What Does One Order in Parisian Restaurant/Cafe?
 

I know little to nothing about French Cuisine.

I am not too adventurous in regards to meat or seafood. i will eat pork, chicken breast and shrimp.
No innards please :)

i love cheese and veggies.

when i was in Paris in 2001 we only ate out two times (other than snacks) and i got omelettes both times. i would like to try something else this fall.

i am picturing some kind of comforting soup/stew/casserole

thanks

Maybe you could find a place which serves "Cassoulet" (sp). This is a bean casserole and it's usually with some duck, sausage, and other various meat. This is very tasty and you don't have to eat the duck. The sausages are normlly pork.

This is found a lot around the Toulouse or Carcassonne but certainly it's served in Paris.

This will stick to your ribs.

Blackduff

I like cassoulet (hot casserole for cool weather).. it's a baked dish of beans, sausage, pork, chicken, maybe rabbit (you'll be fine, probably won't recognize it as such), very delicious.

Also you would like a 'poulet roti' (roast chicken) maybe with frites or haricots verts (fries or skinny green beans). Maybe a porc medallion with mushroom sauce?

Try some of the Asian 'deli' places, where you can point at colorful ready-made dishes that they will heat and weigh, charge you by the weight/serving. Very yummy.

There is a French dish called 'pot-au-feu' that might be what you'd like, haven't had that one yet. I think it's kind of a pot roast type dish.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsanjose/940505604/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jendoolee/436722496/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/typefiend/105489460/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shok/2236404837/

All guidebooks (or most) have menu translations in the back. There are now several dedicated electronic translators. I do not like organ meats and early on memorized those so I would know not to order them.

You will encounter so many variations that no menu translator will have everything.

In the center of Paris, most waiters are helpful with translations. Restaurants in tourist areas often have English menus. Most bistros have simple food such as poulet roti = roast chicken and frites (french fries).

DON'T hesitate to ask for help--they want you to order something so will, if they can, be helpful. If not, walk out, there's another reastaurant a few feet away.

Most common soups are soupe au pistou (white bean soup with pesto), soupe a l'oignon (usually lots of cheese).

And, in Paris are a host of Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, French regional, etc. restaurants so you're spoilt for choice.

If you're not going until autumn, read up, do online research, practice reading menus of restaurants which post them online, etc.

Patrica Wells has a good menu glossary on her website.

http://www.patriciawells.com/glossary/atoz/atoz.htm

There's always steak frites, steak and french fries , and it is listed as such. Boeuf Bourguignonne!..beef stew.

Pork is cochon , you probably wouldn't like the pied!

Hi d,

>i will eat pork, chicken breast and shrimp.<

Then spend your time at Chinese restaurants and get the mixed chop suey platter. :)

Is there a problem with steak, veal, duck, fish of various sorts, scallops, lobster, crab other shellfish?

The French have over 450 kinds of cheese, none of which is at all like Velveeta.

Do you mind aromatic cheeses?

You can always get veggies.

You can always get pizza, pasta and other Italian foods.

You can always go to McDs.

You won't starve, and you needn't restrict yourself to omelettes.

Stretch your palate a little. If you eat your duck leg you can have an almond croissant with ice cream and chocolate sauce. :)

((I))

thanks for the replies.
quite an array.


white bean soup with pesto !!
my oh my. that sounds great

i do not want any chinese or italian food in Paris.

i hate Mc D.

Dont like any sausage or beef.

i like crab, lobster. no clams or oysters

i like most cheese.

i have never tried duck.

i love an almond croissant with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

reading menus online will give me an idea what to expect.

any urls?

Hi d,

>i do not want any chinese or italian food in Paris.
.......chocolate sauce.<

Your taste has improved. :

Paris has very good Chinese and Italian, along with Moroccan, Thai, Vietnamese, and a few others.

>reading menus online will give me an idea what to expect.

any urls?<

Under 40E
Léon de Bruxelles - mussels and frites
Pizza Vesuvio, 1, Rue Gozlin - More than just pizza
http://www.vagenende.fr/us/p1.html -
Brasserie Lipp - excellent choucroute

Under 70E
http://www.petitzinc.com/
http://www.le-train-bleu.com/
Any of the Flo Brasseries included along with http://www.bofingerparis.com/

Enjoy.

((I))

Please do try the grilled duck breast. Very good.

I also recommend the Moules frites.

Live on the edge and try some new food.

There are probably 10,000 French dishes that would fit even within your fairly narrow criteria. I'd spend a few hours googling French food and line up some things that would please you. Then you'll be familiar with some of the terminology, too.

my sister says i should try duck breast too.

i will save all your suggestions and cant wait to try something new.

thanks for the encouragement to leave my comfort zone.

One thing about roast duck--it is usually served very rare (sanglant). Just a caution, don't want to turn you off it. You can ask for it "medium"--waiters use that word themselves or bien cuit, but you don't want it dried out.

And, all the meat on duck is dark, so it's not going to look like a chicken breast. Tastes great, though.

grilled duck breast..you may have me

rare duck(raw poultry). you lost me.

It's not raw, it's rare. And if you order it bien cuit waiters will almost certainly raise an eyebrow or try to dissuade you. It tastes terrible overcooked - it's supposed to be rare. It's not the same as undercooked chicken, which they would never serve you.

Hi dand,

Duck breast will usually be listed a "magret".

>rare duck(raw poultry). you lost me<

It is not raw. It isn't really "rare" - more like medium rare to medium. Since it starts off reddish, it looks pink, even though it isn't.

((I))

Thank you, ira, for a current endorsement of Le Train Bleu.

When did you eat there last?

As you have recently read, I am in the early stages of planning our 2009 with my first-time ever brother and his wife.

It remains highly likely (I think) that Paris will be part of the plan, almost certainly at the end of the trip.

My wife and I have already talked about what highlight(s) to include in a 48-60 hrs "taste" of Paris. We both generally agree that "the most memorable dinner" of the trip (to the extent that you can forecast that) should be in Paris.

She argues that is very hard to beat Altitude 95 - - pointing out that you know they will want to go TO the Eiffel Tower, and it's hard to beat Altitude 95 for "memory making". We went there with wife's brother and SIL (2007) - - and indeed, it was nice, and competently sound... a solid "B", in my opinion. (I am so jaded... I can hardly remember any "A" restaurants since I don't know when).

I argue in favor of Le Train Bleu instead (I guess we could still go to Altitude 95 for a lunch on the other day). I have never been there, and it's hard not to worry about ANY restaurant resting on its laurels.

Does it actually live up to the "fantasie" it looks to have from its pictures and its online prose?

By the way, I'm curious if you would personally make satisfying choices that stay "under 70 euro". True, it has one 49 e menu (with a little water or wone) and the TGV menu for 52 (no beverage included). But the tasting menu is 96 (half bottle of champagne included); ordering a la carte is certainly do-able... there are 4 starters under 20 euro, and 4 mains under 30, with dessert at 14. But why does it say "exclusive of tax"? What tax?

I wonder how many patrons keep it under 100, with wine?

Best wishes,

Rex

i would be interested in hearing more about tasting menus.

A tasting menu will give you small portions of dishes that the chef wants to showcase. You can often specify which foods you absolutely do not want to sample, but in a case like yours, where you want to avoid so many foods, a tasting menu would be a bad idea. Also, tasting menus often bear high price tags.

As an example, here are two tasting menus from one of the best French restaurants in New York; the last two menus are the "tasting menus;"

http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant...us/dinner.html

By the way,I am not saying that the dishes on the menus I posted are in anyway typical of the menus you will find in Paris.

Frankly, I think you are worrying too much. You can always find a roast chicken or an omelette. Pork belly is pretty popular these days, too. I do not much like magret of duck; I would recommend duck confit, which is usually the leg that has been preserved in fat and then sauteed to crispness. Of course, this is dark meat..

I would forget lobster in Paris. And you are not likely to see all that much crab. What about scallops--can you eat those?

Do you mind my asking where you live in the US and what you find to eat on menus at home? Is there a religious reason for your prescribed/proscribed diet?

thanks again all.

even though i do eat a little bit of meat, i wish most meat didnt gag me like it does.

i guess i love animals too much.

my dad teases me, when i slice up a carrot for example,he will say "oh the poor thing, you are chopping its head off!!"

growing up, you dont know how many evening i was the last one at the table trying to be made to eat what was on my plate (usually meat).
my mom finely gave up.

any vegetarians out there? :)

Rex, I attended a message board get-together at Le Train Bleu a couple of years ago. We mostly ordered from the least expensive menu. It was fine but not outstanding. The room is the thing.

Well, your question was "What does one order....?" For most of us, the answer is all kinds of things that you don't eat. So maybe you asked the wrong question. If you'd said you were looking for vegetarian meals in Paris, you would have gotten just as many answers, probably with better suggestions.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I would have told you that you could go to just about any restaurant/café/bistro/brasserie in Paris and had a meal that didn't involve meat. Not to mention that there are vegetarian restaurants. There are crepe stands. There are sandwich places galore where you don't have to have anything with meat in it.

You're worrying needlessly. This isn't going to be an issue.

Last trip I went to Chez Clement in the 6th. They have multiple locations. I had a terrine (appetizer of cold ground up meats that you eat of pieces of bread), a couple of slices of porc sausages, chicken with potatoes, ice cream, espresso, mineral water and glass of wine...for 41 euro.

Also, about a block from the above is La Jacobine, small place where I had a nice salad, fish soup, and maigret of duck and wine for ~30 euro

If you are going to the Marmottan Museum in the 16th, I stumbled on the Rotonde de la Muette. I had a fall vegetable soup, sole meuniere with potatoes,mineral water, wine, chocolate mousse, espresso, for 60 euro.

I have also eaten at Le Petit Zinc (seafood) and also recommend Rotisserie du Beaujolais for their roast chicken and garlic mashed potatoes.

To be honest, I like beef, chicken, pork, duck and fish and have never had any trouble finding any restautant that serves the above. I am not big on organs either. It won't be a problem.


As others have stated, all restaurants will post their menus outside their door, so you can check before going in. Get a good menu translator to help you.

ekscrunchy

thanks for your advice and info..

i grew up in midwest now live in seattle area.

around here there are alot of ethnic restaurants.

I love asian shrimp, veggies, & rice sort of dishes.

or italian type with pasta,cheese,tomato, basil sort of dishes.

mexican food is great.

at american type places for dinner
i usually get salmon or chicken breast entrees.

I eat nothing with hamburger or sausage. No grounded meat.
the texture gags me.

I would recommend getting a menu translation book. I really like the "Eating and Drinking in Paris" by Herbach and Dillon book. I have found very few items on a menu that are not in the book. I like that it includes sauces too. I found that some foods like meat are named something different depending on the cut. Which is great, because if you are looking only for poulet, you might miss a great dish because it may not be specifically called poulet on the menu (I hope that makes sense). I like trying new foods but there are some things I do not like and I don't want to mistakenly order a whole plate of it and then waste it. For example, I don't eat mushrooms, I taste them occasionally in a new dish but I find that it just reinforces the fact that I don't like them. So, I don't want to end up with a big plate of mushrooms, and wasting that money and the food.

May restaurants will have "Le Menu" for the day listed with a price. You get your choice of one each of several main courses, sides, desserts, wine. This is a nice way to try a few new foods at a good price.

If you like chicken, I ate at La Poule au Pot. Their specialty is Chicken in a Pot (hence the name!), which is a pot with chicken, vegetables, a slice of pate (which you could pick out easily) and a to die for broth. They also have a great salad with goat cheese and croutons (another of my favorites). It is near Les Halles.

Have a great time!

The best lobster I have ever had (including summers in Maine and countless forays to the lobster meccas of Boston and New York) was the bisque I had last summer at <i>Le Train Bleu</i>. So don't write off the Paris lobster totally.

You can gorge yourself on excellent cuisine for reasonable prices (<i>Le Menu des Gourmands</i>) at CielDeParis.com - and enjoy a unique vista of the Eiffel Tower while you dine: from above. You sit at the level of the old elevator exchange platform halfway between the 2nd floor and the summit.

The window tables afford a panoramic view of Paris from La D&eacute;fense to Notre Dame.

Hi Rex,

We were last at Train Bleu in Sept, 2005.

From my trip report:
&quot;we had dinner in the smoking area at Le Train Bleu. This is a smaller, less crowded and much less noisy area than the large room by the bar. Hardly anyone was smoking.

Entrees of Marennes oysters and escargot from Bourgogne. Both plump, juicy and flavorful. These were accompanied by a 1/2 bottle of 2004 W. Ferre Chablis (17E), which was light and pleasant, but not as minerally as it should have been.

We each ordered fish for the mains; Nile perch with cepes in a puff pastry crust and Sole Meuniere (deboned at tableside). Both beautifully fresh and perfectly done.

Both accompanied by steamed seasonal vegetables and baby potatoes.

For wine, we had a 1/2 bottle of 2001 Comte de la Perriere Sancerre (22E) - a very good example of the breed.

Coffee was served in shot glasses, which my LW thought was cute, but she also likes the blinking lights on the Eiffle Tower.

Le Train Bleu does bring back the feeling of the old days, when passengers taking the long-distance, overnight trains stopped for supper before boarding (if you overlook the men not wearing jackets at dinner). Service is swift (mostly) and smooth, food is very good, ambiance is unabashedly Belle Epoque.

Since we were the last people in the restaurant, we were pleasantly (albeit swiftly) ushered out with sufficient time to catch the last Metro back to our hotel&quot;.

I think that dinner was about 110E, as there was a special on the oysters that week.

&gt;... &quot;the most memorable dinner&quot; of the trip ...&lt;

A: Taillevent
B: Les Ombres

Both are very costly.

How about lunch at Taillevent? About 70E pp + wine. That would be memorable, indeed.

From my trip report:
&quot;Not for people who say, “I eat to live. I don’t live to eat”, nor for foodies with jaded pallets looking for the latest cutting-edge offerings from molecular gastronomists. They offer excellent dining in an atmosphere of subdued luxury.
As we strolled up the avenue to the entrance, the doorman greeted us as if we had arrived in a Daimler, opened the door and turned us over to three gentlemen and a lady in the anteroom.
One gentleman checked our name off the reservations list, the lady divested us of our travel umbrellas, and another gentleman escorted us to our table in the Lammenais room where, with the aid of two other gentlemen (to pull out and reposition the table), my Lady Wife was ensconced on the banquette and I was seated. (Enthroned would be a mild exaggeration.)
The room is relatively plain, (old oak paneling, a few flower arrangements some objets d’art), quiet and very comfortably furnished.
Our aperitif order was taken by a uniformed footman, who soon returned with a glass of vin de la maison (a Pouilly Fuiss&eacute; ) for LW and a kir for me.
The proper means of making a kir: set wine glass on table, add kir, swirl, let rest. Repeat. Add wine, a little at a time while swirling. (I can’t say that the method of preparation necessarily improved the drink, but it was a good kir.)
Our orders were taken by a waiter. The wine steward soon arrived, having been informed of our order, to offer his advice.
Amuse bouche: A tomato gel with a tiny mozzarella egg and greens, topped with a bit of cr&egrave;me fraiche.
Entrees: Roberta had the smoked salmon. This came as a bowl of what appeared to cream of tomato soup with a dollop of sour cream, but was actually a mousse of lightly smoked salmon with a quenelle of basil-flavored ice cream.
I had the poached egg with asparagus and mushrooms – a more traditional presentation.
Since we usually offer each other tastes from our dishes, I was caught with my fork halfway to Roberta’s bowl of salmon mousse by our footman who offered me a “tasting dish”. One doesn’t take things from each other’s silverware, nor reach into another’s plate. The diner scoops a bit of stuff out with a spoon and sets it on the tasting dish, which is then passed by the footman.
Mains: Rouget for LW and duck breast with apricots were served without fancy garnishes or towers of stuff, just straightforward excellent food.
Cheese course: A spoonful of raw milk chevre wrapped in scallions and topped with a bit of fried chive and tapenade.
Varioous house-made rolls were offered as the meal progressed.
Dessert: A chocolate/raspberry confection for me (you can see it on the website) and a peach tart for Roberta.
Coffee was served with an assortment of tiny cakes and pastries.
Wines were chosen by the wine steward. They were very good, went well with the courses, and were priced from the middle of the menu, but I have no idea what they were.
After refusing an invitation to call a taxi, we arose from the table (I pushed my chair back a few inches and waited – it took a count of two for a waiter to assist me. Two others extracted LW from behind the table.), were escorted to the ante room where the umbrella lady was waiting for us, along with the gentlemen who had greeted us upon arrival. We were very pleasantly thanked for honoring the establishment with our presence and escorted out the door.
You might note that I have not graced each course with descriptions such as “very good” or “superb”, etc. This does not mean that they weren’t. It would be superfluous to keep writing “outstanding”.
A wonderful experience in being treated like royalty (or at least rich and famous). 209E($325) + tips&quot;.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

ira
Your almond croissant with ice cream and chocolate sauce is making me hungry for Paris.

&quot;Le Train Bleu&quot;
We ate there in Sept.'09 and it was wonderful.

The atmosphere, food, and service were all exactly what we were looking for.

We had a salad with walnut oil, filet of beef with bernaise sauce, and a wonderful chocolate torte.

I also am fond of wines from the Sancere region, and they had both some reds and whites by the glass. Of course, I tried both.

Such thoughtful and useful replies, and so quickly!

I appreciate the suggestion of Le Ciel de Paris. I believe that I would have thought of it on my own - - but it had escaped my front row of ideas, at this point.

...and to nikki, regarding Le Train Bleu...

&lt;&lt; It was fine but not outstanding. The room is the thing. &gt;&gt;

I get that, and this is actually quite reassuring to me. It _does_ look to be half (if not more) of the reason I would choose it). Calling on another, pertinent memory, I treasure the recollection of a buffet lunch in the grand ballroom at Musee d'Orsay. What a lasting impression can come out of a setting that cannot be found anywhere else!

I think that with the three choices of A95, LCdP and LTB, we can have the discussion with my B and SIL.

And a lunch at Taillevent could be the card up my sleeve. Your write-up, ira, deserves the (implicity superfluous) descriptor of &quot;outstanding&quot;... ;)

Now, tell me a place that would be as memorable (service-wise) for lunch in London... while you're on a roll!

Someone who eats pork, chicken and shrimp is not a vegetarian, but I am, and I've eaten very wellon two trips to Paris. Lots of goat cheese salads, pesto and pasta (most memorably at Altitude), crepes, beautiful veggies, potatoes made sinful with butter and cheese. Every type of ethnic food imaginable. And of course the bread!!
My daughter had the most amazing scallops-coquille St. Jacques-that she talks about still, 5 years later.

Ira: Did you write a report on your visit to Les Ombres?

Ira: The reason that I am asking is that I read your last Paris report and you do not mention the restaurant; I thought I remembered reading that you had plans to go but cancelled at the last minute..

Bien cuit isn't medium - it;s well done. And not the way to order any meat in France - it will be rubber.

I France meat (beef, lamb etc) is usually served on the rare side. If you don;t like it that way - stick to chicken, shrimp and the other things you like.

A cafe i s more or less the equivalent of a diner and you can get a whole host of things - starting with poulet roti (roast chicken with fries) coq au vin (chicken stewish) plus dozens of others,

Here's the guide I was using. I order beef a point or medium/cuit; husband orders bien cuit--he's never had a dried out, overdone experience:

• Au bleu is raw; only the outside heated.

• Saignant is rare; the center is perceptibly warm.

• &Agrave; point is rare; the blood coagulated and the center is hot.

• Bien is what Americans would call medium.

• Bien cuit is medium well; the center is still a bit pink.

Hi Rex,

It's been a long time since I was in London, but I have always felt that the Divan Room at Simpson's in the Strand was the outstanding old-time London resto.

I f you go upstairs to the Knight's Bar, you can stand at the same window from which Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson viewed the passing scene.

((I))

Hi ek,

Haven't eaten at Les Ombres, yet.

Cannot discuss the food or the service from my own experience, but it has gotten consistently good reviews.

I can attest that you do get a close up view of the Eiffel Tower and that it twinkles at night.

Please note that Rex asked for &quot;the most memorable dinner&quot; of the trip ...&quot;, not the best in food and service.
((I))

Rex, you might want to try one of the Gordon Ramsey places.

I especially like the York and Albany

http://www.gordonramsay.com/yorkandalbany/menus/

The only meal I've ever been disappointed in in London was at Simpson's on the Strand. Of course that was during the mad cow scare and they weren't serving beef on the bone. Even the 2 native Londoners I was with, who had dined there since they were children were disappointed.

My off-the-cuff, follow-on question about London (restaurants) is an inappropriate hijack of this thread. Sorry.

We haven't even had any further discussions with my brother about exactly what IS the itinerary?

I'll post a new and separate thread about making our London (and Kent) plans, if we do really decide to start there.

I may get some negative comments about this suggestion as being too touristy, but here goes. I've been there twice and can't speak more highly of it. Last visit I had the coq au vin Alsatian style that was to die for.

http://www.restaurantalsace.com/en/index.htm

Although the two best meals of my life were both at Taillevent when M. Vriant was alive, I would not send the OP to it. Let him/her have crepes, moule frites, the soups he/she seeking and work her way up to Taillevent.