Paris- Restaurants
 

We (2 adults & 2 children)have 4 nights in Paris.
These are the restaurants that we want to eat at.
Which should we choose for our 4 nights?
L'epi Dupin
Bastide d'odeon
Fontaine de mars
Bofinger
Chantairelle
Chez Casimir
Chez Marie

Thanks
melissa

Bofinger's is quite popular, and has been for many years with both tourists and the French, it might qualify for a Parisian standard at this point-good brasserie food-very French-so I would put that one on my list.

Bofingers is a big, noisy brasserie and I usually go there at least once on a visit to Paris. It will be great for the kids - they will enjoy the steak & chips. Food is traditional brasserie, not spectacular, not gourmet, but always reliable.

IMO,

Bastide d'Odeon is a little formal. The night I was there, the crowd was a mix of visitors and rather chic Parisians. Don't know the age of your kids but I would probably not take small children or unsophisticated eaters there.

The food at Fontaine de Mars is very good, but the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed than Bastide d'Odeon. I think the wait staff is friendlier, too.

My children are 11 & 14
They enjoy a nice restaurant
Melissa

We ate at Chantairelle last year. It's a nice comfortable place, a little bit 'kitsch' with mooing sound over the doorway, birds singing in the garden, etc. Their kitty was roaming through the landscaping as we dined. The food was good - just a little different in seasoning than other French food we've had so far. My husband had a stuffed cabbage - I do believe it was an entire cabbage! I think I had a duck dish. We had a blueberry crumble kind of dessert, and a nice rose (half-bottle). The server may have also been an owner - I don't think he spoke much English but was very courteous and we were comfortable. We reserved online and rec'd an email confirmation. We arrived at 8pm - there was only one other table then but by 9:00 it was fairly full.
www.chantairelle.com/

bookmarking

I ate at Chantairelle last July. Because I wanted to eat dinner early I was the first one there until about 8:30 when people started filing in. I had a pork dish with a massive amount of lentils which is typical for Auvergne cuisine. While the food was good I didn't really care for it so much. I was served by a man also and I think it was the owner also. He and a woman opened up the restaurant to let me in so I think she's his wife.

I will be in Paris the beginning of September.
When do I need to make reservations?
melissa

It depends on how popular a restaurant is. For Chantairelle I emailed them for reservations about a few weeks in advance.

Bookmarking.

I made a couple of reservations about 2 weeks in advance (for Sept or May) for places that are 'known' but not 'famous'. (like Chantairelle, but unlike Tour d'Argent)

Friends have suggested La Taverne Du Sergent Recruteur.
Any feedback?
I had chosen for our 5 nights these
Bofingers
Bastide d'Odeon
L'Epi Dupin
Chez Casimir
Fontaine de Mars.

Which one should I forget in order to eat at La Taverne Du Sergent Recruteur?
Thanks
Melissa

>>Which one should I forget in order to eat at La Taverne Du Sergent Recruteur?<<

None. Forget la Taverne unless you want to exchange quality of food for a theme park experience. Since you're traveling with children you may in fact want to do this, but be aware that's the case.

I second shellio on the tavern. You are served tons of food and all the wine you want but the quality isn't very good. It could be fun in a group but it's very touristy.

Thanks ,Then we will skip it
Melissa

We went to L'epi Dupin, Bastide d'oden, Fontaine de mars and Bofinger with our kids (age 10 and 13). L'epi Dupin was our favorite restaurant in Paris. We also had an excellent meal at Bastide d'odeon. Fontaine de mars was good. Personally we didn't care for Bofinger. It was big, loud and noisy and the food was fine but not great. Your kids sound old enough to enjoy any of these restaurants - we take our kids everywhere as well.

Does anyone have the websites for these restaurants? In particular I am trying to find L'epi Dupin and Fontaine de Mars. Do you need reservations for these?

Thank you.

You need to book both ahead. Way ahead on L'Epi Dupin as they sometimes are booked a month or more out. They are closed on Sat & Sun if that matters.

Would love if someone has the number for either restaurant or the web site. Thank you.

Dejais, to find any listed telephone number in France, go to www.pagesjaunes.fr and click on the British flag if you do not understand French.

For the French equivalent of Google, try www.voila.fr.

bookmarking

Doesn't look like they have their own websites:

http://www.restoaparis.com/fiche-res...epi-dupin.html

http://www.fra.cityvox.fr/bars-et-bo...40/Profil-Lieu

Thanks aileron. I must have had what my mom calls a "senior moment". I know how to look up numbers in Paris. Silly of me to ask that. DUH!

Travelnut...Glad you confirmed no websites. I looked and looked and could not find any as well.

We ate at Bofinger's about 2 weeks ago, because we were staying in the Marais, and because it's got such a great history. We enjoyed the ambience very much, but didn't think much of the food. Other diners (mostly French, at least in our dining room), seemed to be having the gargantuan seafood platters, or the Alsatian food, so maybe we ordered wrong (regular seafood dishes). It seemed very expensive to us, for what we got.