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, "Their broken." 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 "ham" was so tough and bad tasting, I think it was really 'cheval'.

Ours was at a café 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 £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.

>Not because it's a bad restaurant (it isn't) but because he ordered AAA andouillettes without knowing what they were.<

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 "worse" meal but the one that wasn't all that great was at "le petit pont cafe" 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 "worst" 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.