raisab

YES! I absolutely loved it! I went there about 4weeks ago. That is a place that has the tables orchestrated perfectly. It was raining that evening so my dinner companion thought it would be better to drop by at 21:00 instead of 21:30 which was our reservation. I told him this would probably not be advisable as this was a popular place, needless to say we had to wait 30 minutes in everyone's way! John Talbott were you there that night? I saw someone who looked an awful lot like you that evening!

Okay I will be nice this time, Bleu and Bux are right. Do look to guidebooks and the internet when searching for places to eat in an unknown city. I have had mediocre meals in Paris and even one bad one! But then I started doing research. The same goes with my hometown of Washington DC. Egullet is a wonderful resource, John Talbot does the homework for me for Paris! But surely you must of had one good experience in France? I have stopped at little restaurants in villages and had wonderful rustic (if you want to call it that) cuisine. Mussels is a Belgian dish, but even a chain like Leons gets them right in Paris. If you are really weary stop at a cheese shop, get a few cheeses, at a butcher for some sausages, get a good bottle of wine and some bread and surely you can't go wrong, especially if you are with the one you love in France!

My My from your two posts, you did not seem to have a positive experience in France. Oh the shame of having money handled and then your bread! Your mussels had Barnacles.....! You know in all the years of traveling to france I have never had the problems you had or could it be you were looking for them? McDonalds is always a good option, they are standardized and always pretty sanitary. Bon Appetit!

I can imagine your dissapointment at being told that the table would have to be vacated by 21:15. I usually just book another night so I can savor my meal. In defense of the restaurant though, I find that seatings at French Restos are very much like a dance. They have everything timed perfectly, my guess is not that they were trying to be rude but they were trying to accomodate you without inconveniencing their 21:30 sitting. I would give them a try again in the future as they were so very gracious to me. BTW I did go to La Regalade last week and everyone is correct, it is still wonderful. I had a delicious Mushroom Bouillion with Foie Gras pieces in it. My Plat was the Lamb roast, the servings were copious! I received 7 slices of lamb, no joking. I ate two! Dessert I believe was my usual Hot Chocolate center cake. The terrines were as delicious as ever and actually being the glutton that I am, I was full by the timee the entre came to the table! But no fear, I just kept eating. Does anyone have a suggestion for my dinner this Monday? I like my prices close to 30 euros for a menu....if anyone has a place...... how about you John? Where should I go?

Last week we went to La Cerisaie. It is very snall so I am surprised it has managed to get so much press. For an entree I had the Croustillant de tete de Veau, my dinner companion had a Boullion which slips my mind, both were original and delicious, but mine was better. For my Plat I had the Foie Gras Poele with some sort of Polenta like sweet bread, (I know I have to start taking notes). It was to die for, very rich but not overly so. My companion had the mackeral which was good but as mackeral is a fishy fish, I don't think he enjoyed it as much as he would of something else. Dessert was Pain Perdu with Armagnac socked Prunes, I could not eat it all as I was stuffed but again it was great also. With dinner we had a Languedoc which was featured under their stronger wines, at 37 euros it was higher priced than most but was well worth it. Tomorrow I am off to visit La Regalade whch used to be my favorite during the Cambeborde days, but from what I read it is just as good still if not better.

Dreaming about Taillevent, I pulled up theiir website, and noticed they advertise a prix fixe menu at Angle du Faubourg for 35 euros. Is this accurate? Or will the supplements run it up even more? How about wine? For those who have been there, what were your impressions of this place? Thank you all in advance!

We ate at Oyamel last weekend at the bar and loved it. The chips are definately still free as we had two baskets of them. I had some sort of Tequila martini with peppers and passion fruit? The bartender suggested it and it was more of a fufu drink but still very good. We must have tried half the menu! I remember the Jaiba ceviche was good, as were the Tongue Tacos, Chiles en nogales, etc. The only dissapointment was the Tamal en Hoja. It was very dry and lacked any substantial taste. We ordered extra Chile sauce to be able to make it palatable. For dessert we had the Hot Chocolate Cake with Chiles, A cajeta dessert, and then another one which I don't remember, as the kitchen sent it out by mistake. If I can say anything about SteveKLC is that he knows his pastries! They were delicious. I would definately return!

WE went to Couleurs de Vigne this past Tuesday, just for a bit of wine. The owner advised us he was complet, with the first table arriving at 20:00. I told him not to worry as we still had 45 minutes. What a sweet man! We had a delicious Chateauneuf du Pape and a plate de Charcuterie between 4 of us. It came to 24 euros. As we were leaving he came rushing to put my shawl on me and kiss me goodbye. ( was the only female in the group) If he hadn't won me over already he would of right there and then. I can't wait to return and have dinner there. Does anyone know what time his last seating is at? I forgot to ask!

I bring cheese in every week. cru or not. I just wanted different options as to where to buy as I don't want to run all over town to get to my cheese shops. I don't remember names just where they are. I bring in Foie Gras all the time into New York, any chicken or duck product is fine as long as it is cooked. Occosionally I have brought in Fresh Foie Gras and kust declare it as Foie Gras as it looks the same as cooked. Thank you for your help and if anyone finds the thread lemme know!

Can someone help me find a thread that talked about cheese shops in Paris? I don't think I am going crazy but I am sure I even participated in it! I just need some cheese shops in different arrondissements, I remember there were a few that vacuum packed the cheese for you. Thanks for all your help. (Ran searches but can't locate!)

I went to Le Dix Vins Thursday night, we were almost an hour late for our reservation but no problem as everyone else was arriving at that time also. The menu is still 20 euros. They had run out of a few things by the time we arrived as I saw the Ardoise had quite a few things erased. For an entre my dinner partner had the grilled calamari, which was a rather large prtion and quite delicious. I chose a spinach salad which had duck gizzards on it! I did not recognize the name for gizzards, hence my ordering it! It was adequate though. Gizzards are not my favorite thing! For my plat I had a Cornish Game Hen which was deliciously crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. It supposedly was served with a garnishment of Foie Gras but it must have been miniscule pieces as I did not see them! (Which is fine because at theses prices how could they ever afford to serve that?) My dinner companion had the Escallope de Veau, I do not remember what seasoning they had but they were very good and the servings generous. Dessert options were very limited! They only had the Terrine de Chocolat and the Tarte de Pomme left, so we ordered both. They were both fine. We had a Languedoc for approximately 24 euros. It was very good. All in all the place is a great value for the quality. I would not say the cooking is truly inventive but it is a fine place to get a good meal for a great price.

That is a WIlly Dorr restaurant, if you picked upa business card you will see there are (I think) 5 others. They all have the same formula and are all a great bargain. The quality/value ratio cannot be beat.

John, I also thank you for your lists. I am glad you did not take Le Dix Vins off as I made reservations there for tomorrow night per your reccomendation of course! The prices seem unbelievable. How can they do this? It is now at 20 for dinner.

OK, went to RM tonight with hub and kids. Had a Tempranillo, fine for $24. For apps we had Guacamole and Seafood stuffed Poblano in a cream Sauce. Very Very good. The Guacamole was great. It was Chunky and spiced just enough. For entrees, I had the Spinach Stuffed Peppers with Pinenuts and Goat Cheese. it was mild tasting but pleasing. By this time I was stuffed so I took half of it home and ordered no dessert. Again, I think Rosa Mexicano is a welcome relief from the Tex-Mex that is all over the place here. Sure there are better restaurants near there, but if you are craving Mexican, I haven't been to any other place in DC I would recommend above this. The only other Mexicans that I have visited that may be better are Zarela's in NY and Frontera in Chicago.

Okay Mr DonRocks, I am going to disagree with you on this one. Even though I have been only once, and can't remember anything I ate! What I do remember is the food was decent, it was not your usual TeXMex, seemed fairly original. The quality of our entres and appetizers were good. I do remember the guacamole and it was delicious. The pomegranate margaritas are fine. Sure it probably isn't the finest dining establishment in the area but for Mexican food, I thought it was great. Maybe we should both give it another try, and if I hate it, I will post, and if you like it you do the same? I can't believe with the upgrade they did not add spellcheck!!!

I met the the co-owner of Fish this past week at his wineshop Le Dernier Goute. A very nice man (oh and kind of good looking) by the name of Juan Sanchez. A transplanted Cuban-American from Miami. I am looking forward to visiting is resto. He has a French trained Japanese chef there. Juan raved about it, but has anyone been there? Please let me know. Thanks.

Is there a date set for this? 17th works for me. Lemme know. I'd like to go.

Rillettes of Foie Gras? You are speaking my language there, but how do you do that besides serving it completely cru?

I have never been to Firefly and will probably go for lunch tomorrow. Any recommendations? And is the new menu out yet? And John if you are around what wines are you featuring nowadays? I probably shouldn't drink at lunch but hey I can always take the metro halfway home! True suburbia!

Well the truth is, I ate most of his dessert and I really think the calories in France just don't count, right?

Wow, I went to Ourcine last night and can understand why anyone would want to keep this place a secret! I ended up going with two other crewmembers. This place is fabulous! I haven't enjoyed a meal like this in a long time! I am not great at describing but I will try. As an entre I had Papillotes de Confit de Lapin garnished with a Medjool Date sauce. My companions had Bisque de Crustaceans avec Creme Leger et Chorizo, and Saumon Marine with exoctic Spices. All you heard were moans and sighs as we enjoyed our appetizer. For my Plat I had Caneton, the sauce eludes me but it was heavenly. One companion had Cod, the other lamb. Sorry I don't have better descriptions but my goodness they were all so good. For dessert they had the Cabecou, while I had the Pot de Creme. All wonderful. Wine list was very resonable, service was very very good. Madame was there with her new baby, and everyone was so pleasant. Please please do not give the name of this restaurant out to anyone! I did ask them about the Gourmet article and they are anxious for it to appear. But I couldn't agree more that these people will be slammed! I hope they survive! This is my new favorite bistro!

Margaret, Most people who frequent EGullet, would find out about Ourcine anyway. I think this is a self-educated group who make it their business to find out where to eat! Now as for Ourcine and Gourmet, John Talbott is probably right as are you, that it will be overwhlemed. On that note, I am back in Paris tomorrow night, but I think I will be by myself. Regardless do you thing if I walk in around 8pm there is a high possibility of being seated? I don't want to make a reservation at the moment as I really do feel strange making reservations for one. Thank you.

Margaret, thank you for your reply, it was my fault I was dialing wrong! I did go to Entredgeu on the 18th and had a fabulous dinner! The appetizers were original as were the entres. I was trying to cut on calories so I had the cheese and my companion had the baked figs which were to die for. I am sorry for not having an eloquent description, but we were on our second bottle of wine for the evening and descriptions became hazy! The quality of food to the price (28 euros prix fixe) was excellent. I highly recommend this place!

HELP< HELP, HELP!!!!!!! I am trying to call entredgeu to make reservations and keep getting a message that the number is not working?!! Can anyone help me...please?

At Eden Center, to the left of 3 Sisters by the Vietnamese Bakery, there is a little hole in the wall full of smoke but incredible food! They would be my choice and unfortunately I can't remember their name! They have an OLD New York Times review on their window and don't accept credit cards. Try it, you will not be sorry! (To the left as you are facing it!)