ChickenLuv

Dear Egulleters, I have a friend who is hosting a group of friends in Paris tomorrow. They are on a tight budget and are looking for restos/bistros/brasseries where they can enjoy a nice dinner for undner 30 euros per person including wine. Any thoughts? They are staying in the 7th near Ecole Militaire. It's a tough order I know especially with the short notice... any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, ChickenLuv

Just went to Graziano's a couple nights ago. Overall very nice. http://www.parrilla.com/ We had the "Tablita de achuras: mollejas, chorizo y morcilla" to start - the sausages were both quite good (morcilla is a blood sausage and chorizo is a more conventional sausage). The sweetbreads (mollejas) were grilled (good in my book, I hate it when the delicate things get coated with bread crumbs and fried.... they are too delicate) but they were overcooked and some were not properly peeled. Still I adore grilled sweetbreads so we ate many anyway. We had a mixed parrilla for two as the main which was very very good - or at least what we could finish was great. The skirt steak was wonderful, juicy and cooked like we like it (pink inside, but charred outside) and the short ribs were pink and juicy inside. The short ribs had so much marbling they almost tasted like Kobe beef to me... seriously... they were almost too rich to eat (we managed somehow ). The mixed parrilla also came with lechon (suckling pig) and chicken, all of which we carted home in a doggy bag. We shared a panqueces con dulce de leche desert - crepes stuffed with Argentine style milk caramel. At Graziano's they flambe them with Cointreau - not very traditional but the result was nice. Our waiter added some very good vanilla ice cream on the side. My only complaint with the dessert was that the dulce de leche was a little weak compared to the stuff I have had in the past. We had a marvelous 1999 Catena Malbec (Angelica Vineyard) - always a treat. We picked Graziano's over Vacas Gordas because we had read the service at Vacas Gordas was pretty horrible and we didn't really feel like dealing that night... My biggest gripe is that no one seems to bring in Argentine meat... American is fine, but it is just not the same. I asked at Graziano's and the captain told me it was illegal... he is wrong but I didn't bother to correct him. Argentine meat is now legal in the USA and has been for a few years now. There was a place in NYC importing it but I can't remember the place. On a different note the Buenos Aires Confiteria (Bakery) in North Beach is SO COOL (71st street and Collins). The sandwiches de miga are wonderful as are all the facturas (breakfast pastry) - I was also able to pick up some Mantecol (argentine halvah) and imported Dulce de Leche. We brought a dozenn sandwiches de miga home with us for a plentiful lunch the next day - they keep just fine in the fridge.

DH and I just left Barbados and ate at a two very different places. In Bridgetown we went to the Waterfront Cafe (near the marina). They serve good local food as well as the ubiquitous "international" food. We went for the local stuff. We shared a cold app typical of the region, don't remember the name well but it was a sort of salt cod salad with diced tomato, lime juice and a bit of heat from tiny hot pepper brunoise - seriously yum. For mains we had (1) flying fish steamed and sauced and cou-cou (a sort of soft caribbean polenta, this one had a little okra in it), and (2) Pepperpot with rice. Pepperpot is a stew of shredded beef, chicken, lamb and maybe something else in a really black sauce (I don't know what it was, but it was all good)... it came with basmati rice. We shared a really excellent bread pudding for dessert. The Waterfront Cafe is on the pricier side compared to your typical local food but it is well worth it. With two half-pint beers, I think we payed somewhere in the neighborhood of $124 Barbados dollars pre-tip which is about $62 USD. For a completely opposite experience try The Fisherman's Pub in Speightstown. You can take a bus from Bridgetown - the $1.50 (Barbados dollars) ride is about 20-25 minutes and is more exciting than your average rollercaster - pick a bus with music blasting from it. If you prefer a taxi I would skip Speightstown as the cabs tend to be pricy. Speightstown itself is pretty rundown, but colorful. We ate lunch twice at the Fisherman's pub and practically licked the plates each time. It's cheap and no-frills local food. We payed about $25 Barbados dollars for two people each time. You stand outside a small glass enclosed room and point to what you want. The ladies in the room put your choices on plates and you pay at the bar - don't be shy about asking the ladies behind the glass questions, they were very nice with us. Each time we went there was one curry, three stews (beef, chicken or lamb), rice, noodles, fried fishes of different sorts and fish cakes. The first time we had fried fish cakes, chicken curry, rice (studded with fresh pigeon peas), a tiny salad and some breadfruit and fish casserole that the person standing in line before us picked, plus 2 beers. The second time we had fish curry with the same rice, fried flying fish, fried fish cakes, and breadfruit puree plus two cokes and tiny salads. Maybe I just like street food, but this stuff was really tasty. I heard from someone on a bus we took one afternoon that on Wednesdays there is a big party in Fisherman's Pub, but I never went there myself. Hope the above helps. One note: we tend to like spicy food and most of the above was mildly or medium spicy (to our taste). Have fun, ChickenLuv