I would skip le Reminet. Since new owners prices are higher and food not as good

Naughtyb, I haven't actually put it to the map, but the expensive dining places are all over town. Real estate prices of course are subject to location factors like the Blvd. Hausmann and the Champs Elysees.

Years ago, the sectors where you would find the highest priced real estate (and thus rent rates)tended to boast the high ticket restaurants. But the servents and workmen had to eat somewhere too, so you would also have the lower end eateries.

Of course the grand hotels are pretty much clustered near one another, and they all have pricy dining rooms.

I hope you won't take to heart some of the more negative postings here. I try to ignore them. There is a wealth of good information here and I just try to overlook the personal jabs. I don't think people realize that in text writing their comments come off as rude and condescending as they do.

Some (or probably most) very well informed and well travelled Fodorites wouldn't dream of spending the $$$ at Taillevent. It's their money and I applaud them for their resolve.

I wouldn't dream of going to Paris and NOT eating at Taillevent. It's my money and I've never regretted a single centime I've spent there.

I also wouldn't dream of going to Paris without eating roast chicken from a street vendor. Apples & oranges.

Thanks so much Linda. What you are saying makes perfect sense. However, when the Champs Elysees comes to mind, the picture is complete with all the decadence and granduer which would include the restaurant scene. I watched 1000 places to visit on the Travel channel and they visited Taillvent and that sealed the deal for me. I am pretty sure they still offer the 70 euro lunch and I want to try it so badly. I am certainly not opposed to trying the roast chicken from a street vendor. I have heard the roast chicken in Paris is sublime. At the end of your post were you comparing roast chicken in Paris to roast chicken in the U.S. by saying apples and oranges? I assume that is what you meant. Do you have any Montmarte restaurant ideas? Also, I am getting a bad feeling now about Le Reminet so do you have any Sunday night ideas as well? Thanks for your help. It is greatly appreciated.

I was in Montmartre in November of last year and caught diner at Ma Cousine off the Place du Tertre. It was decent and reasonable. Like a lot places in that area they have a Fomulae Menu Ours was 22 Euro another 6 for wine. Thy also have some jazz. The staff made us welcome.

For other ideas for Sunday night, you could consider Mon Vieil Ami, though it is another of the "upscale bistro" types and might be more than you wanted to spend that night. It has a delightful location on Isle Saint Louis, which is always a wonderful place to walk around. We found the food inventive, but it still felt French. Our waiter was English, and very helpful and welcoming - she even offered our then 10-year-old son a glass of their house-made non-alcoholic fruit drink (better than it sounds) while we had our wine with dinner. As I recall, all the dinner items are made and served in cassoulet dishes. DH and I had skate, our son had squid, which was even better.

I mentioned Le Parc aux Cerfs previously, but even though you could easily take the metro there, it would probably be more of a hike from your hotel than it's worth.

Naughtyb,

When we're in Paris on a Sunday night we head straight to Le Dome. It's a beautiful old Belle Epoch style place on the Blvd. Montparnasse. You do need reservations but a day ahead will be fine. Seafood, seafood, seafood! The best dover sole meuniere I've ever had. The lobster salad is to die for but will break your budget for sure. The metro stop is right out the door, I think it's Vavin.

You've got so many good choices going, here's what I would do. The first day (or 2nd, depending on your jet lag & what day you arrive) I would just walk down the Champs and take in the sights. There will be a restaurant on just about every corner and a couple in between. Go down a couple of side streets as well.
Look at the menus posted and see what strikes your fancy.

That's what I would do; not the DH. He has to have every night lined up before we leave. I like to have a couple of free nights to just "discover".

Chicken. Yes, it's different over there if you're used to supermarket mass produced, over processed American chickens. Theirs actually tastes like chicken.

Montmartre I can't help you with. I really didn't like the area and we've never eaten there.

I just thought of another Sunday place; Le Grand Colbert. To me, this is the ultimate bustling Paris bistro. It's on your side of the river but I'm not sure how far away it is.

They serve the food sort of family style. The lentil salad will come in a serving bowl, you take what you want from it and put it on your plate. This isn't gourmet fare but traditional bisto food. It's packed (again, reserve ahead) but I just love it.

Linda, is that the FAMOUS Le Grand Colbert adjacent to Vivien arcade? It sure doesn't sound like the place I know by that name. Nothing was served family style to us, nor did I see that happening around us. The place is gorgeous and atmospheric though, even if our meal was a bit disappointing -- probably because it was on Bastille Day.

Neo - you aren't writing this from one of those Amsterdam coffee shops are you? LOL

Hee. Hee. No way. I'm sitting here in our Amsterdam apartment killing time before our 8:30 PM dinner reservation right around the corner. That's a good thing, because right now it is pitch dark (unlike the usual 10 PM twilight). I'm about to lean out the window and see if I see a Kansas barn flying by. Boy is it getting ready to STORM. I hope it's not pouring rain tomorrow morning when we have to go catch our train to Paris.

For those who didn't figure out all those time references, it is 7:30 PM here in Amsterdam, but looks like it is midnight.

When our friends went to Paris for their first and only trip (20th wedding anniversary), in 10 days they lunched and dined at:
Le Meurice
Taillevent
Ledoyen (great souvenir book, by the way)
Les Ambassadeurs
Tour d'Argent
Guy Savoy
Pierre Gagnaire
L'Ambroisie
Pre Catalan
Lasserre
Le Cinq

The only reason the Grand Vefour wasn't on the list was because they couldn't get a reservation for their dates.

There assessment: it was just too much!! They are die hard foodies and wine-os, but still, they wished they'd canceled a few of those major league restaurants and had simple brasserie meals instead.

Not only was it too much of a good thing, each of those meals took a few hours and frankly, they said they ran out of things to say to each other.

We came down from Brussels to visit them and they had reservations to dine with us at yet another 2-star establishment, but asked if we'd mind skipping the meal and just hanging out. They needed a break from all that haute cuisine and were heartily relieved to dine on rillette sandwiches, salads, and the ordinary house wine in a carafe.

For the record, you CAN get crappy mass producedm battery farmed chickens in Europe and really good chickens in the U.S.

nughtyb: I totally understand wanting to eat as many wonderful and special meals as possible while in Paris. Seems you've done a lot of research and are more than willing to take suggestions.

Last year, my daughters and I chose Le Violin d'Ingres as our splurge meal and while it was fine, it wasn't as special as the prices would indicate. We found it spotty, with 1 dish out of 3 of each of the 3 courses we ordered spectacular and 2 out of 3 quite ordinary and/or disappointing.

We had much better meals at other places including an outrageously delicious lunch at Le Bouquineste (Guy Savoy's less outrageous but fantastic place, Les Bookinistes 53, quai des Grands-Augustins Paris 75006 01 43 25 45 94)and a great dinner at the tiny and hidden Le Hangar ( 12, impasse Berthaud, 3 rd Tel: 01 42 74 55 44)where we were hard pressed to spend 100 euro for 3 people having 3 courses and wine, including a huge and delicious slab of fois gras on bed of creamy mashed potatoes that was to die for.

We made reservation for Le Violin about a month ahead. Everything else we reserved a day or two before, as we decided where we'd be and what we were in the mood for.

Have a great time and be sure to write up a report for those of us foodies who will be planning our next trip around where to eat!

Neo, yes it was the same place. I had to laugh when I re-read my notes about the family style sides.

The first time we went, one of us ordered an entree with the lentil salad as a side dish and one ordered something with the potato gratin as a side.

The waiter brought both in big serving bowls, obviously more than a single serving.
After we put some on our plates, he took the serving bowls to a sideboard and I noticed they were then served to another table.

The second time we went we were with another couple, one of whom ordered the lentil salad. He ate the whole bowl by himself, the waiter raising an eyebrow but saying nothing when he came to retrieve it.

That was several years ago. It could be that they don't serve those dishes like that anymore.

I totally agree with Plafield about Le Violin d'Ingres. Highly recommend checking the posted menu and having a look inside before proceeding...

Thanks, Plafield for posting about Le Hangar!

We ate at Le Violon d'Ingres in May 2006 and totally agree with the above comments. It and Le Tour D'Argent were our two most disappointing planned splurges. Here is my thoughts on Le Violon:
"There seemed to be sunshine ahead as we had a dinner reservation at Violon d’Ingres. We Metroed to the area of the restaurant. Although we had only a few numbers to walk down the street it seemed a long way down rue St Dominique. We had great expectations, but as this was a holiday weekend, apparently everyone had left Paris. The restaurant was nearly empty all evening, there were no specials beyond the menu and the staff didn’t have enough to do. Our over-attentive waiter hovered all night, not a habit we normally deal with in Paris. As well he had a terrible cold which caused me to remember him a few days hence. The amuse bouche was a bowl of soup (the amuse part was the chef laughing in the kitchen). For entres I had foie gras with a gingerbread crust (sounded better on the menu and in his cookbooks) and Sandra had scallop salad. We both had sea bass encrusted in almonds on a baby spinach salad - overcooked. We finished with a shared cheese plate which was disappointing as it was three cheeses of their choosing but all three very usual French cheeses. We had a lovely Languedoc 2000 white which was as good as expected."

I am really sorry to hear that about the Violin but not altogether surprised. I had a great meal there about 10 years ago, the next one not quite up to snuff. I was hoping it was a glitch but I've heard one too many reports like yours. Sad, because I think he's really a good chef and quite capable of turning out a great meal.

My recommendation - Le Souffle. wonderful souffles of every variety.

Thanks so much for your recommendations plafied. I have made note of them and definitely will try Le Hangar. Cant go wrong with fantastic foie gras!
Have now struck Le Violin d'Ingres and Le Reminet from the list. Who says I wont take suggestions!

Great! Now you have 2 free nights for "discovery".