I agree on Chartier. The real deal.

Hi,
Ones I've enjoyed over the years:
Angelina's: Right Bank, Rue Rivoli, near Louvre, "tea room", fabulous deserts, and a hot chocolate , the "africain" that is death by chocolate...
Reine Blanche: Ile St Louis, family restaurant, small, great food, friendly lady running the show
Au Gourmet de L'Ile: Ile St Louis,very nice, stone-and-beam decor
Berthillon: on Ile St Louis, some people say this is the best ice cream in the world...they have a street outlet here
Rotisserie du Beaujolais: near above restaurant, lots of locals, great chicken/duck, same owner as the nearby **** Tour D'argent....
Atlas: Left Bank,#12 Blvd St Germain (east end), Moroccan food, my friend says it was very good, and plentiful
Chez Rene: Blvd St Germain, right across street from above, bistro, lots of locals, Catherine Deneuve once in a while...
Moulin de Vent/Chez Henri: left bank, Rue des Fosses St Bernard, bistro, locals, and as with the above ,good/great food
Napoleon - Rue St Germain, near Cafe Flore and St Germain church, good croque monsieur and cafe creme, nice spot for lunch, french intellectuals used to go there (still do?

I've found that if you get the Red Michelin guide and go to those restaurants, you won't likely go wrong.
HOpe this helps, and have a great visit!

Mike

Hey gardyloo, I know you've posted before that you really like Chartier. I was wondering how your French is. With kikikim spending so much time in France I assume she's very good at French.

If your French is good, maybe that's why you had a more pleasant time. If your French isn't good then it's back to the drawing board for me to figure out why I had such lousy service there.

I think we've been over the Chartier issue in other posts -- a few people like it, but many do not. I don't care for it at all and I do speak French fairly well. Speaking French doesn't give you good service at that joint, nor does it improve the food. I was seated with all French people and none of us got good service. It's just a place they are in a hurry and want you to get in and out and not ask for much, they are busy. Sure, it's an institution and the food reflects that. It's really more a fast-food lunch place than what I would call a decent restaurant (no, it's not the same decor and style as McDonalds, but it's not for a nice dinner unless you are a masochist).

One of my favorites is in the 15th so most won't be in that area or want to (it's Bistro Champetre), but in the center, I quite like Bouillion Racine near bd St-Michel. Great food, beautiful decor, excellent service and only about 40 euro each.

To everyone who recommended Chez Julien, do you think this would be a good New Year's eve place? We're still looking...

If you happen to visit the Musee D'Orsay around midday, have a meal there. Besides friendly service, good food it is a gem of a Museum.

La Gare, over in the 16th, not too far from the Marmottan Museum. Very smart decor, very smart crowd, very good food.
Cafe l'Esplanade near Les Invalides. Part of the Costes chain. Hip decor (based on a cannon and cannonball theme), great place for afternoon tea (a great place to enjoy Mariage Freres tea without the mob scene at the Mariages Freres shops/salons). Finally, my new favorite place for tea is at the Plaza Athenee Hotel on the Avenue Montaigne. For 8 euros, you get a big, silver pot of outstanding tea (try Darjeeling Margaret's Hope) and flawless service in an atmosphere of pure luxury (FYI, it's not just a ladies-who-lunch kind of place--when I was there on a Tuesday afternoon, there were several men having drinks and a few cigars on their own).

I can understand that people can take or leave Chartier. The times we've been there it was great - food good, interesting people around us, preoccupied but not especially snotty waiters - like I said, the real deal. Our French is rudimentary (to be charitable.) Others may have had different experiences; thankfully there's no shortage of restaurants in Paris to research ;-)

My take on Chartier. It's fine, but no comment about it should be without a qualifier -- "good for the money". If this same food was served at higher prices, people would complain about the mediocrity of it all. It is only "good" because it is "cheap" in my humble opinion. You get what you pay for, and if you're looking for a really cheap meal, then it's a good value.

One of our favorites is Au Monde des Chimeres, a charming little restaurant on Il. St. Louis. Reservations are recommended. Prices were reasonable.

The "Le Petite Pont" near (guess where?). Yes right next to the bridge. Saw it on a poster in a french teacher's room some years back. Looked it up on my first trip in '93 and have eaten there at least once on each trip for the last 4 visits. Crowded, sidewalk dining, but how typically Paris! Wonderful.

Another vote for L'Orangerie on Ile St. Louis. We celebrated my 40th (gasp) birthday there, and the food was outstanding and atmosphere was cozy and romantic. If my memory serves me, I think we had a prix fixe meal, including a bottle of decent red wine, for 65 or 75 euros each.

One more vote for Le Florimond (non-smoking restaurant) and Jules Verne. As to La Fontaine de Mars we did not have a good experience there but it seems that everyone had a great meal in this restaurant so in May we are going to try to dine there one more time hopping to add this restaurant to our list.

mp413, if you're looking for a romantic place to toast the new year by candlelight, yes, Chez Julien would be perfect. If you want lots of hoopla and large crowds bumping into each other, kissing everyone in sight, and making merry through the night, I don't think it would fill the bill. It's quite lovely in a traditional, old-fshioned, candle light and flowers kind of way.