I have 3.5 days in Paris ... 4 dinners and 3 lunches. I think I'd like to eat one sit-down meal a day and one takeaway from grocery/baguette on street kind of thing to cut costs a little. I'd like to spend maybe 10-15 lunch and 15-20 Euros dinner.

I'd definitely like to eat at Fish; this will be my splurge, but maybe I should try lunch rather than dinner? Do they have a good set menu?

I'd also like to return to a restaurant I've been before, though I don't know what it is called. Can anyone help? I honestly think it was called L'Harpe; I had the Salade Harpe, and it may have been on rue de l'harpe. Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Can you recommend maybe 1-2 other restaurants with a set menu in my price range, or with reasonably priced entrees? Maybe one day could be lunch at the Jacquemart Andre museum? I'm looking possibly for bistros/brasseries with good wines by the glass. The other requirement is some English ... not necessarily on the menu but possibly spoken by wait staff a little ... I know maybe 5 French words. Perhaps a place in the 1st eme or 4-8? Especially the 7 or 8 since the other restaurants I mention are in the 5 or 6 I think.

Is it considered rude to just have one course in a restaurant?

Last question ... can someone recommend a good wine store with reasonably priced bottles or half-bottles? Maybe the one across from Fish? I know there are loads just walking around the 5th and 6th, so I don't necessarily need to plan this out.

Thanks!

Here are my notes on a great wine store that is owned by the "Fish" folks and it's a quick walk:

http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/...viewID=1148369

Bon appetit!

Lunch at the Jacquemart-Andre is 15.50 euro; it will be served in a lovely room.

HI JT,

See my comments on your other thread regarding Paris restaurants. IMO, your price range makes selections slightly limited.

I think you are right about limitations; I realize that. Chez Clement seems to have a great menu, especially fixed price. Maybe also Bistrot de 7 eme ... I can't find a menu on-line.

I can't help you with the Harpe salad. There are quite a few cheap restaurants around that area, though, so you might just stroll arond and look at menus (rue de la Harpe, Huchette, etc.). Do you have any remembrance of where this restaurant was?

Chez Clement is a good restaurant chain, and I have enjoyed it when I've been there. They are over your limit, though, I think. I eat sometimes at the one in Montparnasse as I stay near there, but they are probably pretty similar. If you want cheap wine, I'd suggest you go into a Monoprix (general store plus supermarket), as they have good cheap wine selections in many of them. I've even gotten cheap decent wine in other supermarkets, like Franprix. Maybe 5 euro for a decent bottle of table wine. Nicolas wine stores are everywhere, but I don't think they even usually have as wide a cheap selection as Monoprix.

As for restaurants and rudeness -- I don't think it's exactly a matter of being rude to order only one course, it's just economics and the type of establishment. You wouldn't go into a regular restaurant and order only one course, as that's not what they do. They do full meals. But you can order whatever you want, one course or several, or none, at a cafe and no one will care.

I don't know any restaurant I could recommend with a complete prix fixe at 15-20 euro, but I do know there are some real cheap restaurants around rue Mouffetard offering prix fixe at about that rate. I think there are several on rue Pot de Fer, if you want to walk around that area.

Thanks, Christina. I could probably up my prices 5 Euros at both times. For example, Chez Clement has a fixed price for 14 and one for 19.50 ... both would be just fine.

As for cheap wine, maybe like 10 Euros or under. I think I'll try that wine store owned by the Fish people ... I'll definitely have their Saturday tasting, and then probably buy something there or return at a later time.

ttt

Auberge du Jarente
Au Piano Muet
Bistro du 7eme
Bistrot du 17eme
Chez Papa
Leon de Bruxelles
Restaurants across from the Gare du Nord

Wine is sold in the Monoprix and supermarche and Franprix
The Monoprix near the Gare St. Lazare is terrific, as is the one on rue Rennes

Pre Verre (8 rue Thenard, in the 5th) has set price menus for both lunch and dinner. If I remember correctly (I ate lunch there about a year ago), the price for lunch, including a glass of wine, is about 12€.

The food is Asian-influenced French (see Patricia Wells's review at http://www.patriciawells.com/reviews/iht/2003/04-25.htm).

There are also Nicolas wine stores around Paris that have a good price range of wine. I know there is one on Ile St Louis.

As part of your research, I'd also recommend a search here for something like "Paris cheap restaurant" This topic has been discussed, and there have been some good recommendations.

Thanks. Yes, I've already done some looking here on forums and have a few good threads ... one about Paris restaurants under 20 was quite helpful. Seems like I've got more than enough to go on!

hi Joe,
I went to Fish last month for dinner. It was wonderful. There is no set menu. Our meal of 2 starters, 2 entrees and a bottle of wine came to 79 euros. You might want to make reservations since it is a small place. Have a fun trip.

Thanks very much. If I went for lunch, would is be less crowded and therefore not necessary for a reservation? Can I make reservations on-line? (it seems they don't have a website).

hi, Joe, can't help with Fish, but I found the website of one of the cheaper restaurants in the Mouffetard area, and they do have complete dinners (3 courses) for only 12-15 euro. What a deal. It's a nice-looking place, also. Someone on Fodors I can't remember found this place and liked the food:

http://www.lepotdeterre.com/

They do have a wine store down rue Mouffetard from that restaurant, but of course, as you said, they are everywhere. I never found Nicolas as cheap as Monoprix myself, or just a supermarket. I had about a 3-5 euro bottle of Saumur Champigny that was decent from Franprix that would probably cost $25-30 in the US, if you could find it. Which you can't very much, as they don't have Saumur Champigny hardly at all in the wine stores where I live.

Hi Joe - you probably won't need reservations for lunch but if you know which day you want to go, I'd make them just so you are not disappointed. I just stopped in one day and made reservations for the next night. I don't know if they have online reservations. It is a wonderful restaurant! Our meals were so delicious and other meals we saw looked great. One of the best meals on the trip.

Joe I am just curious as to why you chose FISH. I am also researching where to eat in Paris. I came across metnion of fish but am just wondering why it is a particular "must" for you. Thanks!

Fish has gotten very good writeups by people here, as well as professionals like Patricia Wells. I really like seafood, and they are supposed to have a very good wine list, two important things for me. The location is also good, and I guess I suppose it's nice to support an American in Paris.

Christina, thanks for the link. I think others have mentioned this place; some menu items seem really appealing, and the price is quite good as well.

Not really a restaurant question, but has anyone been to Lavinia wine store? It's supposed to be huge, and it could be fun for me, but would I able to find reasonably priced wine?