aliced

Glad someone mentioned Les Papilles in the 4th (near Luxembourg Gardens)... some years ago, there was hardly a soul in there, and the last time in Paris, we couldnt grab any reservation!

kerouac

My main hesitation concerning excessive restaurant research is that it sets one up for disappointment, and the more you research, the more likely you are to become picky and disappointed if everything is not exactly as promised, the signature dish being unavailable, the chef being off that night, the décor not being as enchanting as the photographs implied... That's just me, I guess. Since I never go to restaurants that charge more than I am happy to pay, it is never a problem if the food is not great -- and it even makes a funny story in many cases. (Just for the record, I almost never get up to 40 euros per person, including wine.) However, I have eaten in some very fancy places when invited or at company functions -- the Jules Verne on the Eiffel Tower, Fouquet's, the Pré Catalan, etc... and not a single one of those places ever convinced me that it is a good idea to pay a huge amount for food. But all of us have different priorities and different palates.

Coquelicot

Restaurant research is fun. I enjoy doing it but my husband is willing to put in much more time at it.

We don't go to Paris, and in the countryside, restaurants don't have lots of online reviews. Still, we eat well in many places, including villages.

We start with the Michelin website and look for Bib Gourmands or maybe even one-star restaurants in the areas we'll be going to. In February or March Michelin brings out its new lists so we'll be looking at those before our next trip. We ask our B&B hosts for their local recommendations and ask other B&B guests for good restaurants in their home area. During our four weeks, we might get to four or five Bib Gs, plus a quiet one-star restaurant that's my husband's favorite. If we don't have a good recommendation, we wing it or eat a sandwich from a boulangerie.

My husband makes up a long list, which is good since sometimes the place we're most looking forward to is "exceptionally closed." We've learned not to get our heart set on a particular restaurant or favorite dish.

If it were up to my husband we'd be eating a big restaurant meal at every lunch (we don't go out for dinner) but I can't eat that much! I sure wish we didn't have to cram 6-8 months of good meals into four weeks.

OReilly64

I mentioned it. I was lucky in getting a booking on short notice, on a Friday evening. I booked a table at 10pm, as my niece was arriving from London on Eurostar after a long days work. She was most impressed that Auntie had scored a table at the restaurant!

natylou

Coquelicot we use a similar method, and that almost always works out.

Having 4 weeks in a place at least gives some room for a few disappointing meals. But if we're in Paris for 4 nights, I certainly don't want to have disappointing meals 3 out of 4 nights, hence the reason for doing restaurant research.

That said, there is limited value in lists of top restaurants, I find. Try looking up online top ten lists in your own city. For example, the best 10 Neapolitan pizza places where we live; we've tried them all, but in our opinion the best and most authentic is not even on the list.

If I have time, I take suggestions from others, then I look at The Fork/Tripadvisor, but I look at the menus, read some comments, see if it sounds like my kind of place, and check the prices to see if it's in line with what I want to pay on that night. Seems to work out quite well.

Bib Gourmands are sometimes a bit disappointing when you realize that the food is fine, but the price is inflated because of the rating.

I will throw into the ring this offering: l'Auberge Bressane, in the 7th. This was recommended two years ago by St Cirq, and we really enjoyed the atmosphere and the traditional food. I would only want to eat a meal this rich about once a year though. Portions are large; we ordered too much.

tuscanlifeedit

I'm enjoying everyone's feedback. I do put a lot of time into the research, but then I do that for most of my interests. I try to also remember that expectations should be tempered, and know that disappointment is part of the game. I've gone to much anticipated ballets and come out feeling so what. Same for art exhibitions and restaurants. I can deal with it.

Dining out in a large city like Paris is exciting for me. We eat late (always) and when traveling, consider dinner to be our evening. We don't drink and we don't care for jazz and we're too old for the type of music we used to go out for. We spend days sightseeing; long lunches don't work for us. If we do have ballet tickets, we will have a nicer, larger, or fancier lunch, but dinner is our general plan.

Thanks for the specific recommendations. Les Papilles has been on my list and I'll try hard to get a reservation. I'll also read more about L'Auberge Bressane.

Nikki

Part of the fun of researching the experiences of others is learning which restaurants people loved that are not the fanciest but might be a good value. I have never been tempted to go to Jules Verne or the Pre Catalan, for instance, but when someone reports on a meal they loved at a small bistro for a reasonable price, that goes on the list. I know that the restaurants I like the best in Paris are the ones where all the food is prepared by the chef, and I have read enough reviews of places that serve pre-made dishes that I am willing to pay more for the ones that make things in their own kitchens.

This doesn’t mean that every meal is taken in a carefully researched place; much of the time I will eat where it is convenient or inexpensive. They are not mutually exclusive.

I guess I just don’t feel picky and disappointed if everything is not exactly as promised, I realize places have off nights and the menu can change. I am much more likely to be happy in restaurants in Paris than unhappy for any reason.

indyhiker

I do most of my research on Chowhound, Eater, and John Talbotts’ blog. We had enjoyable meals at Le Mazenay, Les Arlots and Pierre Sang Oberkampf this past fall. We also enjoyed East Mama.

Coquelicot

I would trust John Talbott. He really gets around

Sadly, Chowhound France isn't a patch on what it used to be. There was an inspirational thread on there some time ago called something like Eating and Sleeping Outside Paris that we've tried to follow up on in our travels. Somebody on Chowhound France wrote almost an encyclopedia of types of chicken in France. There used to be so many knowledgeable and opinionated posters there. Where are they now (other than JT)?

I don't think I've seen Pudlo mentioned. We didn't think his printed guide was as thorough as Michelin's, but he does a blog. It first came to my attention when it reviewed some restaurants, a goat cheese farm, a cider maker, and a bakery we're familiar with in a small rural area. His reviews of places we know well convinced me he was on our wavelength.

That's always the problem, for me, knowing how to calibrate somebody else's taste preferences with ours--whose reviews should we trust?

Le blog de Gilles Pudlowski - Les Pieds dans le Plat

macdogmom

Some of the chowhound people have gone to Hungry Onion. But John Tallbot and some other knowledgeable types still reply to queries. John’s website is wonderful but he only eats lunch out and some restaurants have very different lunch and dinner services. I also like Eater.com and David Leibovitz is a good source. We mainly eat in the 3rd and 11th and some of our current favorites are Le Servan, Clown Bar, Bistrot Paul Bert, Au Passage, Les Enfants Rouges, La Mazenay, CAM and Le Mary Celeste for small plates. Also love the udon noodles at Kunitoraya, ramen at ippudo and anxious to try Israeli food at Miznon.

indyhiker

Macdogmom,

Thanks for the Hungry Onion suggestion. I had not otherwise heard of it. We're returning to the 3rd early next year for two weeks (our last stay was only five nights) so I appreciate reading your recommendations, too.

tuscanlifeedit

Again, thanks to everyone. I will check on your recs, Macdogman, as we are staying in the upper 3rd. Some of these are already on my list, but some are new to me, so I will read about them.

Harkening back to kerouac's warning about disappointments, I will say that one of the most disappointing meals I have had in Paris was at Bistrot Paul Bert. Maybe I ordered the wrong things, because it seems that it's fairly universally loved.

John Talbott used to be a go-to for me, but my budget hasn't kept up with his excellent taste.

StCirq

If unprepossessing but reasonably priced delicious food is a draw, we love this place: Restaurant La Factorie - Saint Amour Paris 20 ème - français

Probably not a place most visitors will be wandering around unless they're visiting Père Lachaise, though.

Oh, and this place near the Gare de l'Est if hearty Auvergnat dishess appeal: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...de_France.html

macdogmom

I did venture over to Chowhound after reading this thread and the Paris board is is still quite lively. I copied these suggestions from a long time poster for restaurants near the apartment we always rent in May.

“For me, the belle of the ball in the tourist- and suburbanite-favourite Marais/ 4th is Capitaine on impasse Guéménée off the rue St Antoine. If you want a wider choice of very good restaurants, head north into the more parisian 3rd (Le Mazenay, Le Taxi Jaune, Istr for seafood, Aller et Retour for grillades, etc) and east into the 11th (read John Talbott's blog).”

tuscanlifeedit

macdogmom: thanks.