Where was your WORST meal in Paris?
 

AJPEABODY inspired me to start this thread.

Common on now, come clean and admit to the times and places where you thought the food was awful or walked away thinking "All those darn Euros for that?"

Easy for me. Chartier in the 9th. Beautiful Belle Epoque decor. Lousy service and mediocre food to go with it.

Won't ever bother to return except maybe stand in the doorway and look at the brass. Then turn around and walk out.

Agree with Indy..Chartier was the worst. I'd saved it for the last night based on Pauline Frommer's excellent review and was extremely disappointed.

I loved the interior and the bustling waiters and met some delightful ladies from Finland. We all laughed about how you were served hearts of palm for a first course, no matter what was ordered.

But the food, even the dessert, was not at all tasty.

Interesting observations about Chartier. I would like to see the interior - would I get thrown out if I went in early and ordered just a glass of wine and soup?

Semi-pedestrianized area of the Latin Quarter, can't remember which street. Can't remember the name of the restaurant, either...it was one of a dozen or more, practically on top of each other.

But I sure remember the steak. It was an insult to dog food.

I can't remember the name of the place, but they served the worst chicken and cheese crepe on this planet. The chicken must have been frozen for about a year before it was served, and the cheese was so chewy that it took about 20 chomps before I could swallow. After only 5 bites, and my jaws were sore with exaustion.

The good news is that I had plenty of room for dessert. The chocolate/banana crepe more than made up for the bad meal.

Degas - I doubt there would be a problem. The resto is very large and the turnover is quick and the waiters indifferent.

If you only want soup this would probably be a good bet for lunch.

I would go back just for the interior. Note the luggage racks over the tables for the original transient workers.

One of those horrid places in the Latin Quarter where the waiters stand in the doorway luring you in. The food and service were atrocious and there was a dead pigeon under our table. Yuck.

I've had many mediocre-to-bad meals in Paris, at any number of cafes (including some known for their "better" cuisine).

I realize that, as a New Yorker, I'm spoiled, but <i>in general</i> the &quot;average&quot; places in Paris dish up below-average food.

&quot;The food and service were atrocious and there was a dead pigeon under our table. Yuck.&quot;

OMG, I thought it was a &quot;cutting edge&quot; freebie and applied the one hour rule!
No wonder I was extra gassy that afternoon.

I was pretty unimpressed with Chez Rene at 14 Blvd Saint Germaine.
I met some fellow Fodorites for dinner this past September and we ended up there when our first choice turned out to be closed. Admittedly, it was on the list of restaurants that I'd read about on Fodor's and/or it various guidebooks so I feel responsible (sorry Jules, Nina and Frank!). In my opinion, neither the food nor the service was very good, and it did not have an inviting atmosphere. I can't even remember what I ate so that can't be good. While it's not terribly expensive for that price (around 30-40 Euro w/o wine), I think you can do better.

Kate

There is a difference between my worst meal in Paris and a bad meal.

I think my worst meal was at a small place in the 6th where the Rognons de Veau were overcooked and the Orange duck was fatty.

I might have been there on a bad night.

((I))

Not a restaurant as such, but I remember ordering a Croque Monsieur from those little cafes on the roadside that have only a window display cabinet and a sales counter... nowhere to actually sit down. It was the most disappointing culinary experience of my life. As a child growing up in New Zealand, my Swiss mother often made the tasty toasted sandwiches for us and I was looking forward to trying the true French version... as it was, all I got was a sore tummy!

A place in that pedestrian area -- La Parchmenterie or something ... it was the only time that trip that we just walked in off the street. BIG mistake.

Chartier's food is so-so -- but worth the visit once for the decor and those grumpy waiters.

I was trying to think of a meal that I would remember as bad and couldn't until I read Mr_Go's. On that pedestrian street with the Greek restaurants. I had a meal that was inedible.

Now worse meal in all of France; I had a boullibase (sp?) in Marseilles that was just a horror!

ira, okay good point. Let's open it up to bad meals and over-priced meals just to get the digestive juices flowing so to speak.

I have to agree with Frostyev about ordering Croque Monsieur in Paris. Everytime I did, I was extremely disappointed. I can made a much better one at home!

And our worst meal in France was a dinner on Mont St. Michel. I don't remember what I ordered for the main, but the Crudities starter was a dish with canned corn, canned beets, and some sort of canned vegie mixed with a ton of mayonnaise. I took one look and handed it to my DH, who will eat anything. His meal was awful, also.

Like StCirq, I also had a horrible meal in the Latin Quarter in 1996. I think this was my second trip ever to Paris, and probably my longest. My mom and I spent nearly a week there, I think. On that trip we went to Versailles, and I've never been back there again (no time).

I remember a really gross onion soup and some lamb chops that were not really edible.

I didn't speak a word of French, and I had no concept that I had to do some travel research prior to traveling. We had a Jet Vacations package, I think. We left shortly after the TWA bombing of Flight 800 (when we were in Paris, the Olympic bombings occurred, I think).

My very first meal in Paris. Ordered crepes from a stand. Totally dry and gaggie, horrible.

Controversial one this but I ate at Angelinas which I felt was a major tourist trap. Surroundings were beautiful but service was surly and the whole experience felt like being on a Japanese bus tour.

The chocolat africain was excellent but almost undrinkably rich and the house specialty meringue overpowering

Sorry to all those sweet-toothed people

Worst dining experience was this year at La Terrasse in the 7th - and to add insult to injury it was the first meal ever in Paris for friends from my home town!
We choose the roast chicken which was undercooked (meat should not have to be begged to leave the bone IMO), and I suspect it was no chicken either but a larger variety like a Cornish Hen which has an altogether stronger flavour.

Le Trumilou on Quai l'Hotel de Ville...it was fine going down but coming back up was the worst!!

Le Vieux Bistro, in 2001--slimy leeks salad and gristly boeuf bourguignon. Ugh!

While Le Vieux Bistro is famous for its boeuf bourgignon I didn't think it was that great. I found the one at cheaper Le Coupe Chou tasted better. And it wasn't so much the food but the service that irked me at Le Vieux Bistro. The owner/server didn't seem to have much patience in pushing the wine list after seating all the foreigners in one room separate from the locals.



But the most hideous meal I had was at an unknown cafe near Etoile called L'Empereur. Yuck! One of their offerings specifically mentions 'chicken legs'. What I ended up with were badly cooked wingettes passed off as chicken legs. And the prices are very expensive too.

Here's another thumbs down for Chartier. Although it's a pretty setting (1980's belle epoque grand open space), the food was mediocre.

I also did not care for the long community tables, where we could not escape the couple seated next to us who, once they learned we were also American, complained endlessly about how things are done in France. I thought to myself, if you wanted to drink coffee WITH your meal, and get free refills, you should have stayed at home to eat at Denny's.

Woody

Oops! I meant 1890's belle epoque.

At one of the cafes on the Carrefour de Buci (where rue de Buci turns into rue St. Andre des Arts and where you see lots of motorcycles parked). Years ago, we had a few very nice, but simple, poulet-salade (instead of poulet-frites) meals there. Pleasant service, homey feel. Went back a couple of years ago and it had gone the way of laminated menus in English and indifferent service. Despite these obvious warning signs, I ordered another poulet-salade meal. Worst chicken I have ever had in Europe, could have come straight from a bad Midwestern truck stop. The salad vinaigrette was almost pure vinegar. Absolutely awful. And NOT cheap.

My husband's worst meal ever was at Le Maupertu in the 7th. Not because it's a bad restaurant (it isn't) but because he ordered AAA andouillettes without knowing what they were. While we were waiting, he kept sniffing the air and wondering what that god-awful smell was...he found out when his steaming andouillettes arrived. Now he is a fairly adventurous eater (loves steak tartare and will eat all manner of exotic dishes from China and Japan) but he just couldn't stomach those andouillettes.

I was in Paris and I really had to use the toilet. I walked into McDonalds and purchased something to eat. I asked the manager why the bathroom was locked. His response was, &quot;Their broken.&quot; I was pissed!

And how was that a bad meal???

It was at the Cafe Le Notre Dame, at the corner of rue du Petit Pont and Quai St. Michel, underneath the Hotel Le Notre Dame. We'd only been in Paris for a day and these were our first croque monsieurs. They were absolutely disgusting, barely edible. Naturally we wondered why everyone loved them so much. Then, I took a chance and ordered one again at Le Metro Cafe on Blvd St. Germain, right at the Maubert Mutualite metro station. Wow! Melted in your mouth. Went back the next day and got another!

I got a late-night panini from a street vendor in Monteartre near Place Blance. The &quot;ham&quot; was so tough and bad tasting, I think it was really 'cheval'.

Ours was at a caf&eacute; across from Park Montsouris. My husband is cranky when he wants to eat and wouldn't wait to go to a place I was thinking of. The only good think I can say is that we had a seat on the terrace and good people watching. The food was so bad, we did go to another place that was a huge improvement.

It was August 1986, I know, ages ago and hardly relevent, however, there was a Thai Restaurant on the Champs Elysees
.
We were on our 2nd wedding anniversary (I spent the 1st on Business in Japan -oops) so this was going to be a special weekend.
We ordered what we thought was a reasonable meal but Nouveau Cuisine !! The plate was 3 foot wide and the food was half the size of a chicken breast. It cost &pound;70, which in 1986 was a lot of money.(It still is )
We left there after about 20 mins and dived in the wimpey burger bar for something filling.

Yes we were young Naieve and didn't know any better, we just accepted it.

But it was a valuable lesson for us for the future.

Muck

Our worst meal in Paris was a cheese crepe on the Rue Cler. After reading on this board for years about Rue Cler, we finally went last year on our 7th trip to Paris. We dutifully lined up behind all of the ladies with the Rick Steves guides and ordered the cheese crepes. They were the worst meal and the worst crepes I have ever had in Paris.

Although I am not any kind of food affecianado, the best food I've ever had in Paris was at the McDonalds on the Champs-Elysee. Everything else was just as good or worse. I am not impressed with french food. (Would it have helped if I spent more than 50 euro per meal?)

Raghnall, it's not the cost of the meal that determines the quality in my opinion. I do like McDonalds too, but that was the best meal you had in Paris? Sorry to hear it.

&gt;Not because it's a bad restaurant (it isn't) but because he ordered AAA andouillettes without knowing what they were.&lt;

Definitely an acquired taste. Also needs a powerful red wine as an accompaniement.


Raghnall,

You have my sympathies.

((I))

I can't say that I had a &quot;worse&quot; meal but the one that wasn't all that great was at &quot;le petit pont cafe&quot; across from Notre Dame. It was a salad and it was just okay, but since it was my last night in Paris and I could look at Notre Dame lighted up while eating, I didn't mind too much. I wouldn't go back and I wouldn't recommend it but like I said, I wouldn't call it the &quot;worst&quot; Overall every place was pretty good, I think the fact that I was walking all day and by the time I ate I was HUNGRY made most of the food taste good.

At CDG

Which cafe/resto. at CDG was awful? We only bought pastries at CDG as we always have morning flights. Even the pastries at CDG tasted great.