PamSF

We're a month away from Paris and the South of France. We'll be in Paris a total of 8 days. We're renting an apartment in the 3rd and return for a two night hotel stay in the 6th. Please suggest some great places for moules-frites and another for steak-frites. I remember(it's been 6 years) a place down near Le Republique that was very casual and served the mussels in le creuset.
We prefer places without an english menu and.more specifically, a neighborhood place would be even better.

Spygirl

That's dead easy. Chez Leon's- the original moules et frites place from Brussels has several locations in Paris-one on the Champs Elysees, one on the Left Bank (I believe it's on the St. Germaine des Pres, and then there are a few other locations as well). The food is served quickly, efficiently, and it's very good-even their chocolate mousse!

DAX

I second the Leon de Bruxelles but you're looking for a neighborhood place with no English menu which I only know in other cities.

I've always been a big fan of the big & juicy french/belgian mussels, but I have recently stopped eating them due to some european articles about the high number of hepatitis infected mussels being 1 in every 3 mussels. Just FYI.

Seamus

Here's the dissent - in June we visited a Leons de Bruxelles location in St Germain de Pres and while the service was a great, the food was mediocre at best. I've had moules frites at everal little hole-in-the-wall places that were far better. I was really disapointed because so many folks had recommended the place, but the overal impression was not that great.

baldrick

Moules-frites is a dish a cook can't miss, or he would be out of business in a day or two... It really depends for 95 % on the freshness of the mussels. The veggies and white wine to put in it are mostly all alike. For a neighbourhood place, ask your hotelmanager for an address different than Leon in the hotel neighbourhood!

jody

Relais d'Entrecote on Rue St Benoit has really good steak frites. There is no English menu, in fact there is no French menu, all they serve is a salad to start, then the steak with the best sauce..then they bring seconds so your meat doesn't get cold or your frites soggy! It may look like a tourist place but I've seldom heard any English being spoken there.

Gretchen

We have had good mussels at Leon's--the one near Bastille. Others have been just so so--and they are SO much better in a cute little cafe. The place we always go for mussels is the line of cafes across from the Gare du Nord. They are open 24 hours with mussels fixed all ways served in large white soup tureens. We usually have about 3 orders! Husband had a nice plate for lunch at Brasserie Balzar on rue des Ecoles, of Adam Gopnik fame. And a little cafe on rue Buci had great ones also.

Michael

You probably went to Léon de Bruxelles on the Place de la République.

pipsil

Another vote for Leons de Bruxelles.

Patrick

I'll also say that I think Leon's mussels themselves are as good as anybody's, although the places are kind of short on atmosphere including handing you those dreadful plastic laminated menus. And I think their frites are pretty poor.

There is a Leon's at Republique where you might have gone, but there are also great mussels right next door to that at Maitre Kanter, and also near by at Chez Jenny. The latter two are nicer restaurants and a little pricier, but very nice. As I recall at Maitre Kanter the mussels are served in a really neat (maybe red) creuset, so perhaps that's where you're thinking of.

Travelnut

Hubby liked the mussels he ate at Brasserie Ecole Militaire, near metro of same name.

oakglen

There are at least three steak/frites places, Le Relais de L'Entrecote in the 6th & 8th (23 food rating by Zagat), and Le Relais de Venise in the 17th near Porte Maillot (20 food rating). Highly recommended; try to go early or late, there is often a wait. JP

alg

Another vote for Relais de L'Entrecote...the sauce and the red wine were both very good.

KirRoyale

Hi PamSF!

We've always enjoyed the moules frites at Le Gueuze, 19 Rue Soufflot, near the Pantheon. It is also very near the Luxembourg Gardens, so a good lunch stop before or after the gardens.

In this area, sort of catty-corner to Le Gueuze when you are approaching the Lux. Gardens, is a place called Dallayou. You MUST have their pastries! I am drooling just thinking about their beautiful little treats!

Kir Royale

jjester

We went to Leon de Bruxelles in St Germain about two weeks ago. The mussels were lovely, and plenty of them, but the broth was very watery.
The frites were very disappointing.

Didn't get a chance to try anywhere else unfortunately.

Spygirl

It is true what everyone is saying about the frites at Leon's-they're no longer up to par. I noticed this the last couple of times I ate at the location off the Grand Place in Brussels.

paula1470

jjester-Hey, we might have been at Leon's the same night. I, too, was there about two weeks ago. I really enjoyed the mussels, I had one broth (I think the wine one) and my daughter had the original flavor. I agree the the broth was a little watery but the mussels were very good, both flavors. The frites seemed OK at the time but I had some later in my trip that put the one's at Leon to shame.

paula1470

Also wanted to add that the creme brulee at Leon's was very good. I had ordered the fixed price menu with the mussels with desert being a Belgian waffle. For a couple of euro more, you could change the desert to creme brulee so I opted for that. It was excellent. I was a little surprised to find that at this chain but a couple of other people on this forum also mentioned that they thought the creme brulee there was good, definitely worth the extra euro.

paula1470

Pam - Everyone seems to be responding to the mussels et frites but wanted to give you a recommendation for steak et frites if you are staying in the 6th. I believe you can do a search for this restaurant as others have talked about it. The restaurant is Le Relais de Venise (Entrecote) located at 20 Saint Benoit (behind Cafe de Flore) and a block from Cafe Bonaparte. They serve a fixed price menu of salad (with walnuts), steak and fites. The steak has a wonderful sauce, someone said it was a peppercorn sauce but it didn't seem peppery to me. They serve about half of your steak-fites and then come out later with the rest on a big platter. We were there about 10 days ago and if I remember right the price was 20 euro per person, not including drinks and desert. Right across the street is a jazz club and we were lucky enough to have them playing while we were enjoying our meal. The place is very popular with locals, didn't see that many tourists and when we tried to first go there on Sunday evening, the line was long. We went back on Tuesday, around 7:30, got a seat outside but within 20 minutes or so the place was packed and there was a line again.

stormygirl

Hi PamSF!! You've given me good restaurant recs for SF before so I'd like to tell you that my husband and I went to Leon by Republique in July for Moules et frite for lunch. While the mussels were great, my cream wine broth very good, and the portions huge (each gets their own red Le Crueset pot) the fries were a huge dissappointment. Limp and NO flavor. Meun is plastic and comes in 4 languages. Service is very SLOW. Atmosphere, nil.

I'd check out some of the other suggestions, asking at your hotel or glancing menus and making note of who has them. I think you should skip Leon, it's basically the Dennys of mussels.

Btw DH and I are headed to SF in less than 2 weeks and are going to try Plouf!