Paris restaurants

Where is good these days? Going in 3-4 weeks and we want to go somewhere that's absolutely top quality, the equivalent of St John or Dinner or one of the really great places in London. But it's all a bit bewildering and the guides are full of obvious tourist trap picks or dubious statements.

Where do people recommend? Not enormously expensive would be nice but we don't mind pushing the boat out for something incredible.

chez l'ami jean was pretty amazing when we went, would definitely recommend

and it wasnt crazy expensive - it looks kind of like a standard bistro, but then when the food comes it out its just next level. we had the a la carte but then once we saw how good everything was we immediately regretted not getting the tasting menu

This is exactly the sort of thing I want to hear. We're there two nights, so probably going for one reasonably cheap one and something more extravagant.

yeah check it out - im sure theres some pics of it on numerous food blogs, i think its become a bit of a destination place

http://www.lespapillesparis.fr/EN_index.html

A wine bar, not a restaurant, but very good - http://www.yelp.com/biz/les-caves-de-prague-paris

bars and restaurants anyone? clubs? staying in the marais area this weekend, sat till monday night.

somewhere good to go out at night would be cool, not necessarily rave based, but a decent lively late night bar.

going to les crocs as mentioned here on sat night: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7bc76266-a0ea-11df-badd-00144feabdc0.html

i'm going @ end of march and would love some recs as well--midpriced interesting places for dinner and cool bars especially.

Le Dome du Marais is excellent, was there a few weeks ago. Also Chateaubriand is not too far. Frenchie was great too.

Le Taxi Jaune is a decent small midpriced restaurant, family run iirc.

I went to a wonderful place called Vivant in Paris -- I don't remember the neighborhood but it was GREAT.

will still rep for l'ami jean as i did up above

what's pantin like? rough?

going to P4K festival in nov and contemplating staying somewhere more central and travelling out. is the metro 24hr?

Chez L'Ami Jean was amazing, so glad I took the advice of this thread...

:) glad to hear you enjoyed it!

Gonna spend two night in Paris soon...any updates?

Updates needed, merci

where are you gonna be? & what are you looking for?

Forget exact location of hotel right now, but in Paris next week for 4 days. I am usually a cheap ethnic food type (wife is more willing to go more pricey contemporary gourmet), but could vary that upward for at least a meal or 2 of more "French" cuisine. Looking for a good Senegalese or Moroccan place.

Someone was touting me Japanese restuarant Guilo Guilo, but am not sure if I want that.

All food is "ethnic" food, I know.

am going to be in Paris a fair bit between now and Christmas so will be bookmarking this thread and will also try and bring some recommendations.

went to le gavroche on rue St Marc on a recommendation when I was there last - not a high end restaurant like its London namesake but an exceptionally good small restaurant that does fairly traditional bistro food with an excellent selection of wines. (I had herring and Sancerre, then an excellent steak frites with, um, a very nice red. and then some more of the red)

will try and get some non-french recommendations too, c.

jergins and i will be in paris december 15-17! if fizzles and/or others fancy some pints let us know on this thread!

le basilic was just about everything i hoped it would be. walking around the north end and stumbling on that place was a godsend.

bestrot paul bert (surprisingly on rue paul bert) is really excellent and pretty reasonable. id recommend pomze on boulevard hausmann p highly as well. also le petit prince in the 5th right by the sorbonne - it seems like it would be kinda corny but the food was excellent and they have the best creme brulee ive ever had

my fav Moroccan place in the city is Founti Agadir, at Censier-Daubenton in the 5th. was there a couple weeks ago. if that doesn't work then the Paris Mosque is a fun place to eat too.

for Ethiopian I always have a good time at Godjo, near the Panthéon.

close to Godjo, lunch at Louis Vins is a great deal. cash only.

those are all in the part of the city that I know best. and none are bank breakers.

obv L'As de Falafel is a cheap classic in the Marais. get it to go and eat in the Place des Vosges. pick up something sweet at Sacha Finkelstein while you're on the Rue des Rosiers.

oh and north of the Marais, Chez Nénesse is good. I've never gone for Thursday lunch but it's said that they have the best frites in Paris that day.

Pitzman is a good alternative to L'As de Falafel in the Marais - does a lot of good Kosher food, too.

there used to be a lot of terrific kosher North African restaurants in Belleville but they've been chased out by gentrification. I miss those places.

I'm a huge fan of Sunday oysters at Le Baron Rouge, just a few steps into the 12th, next to a great flea market.

highly recommend bistroy les papilles which is linked upthread

and also yeah you have to go to l'as du felafel even if it's v. obvious

In Bellevile La Cantine is good for cheap, delicious but unflashy meals (entree and plate for 12 euro)
Renee and Gabin is a great Kosher Tunisian also in Belleville

Restaurant Bouillon Chartier on the Rue du Faubourg Montmartre is reasonably priced classic French food. Lovely, huge space. Old school. Gets crowded and
there's often a wait to get in so early dining is prob your best bet if you want to avoid the queue.

I think René et Gabin is closed?

Can't figure it out from google yet.

Thanks all for the great ideas.

Does anyone know Le Porokhane (3, Rue Moret) or Chez Aida (48, Rue Polonceau -Metro Barbes or Chateau Rouge)? they are both Senegalese

No, I don't know either. I've been to Moussa l'Africain, near the Cité des Sciences up in the 19th, which is sort of a pan-sub-Saharan African restaurant. I thought it was great (the lemon crème brûlée and banana tarte tatin were fabulous) but I see that it gets kinda panned by reviews, so I dunno.

Kamukera is a good Afro-Antillaise place on the rue du Chevaleret, close to the BNF. I've eaten there several times, you can get some standard Cameroonian dishes but also some West Indian stuff. cheap too!

also in that area: I dearly love Auberge Etchegorry, a Basque restaurant near Les Gobelins. oh man I want to head up there since it's getting on dinner time! start with the rillettes; their spin on cassoulet is epic; but it's the gateau basque that I really love.

& I've eaten next to it, at La Touraine, more times than I can count, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. mostly I go there for offal. good times, but nothing extravagant.

no René et Gabin was open last week when I was there!

Nice!

in a dresseur brasserie in grim Porte de Versailles right now. Liverpool v RM on tho which is creating an enjoyable atmosphere. ordered lamb and gratin dauphinois.

lxy - v possibly be around for pints. will post here.

that's dreadful rather than dresseur as it happens.

obv L'As de Falafel is a cheap classic in the Marais

this was my husband's favourite place to eat when he lived in paris years and years ago - it just so happened that the apartment we stayed at when we went back this year was practically around the corner, and it was the first place we ate at. i don't really like falafel but even i thought it was really good.

i don't really have any good recs though bc we ended up going to a lot of random places that were terrible.

(sic) and I were there last year and really enjoyed the eats we got at Le Marché des Enfants Rouges. It's a semi-open market with lotsa food vendors. He stood in line to get us Moroccan food while I went off to procure a bottle of wine. The family that owned the stall then escorted us to a table and poured the wine.

hi fizzles. let us know if you want to meet up! we will be in paris monday-tuesday-wednesday.

bollocks - wd've been good but I haven't been keeping up with ilx recently and missed this. got drunk with french office colleagues on Monday at a murky bar in the 15th a. just under the peripherique and had a dismal Vietnamese on Tuesday.

hope you had a good time!

one more night in paris tomorrow (friday jan 2) if you're around still/again

anyone got any recent tips for places to eat, or just things to do? going for the weekend - mainly going to just relax pre-christmas but any recommendations for things to see or unusual sites of interest would be good. i've been to the big main things over the years.

i'm staying near pigalle metro.

Next time I go to Paris I'm going to visit the Church of Notre Dame de Raincy - 20s modernist concrete, looks incredible.

Our household is on a bit of a Bauhaus kick at the moment and would definitely be heading for the show at the Musee d'Arts Decoratifs which looks vg.

From Bauhaus to steak house

Good advice.

haha, indeed.

South Pigalle is a popular neighborhood right now. Have you been to the Musée Gustave Moreau? If you like À Rebours then this is relevant to your interests. It's in south Pigalle.

ah I've never read that - I probably should!

i'm guessing pigalle will have decent bars, like places with nice music or maybe house/techno? i am travelling solo but might still have a yearning for a bit of liveliness in the evening.

I don't know but I think so? I live just three metro stops away but I just moved to this apartment a couple of weeks ago. I haven't yet learned anything about the music scenes here

au passage was really good when i was there a few years ago & seems to still be? really fun vibe, great food & wine - http://parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-au-passage/

i havent been to clown bar (which is a restaurant) but i always see photos from it on instagram & makes me wish i still lived in europe - http://wendylyn.paris/eat-drink/city-guide/the-clown-bar/

I spent a very short time in Paris but Cafe Michel was a ridiculous dining experience and the food was great.

it looks amazing - think it might be closed at weekends tho.

i'm going to be near Arc de Triomphe / Champs Elysee this wkend (!?)

I could walk to Chez L'Ami Jean I guess? (Tho it will be cold and I am old)

Any other recs? (Euler?) It's so dispiriting trying to read between the lines of awful TripAdvisor reviews.

what sort of thing are you looking for? i found some good spots on the visit upthread.

Nothing too traditional - but still vaguely French - and not silly money - tho maybe just slightly irresponsible money. Around Champs Elysee it seems like either super fancy (and trad) or just sort of standard brasseries of varying quality, neither of which I'm really after

The best place I went to in my extremely limited experience was called La Cantine Du Troquet, but it looks like that's too far away (it's close to Montparnasse cemetary).

I'm going in a few weeks (to see the Bauhaus show mentioned upthread) - any recs from yr trip appreciated LG.

Around the Champs Elysees is not a good place to eat - full of expensive tourist joints etc. Luckily you're on a metro line that will take you to points east in a matter of minutes though

yeah I've never eaten over there. Batignolles / Porte de Clichy is "happening" now but that's probably further than you'd like to walk.

Yeah. I get in pretty late and want something close to my crash pad. I think I'll walk to Chez L'Ami Jean, it's only like 20 mins!

I will be in Paris for a couple of nights later in the month; we've lots of things planned by way of looking at galleries / architecture but we're trying not to be too precise about what we do when (it'll accord to what we feel like). Any recommendations for places to eat in any of the following categories? Generally speaking, with an eye to the exchange rate, places which aren't terribly expensive much preferred
1) for lunch in the 16th, roughly near Jasmin (though we're happy to walk within reason)
2) dinner anywhere we wouldn't have to book (ie we can decide to go there at the last minute if it makes sense, given we'll be mobile)
3) breakfast within sensible walking distance of Grands Boulevards metro

Happy to hear about anywhere any of you might particularly love though.

the XVIème is like a foreign country to me, out of my price range!

I went to L'Ami Jean. It was fantastic! Very home-style stuff. Dessert was particularly amazing. Also it was Very Expensive. Mains for like 40-60 euros. Wayyyyy out of my price range. But it was great :) Shabby tables, diner style service, but very attentive, the staff all incredibly salty - "Can I have another carafe of water?" "No" *wink*

Last night we went to Le Sot L'y Laisse which was just astonishing. A Japanese chef doing French food, basically. It was out of this world. We had a long comical moment with the staff where we couldn't decide which wine to get - there were 5 of us - and she kept bringing out different bottles, putting a taste in each of our glasses, we'd try it, she'd push us to try another.. I think we tried 5 different bottles! Everything was bold and fresh and good. No heavy rich sauces. There was pigeon and veal and sole. I really recommend it. In common with Chez L'Ami Jean the interior and decoration were perfunctory, slapped together, as if it had been inherited from whatever the previous place had been. Didn't matter. It felt like a privilege to get to sit and eat there (and it was).

http://lefooding.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-le-sot-l-y-laisse-paris

jealous

was there also a prix fixe menu at l'ami jean? i think thats what we got

might depend on where you're staying, tim, but i ate at a place called ambassade auvergne one of my evenings, it was v traditional but enjoyable, i had aligot and sausage, nice atmosphere, amazing chocolate mousse. another evening i went to a place in montmartre called mascotte montmartre, gigantic bowl of mussels with frites. i guess as a solo traveller and someone who hadn't been in paris for a while i was sort of looking for the classics done well, both of these places fitted that bill.

xpost

in my neck of the woods there's a place called En Vrac which sells fabulous wines "en vrac", that's to say you fill up your own bottles (like growlers for beer in the States). the wine is excellent & inexpensive since you do the bottling; they also have a lovely selection of already-bottled wines, mostly natural, as well as some spirits en vrac as well. You can eat there too and have wine by the glass.

Thanks all of you. Now I want to go to all of the places you mention. Euler, en Vrac sounds fab (I really like the sound of these caves with limited but good menus; do you think I'd struggle there with very limited French? (I mean, I can roughly mke myself understood but I'm still well short of decent conversational French, shamefully.)

To be fair it's pretty hard to learn a language!

At En Vrac they talked to my brother in great English.

We didn't make it to En Vrac this time, hope we do in the future.

We did go to Le Sot L'Y Laisse, which we enjoyed as much as Tracer did: the food was spectacular throughout without being flashy (a bit of judiciously-applied foam was the closest it got to being techniquey), and the room was a pleasure to be in: the staff were so ridiculously nice and everyone in the tiny place seemed to be having a good time. Us included. It's not often I go to a restaurant and think that it isn't really like any other restaurant I've been to (at least, I rarely think that in a positive way) but this place seemed really unique.

Other places we enjoyed this weekend: Au Passage, which is the familiar (for London) concept of small plates, which (in London) can involve a lot of mediocrity inbetween a few really good things; not so here, where everything was delicious and the staff seemed very happy to accommodate my terrible French and slip comfortably into English as soon as they needed to. We were very pleased with the place.

We also walked into a place called Racines for a late lunch after our train arrived too late for us to wander about, largely because it was super-close to our hotel and I had half a memory of reading a good review. This too was delicious, I had some lamb dish which seemed more or less perfect, J was just as pleased with her sole PLUS the wine we drank, after having asked for a glass of house white, was probably the best thing we drank all weekend. That's in a weekend which involved tremendous cocktails in Pas de Loup and The Red House amongst others.

I'm pretty sure the Parisian food and drink trade is much, much more tolerant of bad French than it was 20 years ago.

(The concrete church in La Raincy which I mentioned upthread is an absolute marvel, by the way, and justified the trip on its own, but that's off-topic I guess.)

I'm pleased to say this was overall the best weekend in Paris I've had, even in the cold and the wet. Well done Paris.

OURRA!

Hi all, I'll be in Paris for a few days in mid-late May with my wife. Does anyone have any good recommendations for a nice romantic dinner? Where I can still get a reservation for a Thurs-Mon in a month's time? Willing to travel a bit, but I'll be staying in the Marais if that helps :)

Any suggestions would be very welcome! For a reference point, I tried to get a table at 'Frenchie' but sadly couldn't get anything on the days I'll be there (it looks great and the reviews are pretty stellar, so I'll throw that out there as a rec for the thread). Also doesn't have to be French cuisine either.

Finding a reservation for a nice dinner someplace is no problem. For an "event" restaurant, though, I have no idea. My favorite restaurant in the Marais is Chez Nenesse but it's only an event in terms of having the best frites in Paris, if you make it for Thursday lunch. Otherwise it's a local stalwart, where everyone seems to know everyone.

Cool, thanks for the rec. Best frites sounds good! I'll add it to the list.

I was able to get a reservation at Verjus which sounds nice http://verjusparis.com/ but would gladly take any other recommendations in addition to the ones upthread.

not a restaurant, but i recommend cocktails in the bar at hotel maison souqet in pigalle. some of the best cocktails i've had - i was a guest so you may need to book, but it is extremely nice.

not romantic, but really fun and delicious and a good deal:

https://www.relaisentrecote.fr/

got a few recommendations from a couple of winemakers. haven't been to any of them yet, but will be in Paris in January probably, so will aim to check one or possibly two out:

Les Arlots, r. du Fauberg Poissonière (came v highly recommended)
Bistrot Paul Bert, and the nearby cousin, specialising in fish, L'Ecailler du Bistrot, both on r Paul Bert
Le Clown Bar, r Amelot

Those are all ones I’ve heard of but haven’t tried. Maybe I’ll try les Arlots over the vacances, that one sounds particularly nice and I live pretty close by.

L'Avant Comptoir (wine bar) is a little too popular but I always have fun every time I go. They opened a seafood centric version right next door (quieter, but they have some seating). I also really like Le Verre Vole for a super casual lunch (great selections of natural wines). There is also La Cave Paul Bert, but the vibe is a little too off for me. Les Campagnie des Vins Surnaturel (there is also one in NYC) has a lot more seating and also has an excellent wine list, some small foods, boho furniture.

Also, I feel like the Thai food is better in Paris than NYC. That could just be me though. For a bucket list splurge, I do think L'Arpege is worth it (the lunch cost especially).

I was there a month ago and Pottoka was really, really great.

Where do you go for Thai in Paris? I’ve never had it here though I nearly decided to go to a place on the canal for lunch today (made yaki udon at home instead cuz I got lazy). On Thursday I’ll be in the 13th most of the day so I was thinking of a Thai place down there too.

There are a several really good ones around where all the bars are in Place D'Italie. I also think Mme Shawn is fine (plus they have tofu if someone needs a veg friendly place).

yeah the 13th is probably where I gotta go. I teach there one evening a week but I’m rarely there for lunch

Oh wait, I am thinking of the wrong stop. Place D'Italie is too big, this one is smaller and had the spigots of natural water that you can fill your water jugs.

Maybe I am thinking of Corvisart nearby, but the general area is right. Also, Mme Shawn has a couple of locations.

going for two nights this week, staying in marais near place des vosges.

any food or other recs welcome - i have some familiarity with places i like but places that are good for dining solo would be nice too - i am not too squeamish about the atmosphere, a counter or bar is nice but not mandatory. Le Sot L'y Laisse sounds great - how is that if i'm solo?

any good cocktail bars?

Maybe try Sherry Butt? I’ve never been (I’m rarely in the Marais, just for falafel) but I’ve heard it’s good.

I should try l’Ambroisie sometime

le sot l'y laisse would be fine solo. you could even bring a book probably. it's in kind of a quiet area, not sure about cocktail bars around there.

i will have a marais suggestion just as soon as my wife comes downstairs.

I enjoyed cocktails at both Little Red Door and Experimental Cocktail Club, the latter in/near the Marais. IANParisian, just a tourist, so y'know pls ignore.

the lovely Emma B says Chez Janou in the Marais. though it can get busy.

ah that one came up in some of my searching. what i find difficult about paris, a bit like new york but moreso, is that you read a review of a place that says it's good, then check the website and the menu is sort of general french bistro, and then the google reviews are all 4.1 or 4.2.

this doesn't happen in london cos the average standard is so variable - and in nyc i can kind of gauge places more based on the english language and how much more branded and distinct they are. in paris i find myself comparing one bistro to another, it's p hard to read the clues. as a result i end up going classic and avoiding more modern places, not that i don't think they'd be good, more that it's hard to tell what's just some joker fucking around and what's actually interesting, i guess i don't fully get the food aesthetic of paris as a city. there seems to be some chasm between classic and wildly expensive michelin in which there's a wide range of other experimental cooking the quality or nature of which i'm unsure about.

I enjoyed cocktails at both Little Red Door and Experimental Cocktail Club, the latter in/near the Marais. IANParisian, just a tourist, so y'know pls ignore.

these look good - ty.

any really glaringly essential sights/museums i should actually see or things i should do? i am p bad at doing these, i often just go for long walks when on holiday. think i might go to the picasso museum but other than that i have some work to do in the day.

Used to like hanging out in the Marais but haven’t been there in decades so have nothing to add to whatever I may have posted further upthread /zingpost

ah i'll have a look - sorry

Oberkampf was a favorite neighborhood on my recent visit; ate at one of Pierre Sang's places there, didn't wow me as much as Pottoka but that was an unexpectedly high bar. The Sang was definitely a great atmosphere, you sit practically in the kitchen where two chefs put out like 6 courses while Madonna blasts on the stereo.

Also ate at L'Ami Jean, lunch at Guy Savoy, er I have to remember the others. L'Ami Jean was good but not my favorite (see above). Guy Savoy is like whatever I was on vacation and wanted to splurge on the cheap, i.e. 130 euro lunch menu. Which quickly escalated because drinks, of course.

Okay, used to love to hang out at Au Petit Fer à Cheval, named after its horseshoe-shaped bar, at 30 Rue Vielle du Temple. Looks like the proprietor Xavi now owns four restaurants in the area. Remember being pleasantly surprised to see his walk-on part in The Dreamlife of Angels, seems he has some other film credits as well as actor and writer.

I thought the cocktails at Pas de Loup were excellent, we went early when it was quietist and they were charming, we could have stayed all night. But we went to the Red House and drank more, also very good cocktails in a pubbier atmos. Then we walked to Le Sot L’y A Laisse ( thanks to Tracer) and fell a bit in love with the place.

Food recs in Paris are weird in part because Parisiens tend to eat quite locally, not straying much from their quartier or from where they work. And the Marais now is mostly a touristic quartier, so the recs will be more out of sorts.

There you go

i went to chez janou last night. it was great! i was there quite early but it was extremely busy, tourists eat early i suppose, my excuse was i travelled through lunch. initially it looked as tho i wouldn't get in but then the barman (possibly owner) said i'd be okay if i was happy to eat at the bar, which obv was what i wanted. ended up meeting a few people who were sitting beside me - the atmos generally was great, the barman was ridiculously rude to some people but once you braved his initial greeting it was all pretty genial. he was pouring free glasses of wine and stuff for us by the end. really great communal atmos and the food was nice, fairly classic stuff. thanks for the tip, tracer and emma b.

Is it rude to ask you if you specifically went to Paris to get some writing done? (read your trimming down a story tweets)

Asking because France has been extremely kind to me in this respect: I go away at least once a year on my own, to have a couple of good writing days, coupled with good food and an inspiring feeling. Paris is hard to beat when it comes to my specific needs that way, though it can be hard to ignore all the diversions. Was just wondering if your trip was of the same make more or less.

sort of a combo of things. my assignments for college are due on monday, it's nice to get away somewhere after xmas, and i didn't want to spend a week in my apartment trying to write, can be kind of cabin fever. also just nice to visit paris, food and wine etc. the change of scene was p good actually - kind of forced me to work in compact segments of time.

Yeah, that's the best. Cabin fever very much something bothering me when trying to write. I've plenty of time for blaming my home but in fairness it's me. Bonne chance, man.

ah that's great you had a good time at janou ronan. i haven't been there in years. i do remember a certain impressive surliness to the waitstaff, and the lovely emma b telling me that if you're rude back to them "the waiters sort of enjoy it" which i still have my reservations about. in any case it's quite rare to get a free drink in france so well done!

there was some free absinthe also - it was quite a friendly atmosphere until an extremely weird american joined in. when i said i was in paris for two days he said "that's awesome - well done you for choosing to give that gift to yourself"

last night i went to bistrot paul bert, it was full of other tourists, predictably enough, but the food was very good. really good steak tartare with salad and fries, steak, salad and chips all exemplary.

today with some time to kill near gare du nord i ended up trying this place: https://www.alexanderlobrano.com/restaurant-reviews/les-arlots-paris-a-stunningly-good-new-bistro-a-b/

it was fantastic - prob the best meal i had this time around. the menu was a lot more simple for lunch than in that article, i had an egg salad to start and onglet with potato gratin. the wine was mostly natural and the entire atmos and service was great. definitely worth a try for those of you using the eurostar.

ah that was the top recommendation i got from the winemakers I was talking to as well (les arlots have just started stocking their wine). will definitely try it when i'm out there next, hopefully at the end of the month.

Any good recommendations near Gare de Lyon or should I just trek in further towards Bastille/Charonne?

We just spent way too much time finding a public fontaine petillante. Totally worth it though. I should've had a party there.

There’s one in the Jardin d’Eole close to chez moi! There’s also one close to the BnF.

I went to the one near Chatelet. Although we mistakenly thought there was one near Republique (some weird thing on the map) so we were creepstering on anything that looked remotely like a fountain. Went to the one near the library F. Mitterand today.

Right BnF = bibliothèque François Mitterand

City is fun today! Just got back from Germany, and the streets are full of flags and songs.

Ah, that is the BnF! We had a little picnic by the quai de la gare today but it was way too sunny and already at 1pm it looked like it was going to be a madhouse soon. I realize that the thai restaurants I was trying to remember upthread are around Rue de la Butte aux Cailles. My spouse has been a sport about making sure I get my fill of foie, pulpo and pig ears this trip so I need to make sure he gets some tofu soon. He's super into the sparkling water fountains. We filled up my nalgene at them twice today and took pics.

That’s how you do it!

Going to be in Paris early December for a few nights, some really interesting recommendations from this thread (Les Arlots, Bistrot Paul Bert), anything else taken anyone's fancy since the last post?

I had a good experience at La Cave de Belleville this summer after hitting the Raviolis Nord Est. I am adding both to my set list of places I always go while in Paris.

This is probably lame, but the sushi is really mediocre where I live so we do go to the Matsuris in Paris and Lyon all the time, especially because of the La Fourchette 40% off deal. I love conveyor belt sushi.

Cool, I didn’t know we had conveyer belt sushi here! Are any of the locations in particular easy to get a seat at?

I find them all easy to get a seat at. But I also eat kind of early. I usually try to do 30 minutes after the lunch or dinner service starts so there is more stuff out on the belt. But you can also just order from the menu whenever. I think they all have slightly different menus.

I have absolutely never seen one full, but they also don't have the 30-40% off at primetimes I guess. You can see on la fourchette times when it's available.

Went to a place called Baieta (think it was in the left bank?) this summer and it knocked my socks off. Pricey but awesome. And another place called Petite Keller that was more boho and Asian fusion. Excellent as well.

La Fourchette is a great tool these days. I feel a little bad using the discounts at the Eritrean restaurant nearby, but on the other hand the discounts are how I found the place.

Yeah, i usually get embarrassed about groupon discount types of things but Matsuri is too pricey for the quality without it otherwise. And they are always really seamless in just putting the discount on. We used it to try an ethiopian restaurent near Jaures last time too.

Some excellent recommends here.

I eat meat so no problem, but was wondering if there was a vegetarian restaurant option as I am often going to that now.

It's not wholly vegetarian but we enjoyed a modern Lebanese place called Kubri (on Rue Amulet just near FIlles de Calvaire metro) - it was recommended to us by a vegetarian ex-ilxor who loved it there.

Similarly Raviolis Nord Est, as repped by Yerac above, would also work fine as a vegetarian option, although the meaty options are great. I am grateful for Yerac's contributions to this thread in particular.

It seems that Kubri is in the premises that was previously Pas de Loup, which I mentioned glowingly six years upthread.

Excellent. Thanks Tim and Yerac

Kubri is on rue Amelot btw, I got done by the autocorrect.

Kubri was great. Thanks again. That Hummus was unbelievable. Veggie options were fantastic, the honey covered halloumi...

I went also to a random Vietnamese and it was so so good.

There are a lot of Japanese restaurants in Paris. Must investigate on my next trip.

I went to a little Vietnamese restaurant when I was there and the people running it were so great (pretty sure it was all one family).

Yes, Vietnamese I went to was family run.

good looking list list from le monde of 15 restaurants for under €30 in Paris/ile de france

bookmarked and will thank you in due course, possibly with pics

will be down in the 15th today and tomorrow and then up in Saint-Ouen friday eve and the weekend so may try one or two myself.

somehow never posted this here but amarante near bastille is prob my fave restaurant, anywhere. great wine list and a lot of traditional offal and other similar dishes. also just this beautiful peaceful room despite being five mins from bastille's madness.

just has an iconic, perfect feeling to it any time i've gone.

what do you know, I'm going for the first time in 24 years next month. all very useful, ty

I'm going to be there next week! Sadly none of the restaurants in the Le Monde article seem to be anywhere near me 15/16th

Let me know if you have any recs Fizz

assuming you’re on a similar telecoms/tv

assuming you’re on a similar telecoms/broadcast media 15th gig i’ve heard good things about L’Os à Moelle near Boucicault in the 15th. it looks good!

i’m wiped after a v tedious conference day - 150 slides! 16 presentations! ;_; so am eating in hotel but am thinking LG’s recommendation looks extremely appealing for tomorrow.

I’m going to the Paris Motor Show and the EBU’s New Radio Day, so staying near Radio France as that’s where that is

must admit i quite enjoyed a couple of wines in les halles d’issy yesterday while waiting for a conference thing to kick off. nothing special but regional foods and drink and a bustling tho v heavily telco / media office post work feel.

lol i was at an EBU ting today.

but yes all in a similar place i think.

I was staying near Avenue de Clichy last week and enjoyed La Main Noire on Rue Cavallotti for brunch. Also some good, cheap Szechuan on Rue de Provence and a great little no frills hand pulled noodles Chinese spot called Fresh Noodles in Le Marais.

fggheshh nooDUHLZ

Actually it's not Fresh Noodles. It's a tiny noodle place next to Poulet Champion on the Rue au Maire in Marais. Seems newish - don't know the name but ate there twice. Always someone at the window making noodles.

somehow never posted this here but amarante near bastille is prob my fave restaurant, anywhere. great wine list and a lot of traditional offal and other similar dishes. also just this beautiful peaceful room despite being five mins from bastille's madness.

just has an iconic, perfect feeling to it any time i've gone.

If you’re still in Paris and you want great oysters, go to Le Baron Rouge around the corner from Ledru-Rollin Metro and Aligre market tomorrow around 11/12 - they have cheese and charcuterie to go with the oysters as well as good inexpensive house wines - I’m guessing 5 oysters and a glass of wine would be around €12. The oyster shucker drives up from Bretagne each weekend with seriously precious cargo.

thanks suzy!

Yes! to Baron Rouge

Amazing you went to Amarante! I get too into these things but somehow during the pandemic I read about it, then read their website which is even funnier now than it was then: https://www.amarante.paris/

I finally got to go when things opened up and I was telling the waiter this as he was very friendly - this is circa 2022 I guess.

At the end of my meal, which was as good as I'd hoped, he suggested I meet the chef/owner. The guy is an actor as well as running the restaurant and sort of archetypally French. Like large bearded man with a thicket of curly hair. If you asked someone to draw a cartoon of a french man who is a chef and an actor they wouldn't go too far wrong. I was brought back to the kitchen and he was sitting there sombrely shelling peas into a huge bucket, shook my hand and said very little.

I've been two or three times since and if anything the food has improved steadily, tho I loved it the first time. My most recent visit in June was maybe the best meal I've had there, but it's been great every time.

The wine list is also just seriously brilliant. Like technically "natural wine" but not unusual or experimental just interesting producers and some slightly less popular grapes among the pinots and gamays.

And they quite militantly chill the red wine. My first visit I ordered a bottle and the waiter was like "you can have this wine - but you must allow us to chill it" - when I said yes he then came over with another glass of wine and said "since you are patient this is on the house".

I love France, lol.
.

it’s my favourite sort of cooking. french provincial cooked with a high degree of skill. the white with the blinis and trout was natural and perfect with it, slightly smoky. the red with the lamb and the pearl barley was classic and i can’t remember the last time i had as good a wine - it was good by itself, with the lamb it was exceptional. still thinking about it. obv lol.

Ah very nice. I had lamb there once done with carrots, was great. The whole sweetbread is amazing also.

i will be going back for sure

I booked a table at Amarante for a few weeks' time, looking forward to it.

Aso I like the fact host website is very internet 1.0, lobbing up a list of things you like is an excellent plan. I therefore made a map of things Chef Christophe Philippe recommends, here it is: (restaurants blue, cafes brown, shops maroon): https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1zsUstFnC104YaJRubbJNIE7oNHPONmI&usp=sharing

hilariously, i have now also been to amarante. i loved it even though i was nursing a migraine. no music, nice old tables, very little attempt at “ambience”. i like how straightforward the dishes are, while at the same time there are unexpected choices. fizzles i tried the trout, which was great, but my favourite part of it was the unusually thick buckwheat cake that came along with it, cooked absolutely perfectly, a little sweet, unctous on the inside, a tiny hint of crispiness on the outside.

large portions, be forewarned! wish i could have tried everything. it’s a really nice sweet spot between unpretentious classic french “gourmand” cooking and something more clean and modern - you don’t have the oversaucing you’d get in a brasserie

if i hadn’t had my headache i might have checked out the nightclub opposite.. supersonic records. there was an honest to god live band in there

I've gone to a few of his recommended places, he didn't put me wrong on any of them.

The wine list is indeed great. I had a Robinot Pineau D'Aunis the last time which was as good as it gets really.

okay fuck it I'll book for there too. a procession of nerdy anglophones

“for the main i’ll have what LocalGarda had and to start i’ll have whatever Fizzles had”

you book it on whatsapp? i have cobbled together a scary message in my best french

I did, like an hour and a half before, I got lucky I guess

all is confirmed. we're staying in the 11th so this is perfect really

hilariously, i have now also been to amarante. i loved it even though i was nursing a migraine. no music, nice old tables, very little attempt at “ambience”. i like how straightforward the dishes are, while at the same time there are unexpected choices. fizzles i tried the trout, which was great, but my favourite part of it was the unusually thick buckwheat cake that came along with it, cooked absolutely perfectly, a little sweet, unctous on the inside, a tiny hint of crispiness on the outside.

one qn for you all btw - in this and other Paris restaurants, if you make at least a fumbling essay at French will they be nice to you, I have found this to be so in Strasbourg and Wallonia but Paris feels like a brusquer proposition potentially. look at me using all these French-origin words like a real arriviste

Most likely they'll just speak English to you, these days. I have okay French but quite often they'll just speak English warmly and so you don't get to use it. I do like when they allow me to speak French tho as good practice.

I think Paris' reputation for unfriendliness is exaggerated. London's probably worse.

I like the politeness of shopping in Paris; you have to say hello when you walk in.

suzy otm, and certainly in Amarante, they'll speak English if you want - there were other international diners there when I was there. We switched about halfway through as I was running out of ways to say how nice it was. My French is barely passable tbh.

Haha that sounds like what I'll look to do. Mine is probably similar to yours, but worse than that, it annoys my gf who doesn't speak a word

Agree that Paris is friendlier. But also more brusque. Not a contradiction I don’t think; eg Glasgow

Felt a real sense of achievement this time that only a couple of people ever switched into English for me. One of them was a Japanese guy at a sushi restaurant. I had literally said one word to him, “un”, holding up a finger, when he asked a table for how many. I’m like jeez okay. I guess it’s possible his English was better than his French? Though he spoke it with a heavy French accent

One time in a French-Japanese restaurant in Kanazawa I thanked the French-Japanese waiter and said goodnight in French, and he nodded approvingly and said "you're better than me!" also in French, but also my wife had to translate because I had no fuckin idea what he was saying

Not that his French was the problem there of course

Yes, well I have to be the Canadian in our merry band of two

I've had some practice at Crouch End's own Les Associes, where after speaking in French the first time, the (Parisian) owner decided he liked me enough to permit English on our three (four?) subsequent visits. Also my favourite London restaurant for a number of reasons (impeccably shabby 80s interior, one-man band playing the hits with generosity and flair), and hopefully a good preview of what Paris is capable of...

Oh and he's grumpy in a good way yknow

I'm in this fuckin place rn. it owns

liveblog please

that trout and buckwheat pancake starter is not of this earth. how to follow that up

aaagh death impends and yet beforehand

Okay, that was fantastic, of course. The trout and pancake starter was impossible to follow up ofc but the tripe and puddings strove with a rich and terrible power nonetheless. My partner said her guineafowl was one of the best dishes she's ever been served.

However, last night, for me at least, might have it beaten? We stumbled into a nice-but-unassuming place called L'Attache on Rue Basfroi near where we're staying. It was really expensive and we kept getting served stuff we hadn't ordered, based on what the chef, working right before our eyes, had just knocked up. The wine dude chose for us too. Everything was freakishly brilliant and incomprehensibly simple. The carrot and girolles. The stuffed cabbage. The lamb and mash. Written down it looks so basic but trust me, there was some magic in our fully neck-tattooed chef's fingers. He just kept...giving us things. We ordered cheese, he gave us scallops. The carrot thing we'd never have thought to order but it was as if he was telling us 'no, seriously. You want these carrots'. Sit at the bar if you can, watch it all unfold. The wines (by the glass) were incredible too.

Earlier we'd had another fantastic dining experience for lunch at Les Deux Stations near the Parc des Princes (we'd gone for Le Corbusier, not PSG or Stade Francais, whose stadium is actually amazing tbf). There were plenty of PSG fans there, gearing up for the evening fixture. Might have seemed like a local-specific bistrot from the outside but it was a lovely space with great service and spectacular food. The boudin noir!! I feel the English may need to renounce their claims to blood sausage (if not newsy-wewsies...)

Anyway. We're on the hunt for something tonight now. Somewhere south of the Pantheon. If you don't hear from me send help

was staying in batignolles (which i liked a lot) near place de clichy and and went to a place called Coretta (next to Martin Luther King Park and named after Coretta Scott King). potato and parmesan gnocchi given a toothsome finish in roast veal juices, and then an excellent ris de veau with parsnip. a rather sharp yuzu sorbet i could have probably done without but probably the best part was the excellent and enthusiastic service - happy to have a conversation about the food and the wine. v pleasant atmosphere as well.

was back there this weekend and wandering around walked into a random restaurant - Comme Chez Maman - which serendipitously turned out to be excellent. i preferred it to Coretta around the corner.

This contemporary bistro near a green square in the heart of the Batignolles neighbourhood is a real home from home. The Belgian chef, Wim Van Gorp, makes lovely contemporary dishes that he peppers with creative touches, and some of which pay delicious tribute to his Flemish roots.

had wild mushroom soup, and red mullet with ravioli cooked in smoked paprika butter.

I was there on Sunday! Paris that is

I will be there in just over a month. I plan to wander around Batignolles; perhaps I can work in Comme Chez Maman!

trying and failing to find a still from The Bear of Richie washing forks

gonna be there easter weekend after a week in burgundy.

a week submerged in it

Just booked Amarante because apparently that is what ilxors do when in Paris!

I requested a 13:00h lunch; chef/owner wrote back and proposed 12:55h

that extra five minutes will allow you to have an excellent kir royale before you even think of starting. hope you have a lovely time!

otm

The process for booking is sort of bemusing. I have often asked for 8pm and been given half seven, though I guess that's their sittings, which I forget. The five minute difference is amusing for lunch.

Hope it's a great lunch, Quincie!

Gonna be in Paris for a couple of nights this July, and of course I'm going to try for Amarante! I think we'll be staying in the heart of it, "Notre-Dame-des-Champs neighbourhood in Paris' 6th arrondissement," which means Amarante isn't the most convenient, so in the meantime, do any of you have any other restaurant suggestions? I haven't been to the city in close to 30 years.