There are two places that i would avoid...

1. Mrs Manon Boulangerie - As I was eating my morning pastry i came acroos a huge black hair burried within, at the same time I cought a glimpse of an overweight man in the back kitchen with black hair...

2. Au Gourmet de L'Isle - The food here is disgusting but rated a Zagat 23, it has been suggested that they seeded the Zagat reviews and brought their rating up from a 13 to a 23 in just 6 months time.

There two r=places are reviewes on my blog along with some really ***good*** ones.

http://richardab.typepad.com/iheartp...eat/index.html

"There two r=places are reviewes on my blog along with some really ***good*** ones."

RichardAB, what does this mean; it's not very clear. And do you mean MISS Manon? I had very different experiences there and ate there 3 times.

RichardAB,

I just read your review of the Fontaine de Mars. You slather hot Dijon mustard on bread and eat that? Yuck. Who told you that was good? What a strange thing to do!

And you are disgusted by dogs in restaurants? I say you should stay in New York. Don't ruin Paris for the rest of us.

"You slather hot Dijon mustard on bread and eat that? Yuck. Who told you that was good? What a strange thing to do!"

A strange thing to do? I suppose you've never done the proper condiment tasting before have you?

Ezlivin,

Your message is not clear, at least not to me. Dijon mustard is good on steaks, french fries, and pork chops. I've never seen anybody slather it on bread. Yuck.

ckneb:

Have you ever tasted condiments in stores that specialize in them? Do you know that breads and different types of crackers are used to taste them? You apparently do not know this - since, you only wipe them in steaks and fries.

Go and visit Dijon. Perhaps, you'll see how things are done with tasting good mustard.

Beatchick, yes i meant Miss Manon, yuk.

To the others, yes Dijon mustard on crusty bread with sweet butter. Try it sometime, I just happen to LOVE dijon mustard, the hotter the better.

Concerning dogs, I think there is a place for everything and a restaurant is not a place for dogs, especially when people have them sitting on the chair or their lap. Can't people leave their precious pooch at home for a few hours?

I also feel the same way about smoking, but it looks like Europe is starting to take care of that too... (Italy and Ireland).

Well, I've been eating Dijon mustard since 1970. Maybe in Dijon you taste it on bread because you want to taste just the mustard. That's a tasting. In real life, you eat Dijon mustard on meats and french fries. It's too strong to be a good taste on bread. On bread you eat butter or cheese!

RichardAB,

Do they give you butter for the bread and mustard at the Fontaine de Mars? Or do you have to request butter?

Mustard is good with fats. That's why it's good on steaks, pork chops, and french fries. So if you put butter on the bread and then slather it with mustard, well... more power to you. Doesn't sound very good to me.

By the way, most dogs are cleaner than most people.

ckneb:

Well, you just have to go out a little bit more and be able to taste things that are beyond your personal perceptions. It's not the 70's anymore and new methods of eating and preparing dishes have evolved.

Mustard on steaks and fries are good, but you shouldn't dismiss how others do their tasting habits. Besides, yours may seem to be the unconventional to most, after all.

I'm sorry for butting in but are you refering to only Paris with this statement - "most dogs are cleaner than most people"?

French people would be shocked to see you eating Dijon mustard on bread -- even with butter. That's not a good taste. Sorry.

But let's move on. A chacun son goût.

I mentioned 1970 but here we are 35 years later and I'm living in France. Where are you?

Very funny, billy_boy! I never realized my remark, so complimentary to dogs, would be taken as an ethnic slur. You ought to be proud of yourself. My dog is surely cleaner than you!

Do eat in any "Brasserie FLO" (they're old buildings all over the place , you can have steak , choucroute , oysters , beef with thread , snails , crêpes suzette or crême brûlée....we , the French do enjoy a lot these huge XIXTH century places ...ask your hotel , they'll tell you all about it.
Even if you don't speak French , try anything figuring in :www.lexpress.fr/mag/saveurs
It's one of our weekly magazines , and besides politics and economy they talk a lot about food too.Bistro is a small restaurant that's nothing big , café is where you'll have a glass of wine , coffee , a sandwich , fromagerie is where you'll buy and try our 365 different cheeses , boulangerie is for bakery and so on.
Don't ever have pizza , buy chocolates at Hévin www.jphevin.com ,
grab a macaroon at Ladurée right after having a Pierre Hermé pastry at Les Deux Magots (expensive), go visit Poilâne www.poilane.fr , enjoy a lunch at Les Bouquinistes , close to Notre-Dame www.guysavoy.com, have a nice cup of tea at A Priori Thé at the Galerie Vivienne , next door to Jean-Paul Gauthier store.....and sorry to all the other great food places we have I didn't mention!!!!!
ps: can't mention 2 of my favorites!Le Plomb du Cantal , close to Montparnasse , very stuffy , if you spend more then 20euros per person including a pot of wine , you'll never be able to eat it all , and for a "dîner raffiné" , go to La Régalade , 30euros per person without the wine , 49,avenue Jean Moulin , XIVth , and do go there by cab!

Did you really mean to say "Don't ever have pizza..." ? I think there is great pizza to be had in Paris. Do you know the Pizzeria Sant'Antonio on the place du Bourg-Tibourg?

Hmm, if you mean Miss Manon at the corner of rue St. Paul and rue St. Antoine, we've been there several times and never had a problem. I think it's one of the better boulangeries in Paris.

(I'm starting to think that beatchick and I have very similar likes and dislikes. . . next time we're headed to Paris, I'll have to go back to her trip reports for tips.)

FWIW, I would not eat at Le Procope.

Ckneb:

Next time you make any statement, whether it's about food, dogs or cleanliness, make sure you have enough knowledge of things outside of your own, dirty and smelly little world.

I can smell you and your dogs all the way here in New York!

If you go to the Lido or Moulin Rouge, don't eat there (or any show for that matter). Just see the show. The food at the Lido is better than the M.R. BUT overpriced for what you get.

Billy-byo:

You must have a good nose. What do you know about my little world?

Are you a troll?

Oui, mademoiselle elle! That's the one!

I've always felt a kinship with you, chica, even down to musical tastes & plays on words (although I think you are far superior to me in that category)!! :D

Ah oui madame Sophie de Paris! I agree with many of your suggestions, particularly Ladurée & Poilâne. I haven't tried Pierre Hermé but am looking forward to sampling the macarons from there. I hear they are better than Ladurée but I refuse to believe that. However, one MUST put it to the taste test to be sure!! :D And I am willing to put myself through that sacrifice my next trip.

(oh, btw, I think she meant don't try pizza or chocolate at Hévin)



On another note, I wonder if dijon mustard would taste good on a walnut gourmandise? The cheese is a triple cream so bound to be very fatty. Somehow, though, I think the pure flavor of the gourmandise is best left without the strong flavor of the dijon.

ciao! ;)

ckenb:

If all you can come come up with is steak, fries and chops, then you have to do better than that to comment other taste as "not in good taste".

You have to realize that some people have experienced dining, countless more times than most people who's lived in Paris for 35 years, in the finest and the worst (and everything else in between) dining establishments all over Europe, well, okay, the world. Perhaps, if you just open up your mind and stop dismissing other's opinion on food, and if you can afford it, then you may also someday experience what good taste is all about.

Oh, and by the way, if you can start saving up, you should really go to Dijon, the city where Dijon mustard was bortn, and experience how it is used in some of tradiditional and cutting edge cuisine outside of fires and pork chop.

Also, if you get the chance to travel outside of Paris, say to Italy or Spain, then you may experience how bread is used to sop up world class olive oils and sauces. You'll see that they hardly, ever, put butter with bread on the table.

Hi ezlivin,

I don't live in Paris, first of all, but I do live in France. I lived in Paris for about 8 years, but many years ago.

If anybody wants to eat Dijon mustard on bread, more power to him, as I said. That's just not something you see people doing in France.

I have been to Dijon. Nice town. I didn't do any mustard tastings there -- no need to. I had been eating Dijon mustard almost daily for 25 years at that point. By the way, my favorite mustard is Amora, which I buy at Intermarché, one of the local supermarkets. A really big jar costs about one euro. It's a staple.

I do hope that one day I will be able to experience what good taste is all about. Meanwhile, I will have to make do with French country cuisine, since I live in the French countryside. I'm American, so I also know American country cooking. I prefer French-style cooking -- the ingredients are better and the techniques are more subtle.

By the way, I never said anything was "not in good taste" -- I said that mustard on bread is "not a good taste." The mustard is too strong and overpowers the bread, even if it has butter on it. That's just my opinion, of course.

I've also been to Italy and to Spain. In France too, people sop or mop up sauces with bread. I know I do. But mustard is just too stong a flavor for bread. It goes better with steak and chops and fries. It's also an essential ingredient in vinaigrettes, used on salads of all sorts -- lettuce, beets, green beans, tomatoes, and even meats.

Ken

ooooh, beatchick!! How can I get my grubby little hands on some walnut gourmandise? Do they sell it in the US? I'm not scheduled for any Euroadventures this year. :(

I can never eat Dijon on bread again without feeling embarrassed.

MelissaH..Do you have a Fresh Market or Whole Foods store in your area?They both always have Walnut Gourmandise. You can also purchase it online from numerous sources.

Sorry, RichardAB. You can buy some Amora or Maille in an supermarché and a baguette in a boulangerie, and then sneak up to your hotel room to indulge in this guilty pleasure.

Have you tried cheese on bread? That's good too. I prefer it.

Ckenb and RichardAB, one of my favourite snacks is bread with Dijon mustard and cheese (cheddar or gruyere or cantal).

Dijon mustard also tastes great with smoked salmon, and grainy mustard is lovely in sauces made with crème fraîche, dill and mushrooms.

Incidentally, I don't think the taste of mustard overpowers bread any more than a good strong cheese would.
JMHO

This of it this way.... Butter is dairy, so is cheese so whats the difference if I eat butter on bread with dijon, same concept.

Yes ckenb, I have had cheese on bread. In fact last night I had Saint Andre on a crusty oat with cranberries.

http://www.frencheese.co.uk/glossary...m/cheeseID/331

Sophie, Regalade is my favorite bistro.
I like Pommery whole grain mustard that mustard that I blend with Lavender honey to roast my chicken.
Every restaurant has an off day, so one can't always go that one post at times that may say your favorite restaurant isn't very good.
Please no insulting on this pleasant thread.
It feels so much better to not be mean.

Please send me that chicken recipe with whole grain mustard and lavendar honey!

Richard and Hanl,

In France we say "on ne discûte pas des goûts et des couleurs" -- there's not point arguing points of taste or color. I've never liked mustard on sandwiches, especially not with cheese. But I love Dijon mustard -- the stronger the better -- on meats and French fries. I also cook with it.

Hey, why use bread? Just eat the mustard out of the jar or bowl with a spoon!

In America we say,

"La moutarde est répugnante sur des pommes frites".

"Hey, why use bread? Just eat the mustard out of the jar or bowl with a spoon!"

I confess... :">

Richard,

Very funny. But I don't know why you'd need to say that in French! Ketchup on fries, American style, is good too -- but ketchup isn't good with red wine. Mustard is better if you drink wine.

I enjoyed reading your restaurant reviews in your blog.

ttt

Just pulling your legs, Guys ;-) !!!

Mais l'on dirait bien que la moutarde vous monte au nez :-) !!!

One more French expression for the ones who wish to brush up their French :

- "la moutarde me monte au nez !" = "I'm beginning to see red!"

Not sure if this was written on 3rd of Jan or 1st of March so this may be too late, but here goes! My wife and I visited Paris last May and stayed in the Hotel du Pantheon which was lovely. We had been recommended a restaurant close to La Sorbonne called Le Coupe Chou (prety close I think). The food was great, Boeuf Bourgignon in a pot served at the table etc. It is very small, very old and very aymospheric. I would highly recommend it.

Hey Melissa,

I purchased the walnut gourmandise from Bigg's as a matter of fact! Do you have that grocery store in your area? It's well-known around here for being inexpensive so imagine my surprise when I found real gourmandise there.

Also, we have a place here near Cincy called Jungle Jim's. It's akin to Trader Joe's but about 10 times as big. They have one of the largest selections of wine, beer, cheese, basically any type of international food in this area. They carry the Kirsch gourmandise which my friend, Sandye, dearly loves.

http://www.junglejims.com/