Buzzy

I visited Paris a few years ago and am trying to locate a name for an area within it so that I can return for a short break. I remember visiting Notre Dame and then walking along some nearby streets that had a lot of vey elaborate restaurants. Many of them wih large displays of fresh fish in the window. Does anyone know what this part of Paris is called?

PalenqueBob

Sounds like a part of the Latin Quarter right opposite Notre-Dame - a restaurant ghetto with nearly every ethnic type of food offered. Look on a map and locate Rue Xavier-Privas - this little lane is in the heart of the restaurant ghetto and is lined by such restaurants. I think few Parisians would dine here as it seems strictly tourist oriented.

Travelnut

But would you call those restaurants "very elaborate"?

PalenqueBob

No definitely not but perhaps the window displays are so colorful that it left an impression - anyway i think the only area with a lot of restaurants together anywhere near Notre Dame. I think if someone were on their first trip to Paris these restaurants could be considered elaborate - but no they are in no way. I've observed this area many years and the same restaurants often retool their offerings to go with the crowd of mainly foreign tourists. Cous-cous was once popular, then Mexican became the rage, along with Greek, etc. I have the feeling that many may be owned the same owner.
But there could be another place near here - like Ile St Louis but don't think a lot would apply to its often elaborate restos nor would they have gaudy displays in windows, like everyone does in the Xavier-Privas area.

rkkwan

Restaurants in the Latin Quarter is definitely not elaborate, but food's okay, and very cheap when compared to real brasseries elsewhere. 2 weeks ago there, most places have set 3-course dinners starting at 10 euros, which is not much more than McD.

It's true that few Parisiens will eat there, but doesn't mean they aren't good deals. I see plenty of French people (probably from outside Paris) and other European tourists eating there.

PalenqueBob

rkkwan - exactly - i've eaten here myself several times - usually good value if not gourmet dining - actually was taken there the first few times by a French person from outside Paris who raved about it.

I did not mean to dis these restaurants.

Christina

Doesn't Buzzy even know if he walked north or south of Notre Dame, and whether he crossed a bridge?

I wouldn't call them elaborate, but if it is right near Notre Dame, it could just be the area just to the north of the church right on the island. I don't know about elaborate restaurants, though -- that sounds more like just the main drag on Ile St Louis, where there are a lot of restaurants, some rather nice. I don't remember a lot of them having fresh fish in the window, though, that sounds like your typical big brasserie. It reminds me of some in Montparnasse with oysters and fish on display, but I can't think of that type of display around Notre Dame. Maybe it is just some along the quai there, as others think, like east of Sq Vivani (on quai de Montebello). That could be it. La Tour d'Argent is down that way, but even it doesn't look very elaborate from the outside.

Buzzy

Thanks for your responses. Maybe I should have used the word ostentatious instead. The restaurants were not "posh" as we would say in England but I prefer informal dining at a reasonable price. I've done plenty of eating in swish restaraunts but often feel that everthing is ridiculously overpriced and the places lack atmosphere. Give me a few ordinary people in a simple setting with well cooked un fussy food any day. From those of you who know, am I likely to find that in the latin Quarter and if so which restarants would you recommend?

almesq

We just returned from Paris a few days ago. We ate twice at Brasserie Balzar in the Latin Quarter, right near the Sorbonne on Rue des Ecoles. I had seen it on several lists as the best brasserie in Paris, and we really enjoyed it, found the prices to be reasonable.

PalenqueBob

Buzzy: sounds exactly like the restaurant ghetto i described - rue Xavier-Privas and Rue de la Hachette (sp?) (venue of famed Cave de la Hachette boite de nuit) - there are literally dozens of restaurants in this area a few yards from the Saint-Michel-Notre-Dame RER/metro stop - right off the 'Boul" Saint-Michel and the Left Bank of the Seine. (Left Bank from looking downstream along the Seine and the bank on the left-hand side.)

Christina

What do you mean, that ghetto of cheap tourist restaurants is about as far from ostentatious and elaborate as you can get? To me, both of those mean rather nice and somewhat posh restaurants. If buzzy just means a lot of restaurants that you can't miss right next to each other, then maybe it would be those cheap tourist restaurants on rue de la Huchette. That is the Latin Quarter.

But these are not regular simple homey restaurants with ordinary folks. They are just full of tourists and a lot of the food is dreadful.

Neopolitan

I think Buzzy has to be talking about the Rue Huchette / St. Severin area (ghetto?) of about 200 or more restaurants. They may be touristy and they may be cheap, but one can hardly deny calling them "colorful" and "showy" -- there are at least a dozen with elaborate displays of fish in the windows. Some have roasting chickens and various parts of animals.
I know most say they are all filled with tourists, but having stayed in that area several times and walking those crowded streets hundreds of times, I can tell you there are tons of locals there too -- just the locals who are looking for really cheap food. Hey -- when the prices are often three courses for something like 9 to 12 euros, let's face it -- even non-discrimating locals will end up eating there. There are also tons of students eating there.