Paris - Le Sergent Recruteur
 

This restaurant was mentioned on a post yesterday. Their website is not in English yet so I muddled my way through. I was wondering if anyone can tell if there is a reduced price meal for children?
www.lesergentrecruteur.com

I took a look through the menu and couldn't find anything mentioning children's menu.

Actually, why don't you write an email to them (even in English) and ask them about the menu question. Maybe it will answer.

Blackduff

Thanks, I was going to do that if their website didn't say the have reduced price for children. My French is limited at best. I just didn't want to wait on an answer if it was in their website.

I don't recall any special provisions for children at the restaurant. The atmosphere is interesting but the food is unremarkable. Some airline crews like the restaurant (which—if you know airline crews—is not necessarily a good thing).

About 7 years ago, I got bored and hopped a plane to Paris for 3 days. I'll never do that again (the short time span, not the destination). Anyhow a co-worker recommended it to me. He said it was a funky place to go for dinner.

I managed to find it (it's a bit off the beaten path, near Notre Dame). I walked in and thought I had stepped back in time. You had a choice of 3-4 enterees. You got a huge bowl of veggies (just pulled from the ground, no less), a loaf of bread, some sausage (which hangs from the ceiling) and cheese to snack on before your meal arrives.

I ordered the duck, which was actually pretty good. I drank 2 bottles of wine and wasn't too lit up. No hangover the next day, either. My biggest concern that night was getting my semi-drunk tail on the train and back to my hotel.

Don't remember if I had dessert, but I was stuffed, anyhow.

I enjoyed mayself, but it wouldn't be a place to take your kids as I don't remember seeing anything on the menu a kid would like. Take it for what it is, a funky little French restaurant.

Sounds like a quintessential Paris experience !!! :)

I had no idea that place was still around. I went there maybe 20 years ago, and it seems it hasn't changed. kids will probably think its fun.

They might think the restaurant next door even more fun if you're going to spend the same money. It is Nos Ancestres Gaulois. You sit at long tables. They put fresh veggies on the table for you to concoct a salad. There is a table to get your entree (appetizer)--sausages, salads, etc. Then they offer two or three grilled meats. Everything is all you can eat as well as all the wine. Dessert also. They have strolling musicians and finally singing by everyone.

I always wonder what happens to all the fresh veggies, sausage, etc., that customers touch but do not eat.

I'm one of those people who defaces everything on the table so that it cannot be reused without detection.

"I always wonder what happens to all the fresh veggies, sausage, etc., that customers touch but do not eat."

Believe me, my wife and I thought the same thing. The restaurant was recommended to us by friends, and when we ate here, it was one of the worst dinners we've had in Paris (many trips). That was in the late 90s, so maybe it's gotten better (but not from many of the reviews I've read)

I'm no foodie, and I am all for having a fun dining experience, but I was more than underwhelmed by this place. I know people get slammed as "food snobs" for not enjoying this restaurant, but to me a bad dinner is a bad dinner, even if it's a cheap bad dinner.

Some of the reviews say it's a good place to get drunk cheaply, and I can say there were more than a few tipsy patrons the night we dined there.

As for children, they'll probably get a kick from the hanging sausages, but there are so many reasonably priced places to dine in Paris, I would skip this particular restaurant.

((H))

It's a pleasant, cheerful place. We stopped in this winter when a place up the street couldn't take us without reservations. There were plenty of kids, both French and foreign. I think most of them would be pleased with the roast chicken, if nothing else appeals. The portions are fine but not overwhelming (although the full list of courses is long). They even offered to serve us the bottle of wine due my son, but we passed.

The food is nothing special, but not bad. We have no complaints.

(Except for this guy in the corner with dirty hands, madly slashing at his uneaten food to protect others.)

After reading dozens of reviews of this place over the years and reading between the lines of the raves -- I assumed it wasn't for me. There are so many wonderful places to eat in Paris in every price range, I can't imagine going to a place where the food is only OK. Even the people who rave about it mainly talk about the size of the portions or some other gimmick, but I've never heard any one who sounded like they were fairly particular say that the food was "wonderful". Saying it was "good for the price" doesn't cut it with me, as there are many restuarants in that price range which are superb, not merely OK.

Thank you all. We are considered "foodies" by our friends. But, we were just trying to find someplace fun for the kids that also had decent food. Not a chain. I think we will skip this one. We do prefer quality over quantity. My quest continues....

I stay away from places like Le Sargent Recruter, because frankly I don't trust myself.

Put me in an atmospheric, free wine, all u-can-eat place, while on vacation...and there is a strong possibility that I will have to write myself off the next day.

I learnt my lesson in Heidelberg.
Attended the big new wine festival.
Floodlight castle ruins
Bavarian band
Great wine, very reasonably priced, by the tumbler full.
Great German sausage.

Needless to say, I didn't show any moderation, and paid for it the next day as I spent most of the day puking.

When you spend a lot of time planning.
Spend a lot of money on a trip.
And to kill a day by being hungover, is really friggen stupid.

Most of us have probably done it.

I stay away from places like the Le Sargent. It's not worth the price that I may have to spend the next day.

Wimp! I drank 2 bottles by myself at this restaurant and was perfectly fine the next day.

I must be going now, my sponsor is on the phone.....

Dear wego,
This seems like a bit of a tourist rip off to me, looking at the menu and the price. 3 years ago we ate lunch just round the corner from Notre Dame for E10 each plus drinks. We were just about the only non-french people in there. Normally in France, the children either eat the parents' food [they'll bring another plate] or just have a main course and dessert. We have always done this with no problems. THere are loads of restaurants in this area which have a more authentic frenach atmosphere.

I see I reviewed this place a few years ago in my notes:

http://tinyurl.com/o7grs

This place is more about having an experience than having a great meal, but it can be fun for those who are so inclined.

Blacknight,

You only drank 2 bottles????

That's all I remember. Everything else was a fog......