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Cheap eats/inexpensive restaurants


Margaret Pilgrim

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Here are some other restaurants you might like. They are all are reasonably priced, have great food and interesting wines.

Les Papilles

Bistrot Paul Bert

Avant Gout

Le Comptoir du Relais

Le Baratin

www.parisnotebook.wordpress.com

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There have been several threads on reasonably priced places, this being one.

My list now includes:

Le Pre Verre, 8 Thenard, 5th (Maubert/St. Michel)

Dix Vins, 57 Falguiere, 15th 01.43.20.91

L'Avant Gout, 26 rue Bobillot, 13th, 01.53.80.24.00

L'Ebauchoir, 43-5 Rue de Citeaux, 12th 01.43.42.49.31

Le Troquet 21, rue Francois Bonvin, 15th, 01.45.66.89.00

Le Repaire de Cartouche, 8 blvd des Filles-du-Calvaire in the 11th, 01.47.00.25.86

L’Entredgeu

L’Ourcine

Au Gourmand

La Grande Rue

La Beurre Noisette

From picaman's thread there are:

*Fish - 69, rue du Seine (6th)

*Aux Lyonnaise - 32, rue St. Marc (2nd)

*La Régalade - 49, avenue Jean-Moulin (14th)

*Au C'Amelot - 50, rue Amelot (11th)

*La Chope de la Marie - 88, rue Ordener (18th)

*L'Occitanie - 96, rue Oberkampf (11th)

*Clown Bar - 114, rue Amelot (11th)

*Jacques Melac - 42, rue Leon-Frot (11th)

*L'as du Fallafel - 34, rue du Rosiers (4th)

*Cafe Constant - 139, rue Saint-Dominique (7th)

*Au Bon Acceuil - 14, rue Monttessuy (7th)

*Violon d'Ingres - 135, rue Saint Dominique (7th)

*La Fontaine de Mars - 129, rue Saint-Dominique (7th)

*Au Dauphin - 167, rue Saint-Honoré (1st)

*Chez Michel - 10, Rue de Belzunce (10th)

*Philippe Detourbe - 8, rue Nicolas Charlet (15th)

*Bistrot du Dôme - 1 rue Delambre (14th)

*La Cave de l'Os a Moelle - 181, rue de Lourmel (15th); and

*L'Os a Moelle - 3, rue Vasco de Gama (15th)

*Le Repaire de Cartouche - 99, rue Amelot (11th)

Aux Negociants - 27, rue Lambert (18th)

Calixte - 64, rue Saint-Louis en L'Ile (Patissierie - 4th)

Benoit - 20, rue Saint-Martin (4th)

Le Pré Verre - 8, rue Thenard (5th)

L'Estrapade - 15, rue de l'Estrapade (5th)

Le Dome due Marais - 53, rue des Francs-Bourgeois (4th)

Edited by John Talbott to add bolding.

Edited by John Talbott (log)

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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It's just so easy to eat reasonably in Paris! Just stroll around your quartier, you will be able to see every menu posted prominently (It is the law) and you can peek inside and judge if you like the ambience. The odds are good that the food will be good, because it's really hard to find a bad meal in Paris! Just stick to the less touristy places, no non-stop places(Specific lunch and dinner hours), and no english menus. You should do very well!

P.S. If you see a place that you want to dine at, go inside and make a reservation. The Parisian restaurants prefer this to just walking in, even if they are not full.

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Last time my wife and I went, we wanted to stay on more of a budget, so we went to a number of brasseries. Food and wine were both reasonably priced. Also a great Sunday option after hunting around the Puces de St.-Ouen. I would recommend Bofinger, but obviously there are several good options.

"If the divine creator has taken pains to give us delicious and exquisite things to eat, the least we can do is prepare them well and serve them with ceremony."

~ Fernand Point

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I always seem to end up spending more at a wine bar than I do at a good bistro. In addition to the great choices already suggested, you might consider Mon Vieil Ami, Le Pamphlet and Le Clos Des Gourmets, all comfortable places with gentle prices for the quality. Cosi, 54 rue de Seine in the 6th (not to be confused with Le Cosi, a Corsican place at 9 rue Cujas in the 5th), has great sandwiches on their own bread- great to eat there or take away.

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  • 4 months later...

Hello all,

After reading the eGullet reports for so long, I decided to ask John to help me with a current conundrum. He agreed to face the task, but only if I posted it here, too, so that others could chime in.

I am taking three 18 year olds (from semi-rural Georgia, no less) to France for ten days. We're spending three full days in Paris before heading to Provence for a week.

I've spent a lot of time in France, but oddly enough, not a whole lot in Paris. I lived in Toulouse and spent whole summers in Avignon. I know where I'D go eat in Paris, but with the girls it is a little different. They are all very willing eaters and want authentic meals. They've promised me they will not eat at McDo :rolleyes: and I am so excited to be giving them this experience.

The challenge: They are all on very very tight budgets. I'm thinking about 10 Euro a dinner, 15 tops. I'm thinking we could splurge one night... to 20. I've been doing some research and have a big list of possibilites.. including the cafes/bistros of Xavier Denamur. I'm also thinking of heading for ethnic one night.. like pho, maybe. Lunches are not a problem.. we'll be heading to markets and picnicing or maybe La Tartine, or Le Pain Quotidien. I have fun memories of Le Refuge aux Fondues when I was in college.. but I don't think their parents would appreciate me taking their daughter to drink wine out of baby bottles!

We're staying in the 7th, but I'm not adverse to going anywhere in the city for a good meal. And, I promise to report back on our luck and our adventures in Provence, as well.

Thanks so much for your time and I am very happy to turn my voyeurism here into participation,

Sara

“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it… If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.”

~ James Beard

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You cant really get better than the Grec Frites from the street vendors when really in a pinch. I mean they put the fries right IN the sandwich. Its genious, and gets even genious-er with some hot ass mustard. Just look for the meat that looks like a bunch of flank steaks piled up instead of the inverted pyramid of homogenized lamb meat. Otherwise its Jambon Beurre three times a day, paris is pretty pricey. There was this bisto I used to go when I was there in the 1st called "Bistro des Halles", it's a really good find for such a touristy area. I mean you know its good when you see French peeps eating there, right? Kind of fealt like some place tucked away but was right in the open. Bon chance!

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In the Montparnasse area there are a huge number of creperies. My husband and I went to Josselin for dinner, and it was incredible (and ~8-9 euros for most dinner crepes, I think). When you walk in, the air is smoky from the frying butter...I'm drooling just thinking about it. I had one with spinach, egg and cheese, and it was quite filling.

Have a great trip!

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Hello all,

After reading the eGullet reports for so long, I decided to ask John to help me with a current conundrum. He agreed to face the task, but only if I posted it here, too, so that others could chime in.

I am taking three 18 year olds (from semi-rural Georgia, no less) to France for ten days. We're spending three full days in Paris before heading to Provence for a week.

I'm also thinking of heading for ethnic one night.. like pho, maybe.

Sara

Sara, this is a challenge I've not encountered in our archives, and a great one.

To me it seems that there are several strategies:

One, do as you suggest - go to pho, couscous, Thai, African or other exotic ethnic places, but is this really what 18 year old Georgians think French food is?

Two, search thru the Digest for "formulas," eg one dish 10-12 Euro offerings in often quite good places.

Three, try to find some "cantines" or Resto-U's, what were called in the good old days in Italy "mensas." It's my recollection that two of this Forum's contributors are currently engaged in a project on these.

Four, go to the "tourist trap" streets, for example, the Rue de Buci or Rue de la Huchette.

Fifth, suck it up, get their parents to give them what my pal Paga gave his kids - "food scholarships," for a bit more expensive, altho' still very inexpensive but genuine French meals, at places like le Pre Verre, Avant Gout, Chartier, Astier, Biche au Bois + Dix vins.

Eat take-out from La Grande Epicerie (at Bon Marche), Galeries L and/or your friendly neighborhood cheese/BBQ/Horsemeat/etc places.

{Full disclosure - on my first visit to France, when I was 18 yo, and living in "rural" upstate New York, I thought that La vache qui rit, tinned pate de foie gras and greasy pastries were the end of the world. Now, truth be told, my group leader, a real gem, had secreted away monies and after eating soggy baguettes and stuff on soggy Loire banks, pumping from Chartres to the Pointe du Raz, "treated us" to dinners in Paris our last few days at La Tour d'Argent + Maxim's. In medieval times, this was heaven.}

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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If they fancy a real French meal, I would count on €30 a head. Unless these young ladies are 'mature' and want to spend nights out on the town, in which case they should get in touch with fresh_a or myself, I see very few other solutions other than eating foreign food. The shawarmas at Noura are great for €4,50. Some of the best in Paris. You could probably eat-in for €15 a head, which is not bad for a tip-top lebanese.

The Tour d'argent days are, however, pure decadence as upwards of €200 per person is not what you have in mind!

Unless you go out with Mr Talbott!!!

Food glorious food, nothing quite like it...

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Also, check out the recommendations in Let's Go: Paris or its companion volume Let's Go: France. My copies of the books are more than 10 years old, but I've found them to be pretty reliable guides for traveling on a budget. Restaurants are arranged by arrondissments and the books even have decent neighborhood walking maps.

SuzySushi

"She sells shiso by the seashore."

My eGullet Foodblog: A Tropical Christmas in the Suburbs

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Like John I'll start with a confession. 40+ years ago on my first visit to Paris my buddy & I had very little money & very little knowledge. Very, very little French either. We stayed 4 nights in a student hotel for 10 francs a night (I'm talking what were then 'new Francs')

Did all of our eating off the markets & in student cafe's. On the last night we decided that we had to have some meat; after three days of fruit, veggies, pasta & cheese our carnivorian instincts were raging. The cheapest meat dish in the menu was pave de cheval we didn't know what cheval was but ordered & ate it anyway. Only later did we find out that it was horse meat. One of my first eating adventures.

Now, my suggestion for your girls is that you concentrate upon lunch. You can normally get a pretty good meal cheaper at lunchtime than at dinner. Diligent looking may find a menu within budget, but I'm pretty sure you will find a choice of plats de jour that fit. Has the advantage that this will be "real" French cooking.

Dinners of things from the markets outdoors in the many parks & people watching places are a delight in summertime Paris.

Maybe splurge on a good dinner once if you've saved enough otherwise.

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A few more thoughts: L'Ebauchoir, 43-5 Rue de Citeaux, 12th 01.43.42.49.31

L'Epi Dupin, 11 rue Dupin, 6th, 584/2, 42.22.64.56

Le Troquet 21, rue Francois Bonvin, 15th, 01.45.66.89.00

Biche au Bois

Quite a while back, a member picaman, listed the following, but I think they are way out of your 10 E limit. They were:

*Fish - 69, rue du Seine (6th)

*Aux Lyonnaise - 32, rue St. Marc (2nd)

*La Régalade - 49, avenue Jean-Moulin (14th)

*Au C'Amelot - 50, rue Amelot (11th)

*La Chope de la Marie - 88, rue Ordener (18th)

*L'Occitanie - 96, rue Oberkampf (11th)

*Clown Bar - 114, rue Amelot (11th)

*Jacques Melac - 42, rue Leon-Frot (11th)

*L'as du Fallafel - 34, rue du Rosiers (4th)

*Cafe Constant - 139, rue Saint-Dominique (7th)

*Au Bon Acceuil - 14, rue Monttessuy (7th)

*Violon d'Ingres - 135, rue Saint Dominique (7th)

*La Fontaine de Mars - 129, rue Saint-Dominique (7th)

*Au Dauphin - 167, rue Saint-Honoré (1st)

*Chez Michel - 10, Rue de Belzunce (10th)

*Philippe Detourbe - 8, rue Nicolas Charlet (15th)

*Bistrot du Dôme - 1 rue Delambre (14th)

*La Cave de l'Os a Moelle - 181, rue de Lourmel (15th); and

*L'Os a Moelle - 3, rue Vasco de Gama (15th)

*Le Repaire de Cartouche - 99, rue Amelot (11th)

Aux Negociants - 27, rue Lambert (18th)

Calixte - 64, rue Saint-Louis en L'Ile (Patissierie - 4th)

Benoit - 20, rue Saint-Martin (4th)

Le Pré Verre - 8, rue Thenard (5th)

L'Estrapade - 15, rue de l'Estrapade (5th)

Le Dome due Marais - 53, rue des Francs-Bourgeois (4th)

And finally, as I recounted in the Digest, on the website for RestoaParis, appeared a note about a sort-of “Resto U” called La Terrasse de la Cité Internationale, 17, boulevard Jourdan in the 14th (Metro Cite Universitaire), 01.43.13.66.38 that serves a dish at 10,50 Euros or a starter and main for 13,60 Euros but a review January 14th only gave it 1 of 3 stars. It’s near the “U’ but is open to the public and has separate tables and actually looks quite nice.

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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The challenge: They are all on very very tight budgets. I'm thinking about 10 Euro a dinner, 15 tops. I'm thinking we could splurge one night... to 20. I've been doing some research and have a big list of possibilites.. including the cafes/bistros of Xavier Denamur. I'm also thinking of heading for ethnic one night.. like pho, maybe. Lunches are not a problem.. we'll be heading to markets and picnicing or maybe La Tartine, or Le Pain Quotidien. I have fun memories of Le Refuge aux Fondues when I was in college.. but I don't think their parents would appreciate me taking their daughter to drink wine out of baby bottles!

How about switching things around a bit, and considering the midday meal your primary one, and having the light meal in the evening? Economical, French, and frees up time for the girls (and you, if you'd like) to go out in the evening.

Are you renting an apartment or staying in a hotel? The former generally very economical, though shorter stays not as much, and it makes eating at home in the evening very simple.

Can you pee in the ocean?

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The challenge: They are all on very very tight budgets. I'm thinking about 10 Euro a dinner, 15 tops. I'm thinking we could splurge one night... to 20.

Sara - I had a wonderful, tasty and very filling meal at La Cave de l'Os a Moelle (mentioned by John Talbott above) in May. It's 20 Euros per person, and they had wines starting as low as 7 Euros. It's rather unusual place, with shared tables, but food was delicious and I'd definitely go back..

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Like Dave Hatfield and John Talbot, my first visit to Paris was on an extremely tight budget, supplemented slightly by doing some street theatre and pavement drawings in Les Halles (before it was built up). It was a wonderful experience, and I lived on crusty baguettes, dripping with Camembert and sliced tomato, washed down with red wine and followed with melon. All you need is a knife, a glass and a corkscrew. So I would recommend at least one “picnic” day, which will allow your budget to extend to something more exciting on another day.

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Sara - I had a wonderful, tasty and very filling meal at La Cave de l'Os a Moelle (mentioned by John Talbott above) in May. It's 20 Euros per person, and they had wines starting as low as 7 Euros. It's rather unusual place, with shared tables, but food was delicious and I'd definitely go back..

Oh that reminds me of my recent meal at les Symples de l'os a moelle in Issy just facing the last stop on the Metro; much like their Cave, plates on every table, good main, lots of desserts, see here.

I endorse the picnic idea too. The Parc Monceau and Luxembourg are perfect venues.

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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Having done Paris on a budget a couple of times, I strongly second (third?) picnicking as a budget stretcher. If you're staying in the 7th, an afternoon spent shopping on Rue Cler would be time well spent -- it's a market street with every conceivable portable (and non-portable) food or beverage available. Don't let the fact that it's been "discovered" turn you off. It's a glorious couple of blocks , just around the corner from the Ecole Militaire metro. From there you can walk to the Tour Eiffel for a picnic, or, if you don't mind strolling through the Left Bank (and who does?), over to Luxembourg Gardens (where Jean Valjean hung out). Better yet, catch the metro over to the 5th, and picnic on the quais. There are few things better in life than spreading good cheese on good bread, sipping wine from a plastic cup, and watching the way Notre Dame's reflection in the Seine changes as the sun goes down. Then you can walk over to the island for ice cream at Berthold's.

Also in the 7th: au Petite Tonneau.

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government.

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For something that's very French, quite unlike anything that are likely to have ecountered in rural Georgia and surprisingly decent food take them to Le Gai Moulin

The menu is 20 Euro's. I almost always stick with oeufs en cocotte with Foie Gras, Steak Bearnaise and Creme brulee, but for the price, everything is pretty good.

Gethin

Edited by gethin (log)
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I would suggest you buy the Time Out publication, Paris Eating & Drinking, which has a "Budget" Section with quite a few French food entries below 15E, as well as a good section on "International" places that includes others in that price range. The reviews are fairly detailed, so you would have an idea of what you are in for as far as food and atmosphere. Some of the entries sound like what you are looking for.

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Picnics at the Jardin du Luxembourg are indeed the best. The markets around rue de Seine just north of Blvd Saint Germain are great and fairly close to the gardens, as is Gerard Mulot, a great patisserie, at 76 rue de Seine.

L'As du Falafel has the best falafel ever and is definitely not expensive. It's on rue des Rosiers in the Marais and won't be open on Saturdays. I recommend having one topped with aubergine (eggplant).

Crepes on the street are one of my favorite things about Paris and can make for an excellent cheap lunch too.

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You may also want to consider a later brunch + afternoon tea type meal plannings. You can get food for cheaper during the day and then have a lighter meal during the evening.

There's always the options of getting sandwiches during the day and eating them later too. Though, that's not as fun.

I support picnic lunch. Nothing more Parisian in my mind than some bread, cheese, pate and wine! Some fruit and chocolate makes for a great finisher.

Also, if you have chocoholics, splurge and go to Angelina's, (nearby the Louvre), for their African hot chocolate. I would think two people could share one pot, it was so rich! I also loved their hmn.. Mont Blancs(?) I think. Meringue and chestnut spread. SO YUMMY.

Edited by jenc (log)

foodpr0n.com 11/01/17: A map of macarons in Toronto // For free or for a fee - bring your bottle! corkagetoronto.com

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You are all fantastique! I was already thinking "market" lunches. I spend so much time in class talking about the wonderful things for sale, that it would be a sin NOT to have a picnic! We'll also be hitting a lot of markets in Provence, so it will be a great introduction.

I love the merguez idea, and really, with the changing face of France I think it qualifies for "French" food.

One of you asked where we are staying: We are staying in a hotel near the Ecole Militaire. I gave the girls three options and this is where they picked. I like it because it is in a safe area (for four women alone) and convenient to everything. We are very close to the Rue Cler, so I fully expect to grab croissants there in the morning (and NOT for 9 E at the hotel!). I also love the market at Richard-Lenoir and we'll be heading there, too.

Reading those responses which made reference to "early days" in Paris it was hard not to think of my own first time in the city. I remember the smell of bread and water in the mornings. I remember my first crepe on Montmartre (you know, the place with the red windows and doors). I collided with a guy I had a crush on because we were both staring straight up in Notre Dame instead of watching where we were walking. I ate a terrine of foie gras for the first time. It was simple. It was puppy love. And it reminds me, that the girls have to experience Paris for themselves. I can't walk them around and say, "And here is where we will experience crepes with Nutella and bananas!" Magic moments don't arrive because I say, "abracadabra": Paris IS magic. Oh how excited I am for them. It is one of the perks of being a teacher and taking students abroad. Each time I travel, everything, including those first bites of crepe or rillettes, is new again.

“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it… If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.”

~ James Beard

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Sara - the price of all this priceless advice is that you have to write up your experiences. Those of us whose clocks are stuck on nostalgia time (eg our first visit as a teenager) will relish your final decisions. But I agree wholeheartedly - what will happen will happen - today, for instance, my crew (age 2- way up there) crumped in front of a moules and frites place and couldn't have been happier. Hey, it's just food - have fun!

John Talbott

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