Paris Food lovers--Which guidebook/menu guide
 

I'm ready to buy a guidebook to help me make a list of Paris eating places. Please list your favorite and why, also tell me if you travel with a menu translator--which one?

I like Patricia Wells' A Food Lovers's Guide to Paris. I don't think there is an up to date edition, however.

I'm not a big foodie so this isn't that important to me (caveat) -- but I also like Patricia Wells book very much (I use it more for bakeries and stores, probably, but some places to eat), as well as Bistros of Paris by a couple named Hamburger, and the Cheap Eats book by Sandra Gustafson.

My other sources aren't books, but French online websites, occasional mentions in articles in magazines or newspapers, etc., as well as mentions in some general guidebooks to the city (eg, Access and Timeout, mostly).

Eating and Drinking in Paris -
http://www.amazon.com/
ISBN: 1593600860 Publ. Oct 2006

I like it b/c the 'glossary' is in straight alphabetical order, instead of the 'menu' categorization some books have... also restaurant recommendations in it, and about pocket-sized.

I plan my dining around online research and feedback from Fodors... but then, I'm not much of a 'foodie' either.

The Sandra Gustafson books (Great Eats) would probably appeal to me, seem to be fairly plain-spoken in her comments.

Go to www.parisnotes.com and look for the free downloads - I think you can get the Top 20 restaurants by Rosa Parks there.

I will heartily second the menu translator recommendation for Eating and Drinking in France. It has traveled with me and several times with friends to France and we all found it indispensable. Have a fun trip!

I second Rosa Jackson's reviews on the newsletter Paris Notes. She also reviews for Time Out Paris Eating and Drinking. I also use the Zagat Paris, but my favorite guides are in French, le Pudlo and the Lebey coming in a distant second.

Use to use the Patricia Wells guide but now find it out of date as I do the Hamburgers' Bistros of Paris.

fI also use the France subforum of the European forum of
www.egullet.com
There's also
www.mouthfulsfood.com
www.opinionatedabout.com
(you need to subscribe to the last one to read the Forum)

and www.chowhound.com (but I use egullet more)

another vote for "eating and drinking in Paris." Great alphabetized translations and semi-helpful restaurant reviews. the best actual recommendations for restaurants came from this board (thank you Fodorites!) and every place we ate that was recommended here by 3 or more folks (the guidleine I used to consider a restaurant) was fantastic.

I know this is an ancient thread...

How relevant is Patricia's book still? Any thoughts on "Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris"? I know Pudlo is THE guide now...

Flygirl, I just lent my Pudlo out to someone who just went. When I get it back I can ship it to you if you want. She didn't come up with a dud in the week she was there, she was very pleased with all her choices from it.

I agree about Pudlo. Never heard of it before we went and found it incredibly useful while there. We were traveling with a toddler so food wasn't our biggest priority - we didn't make any reservations or plan around meals - but Pudlo is great for finding good things to eat (restaurants, cafes, even bakeries and food shops) organized by neighborhood. In other words, if you keep it in your bag and get hungry and see dozens of restaurants that all look the same, you can look them up in the book and pick the best of the bunch.

When planning for our trip this past October, I used Zagat (on line) and cross referenced with Michelin Paris. Also read Fodors (of course!) and Alexander Lobrano's "Hungry for Paris".
Here is a list of the amazing restaurants we dined in:

La Table du Lancaster
La Rotisserie du Beaujolais
Dominique Bouchet (Don't miss!!)
Goumard
Josephine- Chez Dumonet
La tour d'Argent (to celebrate our 25th anniversary)
In Versailles: La Maree de Versailles