posters and photos of Basque sporting heros adorn the walls in the dining room, outfitted with long wooden trestle tables which are set with handsome red-striped Basque linens. The place was packed when we arrived for our 8pm reservation and people were jammed hopefully into the small bar area, under the hanging rows of Spanish jamones, waiting for tables.

The restaurant was taken over a few years ago by Stephane Jago who had been sous chef of the celebrated La Regalade. There is some talk that he will soon receive a Michelin star and he is considered among the city's best bistro chefs at this moment.

The printed menu runs many pages, too many to allow me to comprehend what was on offer. There are also specials listed on the blackboard, and additional dishes of the day written on the slate tablets that we received shortly after taking our seats. How to choose? I immediately realized that this would not be my last visit to this place!

The offerings reflect a southwestern orientation; there are Basque dishes and southwestern staples such as duck confit and Pyrenees lamb. There were also several lobster dishes that evening, as well as seasonal game meats and cepes. Truly I needed an hour just to read the menu and blackboards! The service felt a bit rushed to me, because I generally need lots of time to read my menu and ask questions. This was a bit difficult since a few of my fellow diners spoke no French, so I needed to help with translation, and also because there were so many people clamoring for tables that we did not have the luxury of lignering, or so I felt...

The restaurant offers a 30 Euro formule which includes entree, plat and dessert. This proved to be an amazing value. We received a few amuse bouches which included a brandade of cod and a couple of other small plates. My dinner, the 30 formule, began with an entree of crayfish. I was presented with a rectangular wood plank, atop which sat a large glass bowl cupping a row of large heads-on crayfish dusted with flavors that might sound discordant but which would prove to be sublime and included ventreche (bacon) and vanilla. The waitress then poured, from a white porcelain teapot, an intense beef bouillon with a few exotic spices. Heaven.
For the main I chose the lamb two ways which was a double chop of Pyrenees lamb and a shoulder of lamb braised and served as a sort of deconstructed shepherd's pie, in a large white bowl over decadent mashed potatoes.
We were given two sides for the table: Pureed potatoes "Charlotte" and excellent roasted cauliflower..both terrific.
The desserts were out-of-this-world great. Mine was a "Marbre" of vanilla and chocolate served with a capuccino sauce and a foam of Tonka (??) beans...
Did I say this was outrageous? And my friends were equally happy with their dessert choices.
We drank white Gaillac and a Loire red, served properly chilled. With 5 coffees, the total bill for 5 of us totaled Euro 214; as I mentioned, an excellent value.

Along with the bill, we were each presented with a tiny burlap bag trimmed in Basque red linen which contained 5 madeleines.

The restaurant phoned taxis for us and we were off, bound for the hotels and already thinking of the next day....(my friends would be leaving but I had two more full days in the city before I had to head back to the US)..."