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Cheap eats/inexpensive restaurants


Margaret Pilgrim

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I also second John Whiting's recommendation for La Cave de l'Os à Moelle. The food is like the cooking of the French Grandmère you've never had, but would love to.

I thought I'd chime in for La Cave as well, it is one of my favorite places in Paris.

Pim,

Do you have any favorites in Belleville that you'd be willing to share?

www.parisnotebook.wordpress.com

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  • 3 weeks later...

Lyle, sandwiches grecques - with or without frites - are totally common in Paris - there's a ton of them in the 5th/student quarter.

Kiliki, I'd make Cafe Constant my FIRST choice in the 7th - I've lived there for about 2 years now - and then Cafe du Marche my second.

Let me also add - for tea and hearty pastries - Le Loir dans le Theiere in the Marais. Try to snag the worn leather club chairs around the low round table just right of the door - you will NOT want to leave. They also have good looking sandwiches/salads but I NEED the pastries when I get there.

Also in the Marais - falafel - the place BETWEEN L'As and Rue Vielle du Temple - I forget the name.

And Creperie Beaubourg - next to the fountain at the Pompidou. A sit-down creperie - everything from classic jambon/fromage/oeuf to still classic but not so common roquefort/walnut - with green salad and a pitcher of hard cider.

AND Le Pain Quotidien - I know they have quite a few in NYC and around the States now - but I can ASSURE you that they don't have FRESH goat cheese and a living Brie de Meaux there - I like the Brie with acacia HONEY drizzled on top.

I like La Cave too - DON'T go there with your dog - not enough room - keep your eye out for the cheese boards - DON'T let the other tables hog them - AND get your desserts EARLY.

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  • 3 months later...

But of course, in ascending order, cheapest to more expensive:

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

Casa Corsa, 25 rue Mazarine, 6th, 01.44.07.38.98

Au Pays de Cocogne, 111 rue Reamur, 2nd, 01.40.13.81.81

Marmite et Cassolete, 157 Bd de Montparnasse, 6th, 01.43.26.26.53

Il Viccolo, 4th 01.42.78.38.86

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

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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I have been to Le Pré Verre last month, dinner menu 25€ (not including drinks). But recently, I have seen the bistrot's name appearing in many guide books, including the japanese.

make sure you make reservation if you are planning to eat there. tel: 01-43-54-59-47.

Edited by naf (log)
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I forget these from the Digest:

"Francois Simon had a good 13E lunch special (total bill 39E for 2) at Le Repaire de Cartouche, 8 blvd des Filles-du-Calvaire in the 11th, 01.47.00.25.86). In addition, the compilation article following “What’s New” featured meals under 30E in the following restaurants:

182 RD

L’Enredgeu

L’Ourcine

Au Gourmand

La Grande Rue

Café Moderne

Le Vin de Zinc

Café Panique

La Table d’Anvers

De Lagarde and

L’Authentic

Also TimeOut.com/Paris's compendium list of “Best of’s” included La Beurre Noisette"

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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(scribbling notes furiously from John's list...)

Hey, I have a few new places to try next time I visit Paris!

We had a very enjoyable meal at L'Epi Dupin on our last trip. In that spirit, let me recommend another restaurant in the 6th arrondissement in virtually the same price range:

La Rotisserie d'en Face

2 Rue Christine (Odeon/St-Michel) 01 43 26 40 98

This is a Jacques Cagna-owned bistro with fantastic roasted chicken and good simple side dishes and salads and so forth. Many nice moderately-priced wines available. I had a cold salad of incredibly fresh haricots verts that nearly caused me to swoon with pleasure. Highly recommended.

Also, if you find yourself in an unfamiliar neighborhood at lunchtime, the following algorithm almost never fails when seeking good food at reasonable prices:

-- Go one or two blocks away from the main avenue, especially if you're in a "touristy" area.

-- Wander down any friendly-looking side street.

-- Look for a crowd of French people. Eat there. :biggrin:

enrevanche <http://enrevanche.blogspot.com>

Greenwich Village, NYC

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.

- Mark Twain

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  • 5 weeks later...

My GF and I will be taking a long awaited trip to Paris for a week in January (let's call it five days due to travel time). She's very flexible on meal options and enjoys good food but is not picky. I'm a bit more discerning but generally enjoy good street food and inexpensive ethnic fare as much as more tony options.

We plan on one really nice dinner out for our birthday - a shared occasion as we were born on the same day. It could be an upscale bistro - doesn't have to be haute cuisine. The remaining meals will be flexible - our only requirement is that it be fresh and honest food - we'd rather pay for the food than the ambiance.

We plan on continental breakfast at the hotel or perhaps some days just having a late breakfast/early lunch on days when we sleep in. I plan to do my due diligence and research for specific places or areas in which to dine but am trying to establish some general idea of how much I should expect to spend.

For one small meal and one larger meal each day is 100 Euros per day for two people a realistic budget? I'm not including alcohol or VAT (or GST - whatever they call it in France - I presume there is such a tax?). We don't tend to go for multi-course extravaganzas - e.g. if we get an appetizer we won't get soup or salad and dessert is more often that not shared if we order it at all. For the birthday dinner I can spend up to about 120 Euros for two without alcohol or tax - I'm not averaging that into the 100 Euros per day figure.

We'll be staying on the Left Bank near the Montparnasse metro station. If anyone knows of specific "can't miss" places in that general area please advise. Thanks.

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I think 100 euros is resonable (liquor not included). If the continental breakfast is included with your hotel price, by all means enjoy it. Otherwise, it is much cheaper and usually better to go to the corner bakery and buy a couple of pain au chocolats and coffees than to eat at the hotel. Chez Paul a bakery chain in Paris has breakfast speacials for about 5 euros.

Dinner at most bistros is about 29-39 prix fixe. John Talbott has an excellent list and browse thru these posts and you will be sure to find a few.

Lucnh can be a deal if you do the Paris thing. Buy a couple of prepared sandwiches at a bakery and a bottle of wine and eat on a bench of the weather is good. Or crepes from a vendor will satisfy at about 3.5 euros for a jambon et fromage.

My favorite was always Regalade but I haven't been in a while. Chez Michel is wonderl. L'Impatient in the 17th is good. For a great deal, try one of Wily Dorr's bistrots. They are Bistrot de deux Teatres, Chez ferdinand, the names of the rest elude me at the moment. There price is 31 euros for aperitif, wine meal and coffee! It is not avant garde, but it is good!

Have fun and please walk alot so as to not gain wieght. :biggrin:

Paris is a mood...a longing you didn't know you had, until it was answered.

-An American in Paris

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Hi Owen,

Here is my fairly recent thread on the same subject.

I'd used the figure of 125 euros per meal, but I think you could eat pretty well and stay within the 100 euros per day range, with a couple of caveats: breakfast included at the hotel or standing at the cafe bar for a croissant and coffee (no sitting at breakfast for you, young man! :raz: ) and confining the rest of the day to one main meal, with the third meal light street fare on the go. That's what we did--one main largish meal, with bread and crepes and sandwiches and cheese the rest of the time. And we managed to maintain our weight in spite of all the walking :biggrin:

And, as many people noted in the thread, many of the places listed were well under my target price.

Have fun digging through this thread--lots of info there.

:smile:

Jamie

Edited by picaman (log)

See! Antony, that revels long o' nights,

Is notwithstanding up.

Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene ii

biowebsite

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And we managed to maintain our weight in spite of all the walking :biggrin:

Too Funny! :raz::raz::raz:

Paris is a mood...a longing you didn't know you had, until it was answered.

-An American in Paris

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I really love Chez Maitre Paul which is not far from where you are staying. 12, Rue Monsieur le Prince75006 metro Odeon. This restaurant does dishes from the Jura region. The chicken in yellow sauce with morels is not to be missed!! I've eaten here on 2 different occasions, once with my husband and just again in April with friends who live in Paris. Everyone agreed this is a great find!

Reservations are a must as it is quite small. Dinner for 2 with a bottle of wine ran us about 75Euro. Very well priced and really wonderful food unlike the typical bistro.

A family owned restaraunt I like is Chez Rene 14, boulevard Saint-Germain - Paris 75005 Subway : Maubert-Mutualite. this little bistro does up all the classics but isn't ramped towards the tourists. When my mom and I ate there twice in the same week we became "regulars" and were seated near the families attorny and dentist! Very large portions, wonderful family and excellent food! Dinner for 2 with a few glasses of wine about 80E

Have fun!

edited to correct that both of these are more in the Latin quarter but are very easy metro stops away from you and well worth it!

Edited by little ms foodie (log)
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One thing to comment on is your statement that:

We don't tend to go for multi-course extravaganzas - e.g. if we get an appetizer we won't get soup or salad and dessert is more often that not shared if we order it at all.

In some ways this isn't really how many Parisians restaurants are set up. Most of the places we at at had prix fixe menus of 3-4 courses. There are ala carte menus, but I think you'll find that the price for 2 plats plus a salade and a dessert will be about the same as for the prix fixe menu.

There are lots of cheap eats in Paris, especially if you stick to the bistros. Pick up a copy of Patricia Wells' Food Lovers Guide to Paris if you want, and definately search through the archives here, there are a ton of older links on inexpensive foods.

Having said all that, when we were there in January we could find good 3-4 course prix fixe menus with a bottle of wine for $65-$75 for the two of us. If you avoid the expensive petit dejuner at the cafes and just get a pastry at the patisserie for breakfast and have a crepe or some other light lunch you'll easily stay within budget AND have great dinners.

Hal

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This is sounding great - I'm already hungry :biggrin:

Is there any particular ethnic food that's especially good in paris? I have the impression that there's a decent sized Moroccan / North African population but wondering if there are other things worth checking out.

For those who may think to warn me about cold weather and gloomy skies in January - I'm living in Syracuse NY at present - Paris will be like a tropical getway in comparison :cool:

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Paris is always beautiful.

I used Patricia Wells book years ago, but I think some of it may be outdated. Also pleaseParis Restos on a budgetcheck out this website. He has a great list of restaurants. He also has a private personal list which he will e-mail you. I have tried 90% of them and they are all very good.

Edited by raisab (log)

Paris is a mood...a longing you didn't know you had, until it was answered.

-An American in Paris

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By the time you go, the only problem you will have is a list of 30 restaurants and only 5 nights. I usually avoid the hotel breakfast, and either grab something on the run or just go to lunch early. Tax and service are included in the prices.

I'll throw in some early recommendations. For a great lunch, you might try Cosi, 54 rue de Seine (not to be confused with Le Cosi in the 5th). They have great, inexpensive sandwiches, made with bread baked in a brick oven, and the tomatoes are terrific. In June, we had a great dinner at Le Troquet in the 15th. Six courses for 38 Euros. I think the three course menu was 32 Euros. I can't wait to go back. Also, it's hard to beat the 3 course menu at Au Bon Accueil in the 7th.

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Re: your ethnic food question--

You MUST go to L'As du Fallafel :wub: (34, rue des Rosiers, in the heart of the Marais). I know I've written about it somewhere else on eGullet, but oh my, it is heavenly--and ridiculously cheap, especially if you just order at the take-out window and eat on the street like everyone else. A terrific, filling lunch--and very authentic Israeli-style, from what I understand. Go for the fallafel speciale, which features a lovely soft pita stuffed with two kinds of cabbage slaw, Turkish salad, hummus, fresh crispy balls of fallafel, slices of eggplant, and tahini sauce. Don't forget the sauce piquante too! Oh, I dream of fallafel at L'As.

L'As, you are so far away. :sad:

Edited by cheeseandchocolate (log)

She blogs: Orangette

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If you like cheap ethnic food head to the Rue Sainte Anne where you'll find lots of little Japanese restaurants. I went to a one with a Japanese friend where we had big bowls of noodle soup and she was in heaven saying it was just like home. I can't remember the name of it (cause it's in Japanese), but it's a little hole in the wall sort of place that's on the left side as you walk north on rue Sainte Anne going toward the Opera. You'll know it because there is usually a line out the door. But, I've tried other places as well and have always been happy.

And I'm a big L'AS fan as well :smile:

www.parisnotebook.wordpress.com

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You've got a lot of time to collect ideas and obsess; I agree that your list will be much longer than the number of food opportunities. To address a couple of items; there are threads on Cheap Eats (no longer so cheap with the dollars fall) and the Digest has a list from Le Figaro in the week of May 10th as does picaman. I use 100$ for two as my standard too; this was easy ten years ago, but now is harder, so I pretend the dollar=euro and sleep better. Also, threre are plenty of ethnic places; the Pudlowski has a section after French restaurants devoted just to "Tables d'ailleurs" and Routard publishes a book on Ethnic food every year or two - "Guide du Routard : Paris exotique 2003 " orderable from Amazon.fr here. Finally, after years of eating out 2 times a day, we always eat our big meal at lunch (for the reasons given/implied above, eg there are menus and formules (where you can have a 1st and 2nd, or 2nd & dessert), they are much less costly than at night); then we walk it off and have something light (granted it's easier in an appt than hotel room) at night. However, I surely understand wanting to have 10 food experiences in 5 days too.

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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Re: your ethnic food question--

You MUST go to L'As du Fallafel :wub: (34, rue des Rosiers, in the heart of the Marais).

Owen -

cheeseandchocolate is right - if you're going to try out some ethnic foods, you'll find excellent middle eastern food from a variety of countries, that puts munjeds to shame with quality and variety. Couscous - I'm sorry I can't recommend anyplace in particular. There's nothing like it anywhere in Syracuse. Look for signs that say "Couscous Maison" and you won't be sorry. :smile:

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For couscous I'd propose the upscale but delicious L'Atlas, 12 bd St-Germain, in the 5th, 01.46.33.86.98 altho the Etoile Marocaine in the 8th, 56, rue de Galilee is a phenom because it's open every day of the year including all holidays.

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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I use 100$ for two as my standard too; this was easy ten years ago, but now is harder, so I pretend the dollar=euro and sleep better.

If you live in Paris, you have to adopt the local currency as standard. If you're a frequent visitor, you almost have to do the same thing unless you are willing to lower your standards as the dollar drops. I suspect most people who visit regularly, adopt to accepting the extra price in dollars, although when the euro dips, I also suspect they start calculating and spend a bit more in euros.

Owen.

Don't forget the Michelin "Bib Gourmand" listing. If you use the Michelin web site you'll find it a choice next to the star rating under Michelin Guide Extras. My search pulls up 16 in Paris. I'm not sure if that's the complete list or not. Aux Lyonnais is the one I know and it still offers a prix fixe three course menu at 28 €. Although we ate à la carte there because I wanted a specific dessert, my main course was offered on the prix fixe menu. With a bottle of better than average beaujolais, bottled water, two coffees and a small tip over the included service, we were probably around 110-120 € for that dinner. It was not haute cuisine, but it was memorable. My main course was a thick slice of calves liver, of a quality I do not remember having in the US. Anyway, it pushes your prices perhaps, but I thought it was exceptional value and remember service and tax is included in the food price, so it's 56 € for three course for two people plus beverages. Coffee in restaurants is rarely a bargain, not that coffee in France is usually great anyway. Extend your budget and use your coffee money for a nightcap in a bar or cafe. Then again if you dine at Parisian hours, cafes are closing up by the time you finish eating unless you're in a lively area.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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To help in your search here are some books that cover the "cheap eats" field:

Guide Petit Futé : 1001 meilleurs restaurants à moins de 20 € Guide Petit Futé -- Broché

Les meilleures tables de Paris à moins de 30 € L. Fourneau – Broché

Sandra Gustafson's Cheap Eats in Paris: A Traveler's Guide to the Best-Kept Secrets Sandra Gustafson -- Broché

And much as I hate to disagree with my mentor Bux, I had a great meal alone at Aux Lyonnais followed by a disappointing one for four of us.

Finally, I found a great new "cheap eats" restaurant today - L'Abadache in the 17th - which I'll write up fully next week - menu = 18 E.

John Talbott

blog John Talbott's Paris

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