Best Paris Brasserie MERGED TOPIC

sookeharborkid · February 19, 2003

I' d like to go in some of Paris most amazing Brasserie's can I get some names please thanxs

chopper · February 19, 2003

No trip to Paris is complete without an evening at "La Coupole"; art-déco surroudings with bustling clients and waiters.

They have an impressive "grand plateau de fruits de mer", that would make other places blush...

Other nice spot is " L'os à moëlle" on rue Vasco de Gama, in the 15ième; super busy bistro with a nice wine bar across the street.

Don't miss la brasserie "Garnier", near la gare St-Lazare, in the 8ième, great oyster bar...

sookeharborkid · February 19, 2003

well thanxs there Chopper i will take note of these establishments.... and make sure to pay them a visit.

mogsob · February 19, 2003

Can't say I second La Coupole -- pretty grim food there. You are much better off next door at Le Dome, which is a great seafood restaurant in addition to being one of the prettiest brasseries in town.

Balzar in the 5th is another great traditional brasserie.

Bux · February 20, 2003

Maybe my wife and I spent too much time in la Coupole in the sixties, but when I've passed by it in recent years, I've felt it seemed so different that I couldn't bring myself to pay a return visit. I second le Dome where I'd sit on the terasse and have some oysters or a plateau de fruits de mer although I don't know if le Dome stictly qualifies as a brasserie. I had a great andouillette at Balzar within the past year, but my wife was not particularly pleased with her breaded pig's foot. Of course you can also get lamb chops and roast chicken. Both the menu and the decor are really classic, but they don't serve oysters, which for me, is a brasserie classic. They also draw a lot of Americans, which may or may not make a difference. They are now part of the Flo Group which owns and operates most of the great old brasseries. Most people will agree that the individual brasseries have lost something since the group took them over. It can also be argued that had they not become part of this group they may have even suffered a worse fate. Brasserie Flo, the first brasserie to be bought out, is a real classic with an interior that will take you to Alsace. In fact it seems more Germanic that French, but it should be visited at some time for it's historic status and decor. Bear in mind that brasserie means bewery and that most of the really old brasseries were owned and operated by breweries. Beer or Alsatian wine was the drink and choucroute garni the dish to eat.

Another Flo brasserie that's sort of a personal favorite is Vaudeville. It's got a great marble art deco interior. As with most brasseries, seafood platters, andouille, steak frites, etc. is probably a better choice than more complicated dishes. As far as oysters, sausages and other provisions, all of the Flo Group have the same sources. I've never been to Julian but I suppose it should be on everyone's short list.

fresh_a · February 24, 2003

Balzar's great. love their steak au poivre et grosses frites!

Lesley C · February 24, 2003

Brasserie Lipp is pretty hard to beat.

http://www.brasserie-lipp.fr/

For lunch, try the beet, mache, walnut and chevre salad.

dlc · February 24, 2003

Posted by fresh_a

Balzar's great. love their steak au poivre et grosses frites!

Right on!!! One of my favorites and usually my first meal every time in Paris. I am also a huge fan of Benoit but Balzar has a more brasserie feel.

AdamLawrence · February 25, 2003

Had a very pleasant and excellent value lunch at Bofinger over Christmas. 30 euros buys you oysters or foie gras, two choices of main course (civet de cerf was excellent), pudding and half a bottle of house wine. Can't argue at that price, although the table next to us had a huge choucroute, and I was jealous.

Adam

mogsob · February 25, 2003

Brasserie Lipp is pretty hard to beat.
For lunch, try the beet, mache, walnut and chevre salad.

Outside of decor and history, Brasserie Lipp is pretty darn easy to beat. The place is packed to the gills with midwestern American refugees, the waiters set new standards for rudeness, and, despite your recommendation, do not allow you to simply eat a salad for lunch -- it says so right on the menu.

Contrary to public opinion, the best restaurants in France set the standard for hospitality. Lipp fails on all accounts. Avoid.

Bux · February 25, 2003

I've never been in Brasserie Lipp. Although I'd admired it from the outside, I've picked up the impression that it's an overpriced relic and haven for snobs and tourists and thus not the good value cheap bastards search for even when dining at Gagnaire or Ducasse. Widely divergent opinions here lead to me to google for other opinions.

Daniel Rogov in his page In the Foodsteps of Hemmingway at Strat's Place says:

It is said that if, as you are walking past the Brasserie Lipp some one jumps up from his table and calls you by name that your social future is forever guaranteed. One of Paris' most famous establishments, presidents, kings, bankers and professors come here for a light meal and one or more cold beers. So do pimps, pickpockets, whores and policemen.
In 1920, when Marcelin Cazes bought the little Brasserie, his menu consisted of sausages, sauerkraut and several kinds of cheese. In 1926 he added Baltic herring, boiled beef and veal stew. All of these things are still on the menu and definitely worth trying. Also be sure to try the choucroute garni and potatoes in oil. Keep in mind that Lipp probably has the coldest beer and the best chips in the world.

Jack, a Belgian with unique love for Paris and good food at a good price has this to say on the Paris-6th arr-Saint Germain des Prés-Walking-Brasserie Lipp-Church of St.Germain page of Jack's Inimitable Travel Guide. [For the record, I was the one to add "inimitable" to the title many years ago when I hosted the embryonic site at worldtable.coms.]

The way Ernest Hemingway strolled all the time to Brasserie Lipp and couldn't imagine Saint-Germain without it, Parisians today also have the same strange trend to be attracted to this nice and famous brasserie of 1880. Certainly not for the food (very average according to serious critics, very mediocre according to my humble opinion), but to get a table that would symbolize their social status.
The head waiter was so kind to explain: who can sit in the first dining room along the wall, left or right (preferably on the right, next to the radiator), is someone who IS SOMEBODY in Paris. Politicians or journalists who are sent upstairs must be very careful for their future?..

Searching for "Lipp," I even got a referral to John Whiting's page Whiting's Writings - Le Brasserie Balzar.

Le Balzar, he [Adam Gopnick] proclaimed, was the greatest restaurant in the world. When the Flo group took it over (earlier in its history it had been part of the Lipp empire), Gopnik made high drama out of the local habitué's organized efforts to keep everything exactly as it was. The outcome was a qualified success for tradition, which Jeffrey Steingarten dismisses with the sniffy comment, "I have read that habitués of the Balzar in Paris are relieved that . . . nothing has changed. I am surprised that this would make anyone glad."
...
This is a smoothly run establishment which still, three decades later, precisely meets Root's criteria - yet another ordinary Paris eating place which, if transported to London or New York, would be The Talk of the Town.

There's more information to be found at each of these links.

Lesley C · February 25, 2003

Wow, I liked Lipp but I understand where all this is coming from.

I did have a salad there for lunch with a Perrier. The waiter was rude, but in that miserable kind of Parisian way I don't find offensive. A man who looked just like Thierry Ardisson was sitting next to us writing away like crazy in a notebook and getting loads of attention. My salad was great. It's a lunch salad, a salade compose, not a salade verte.

I was back there last summer. Our waiter was nice and the food was great. The back room was full of tourists and the front room was full of locals. I had a nice time. Not great, but nice. I just think it's a very cool place.

Bux · February 25, 2003

The waiter was rude, but in that miserable kind of Parisian way I don't find offensive.

I think you're right. I think a lot of Americans mistake the formality of French social conventions as rudeness. Certainly they take our casual attitude and informality as rudeness and it doesn't help that many Americans seem to believe their style should govern, even on French soil. Cafe and brasserie waiters also have a reputation to defend. Locals expect a certain attitude from them. There's no reason to take offense when they play their role.

mogsob · February 26, 2003

I'm in Paris for several weeks each year and love French service and Parisians in general. But Lipp is a different thing altogether. First, you are ignored at the door. Then, at the table. Then, the food arives cold. I've eaten at dozens of brasseries and cafes in Paris and have never been so rudely dismissed as at Lipp (and it was only 1/4 full at that). I also object to the notice on the menu stating, in English, that a salad is not a meal. This is a brasserie, and you should be able to eat what you want.

Bux · February 26, 2003

Lipp ... This is a brasserie, and you should be able to eat what you want.

I am one of those guys who believe you should not go into a restaurant without the intention of ordering at least three courses (two, on rare occasions). Every place that serves food in France is not a restaurant. A brasserie is a brasserie, not a restaurant.

I remember entering Brasserie Flo (I wrote that without the "Brasserie" and it looked like an invitation for a wise retort--I said crack not retort and saw how this was going) at a late afternoon hour. I was asked if we wanted lunch. I said we wanted some oysters. The reply was "of course, have a seat." We ordered wine and eventually some cheese and more wine and I had a dessert, but there was no problem when we said we just wanted a few oysters.

VivreManger · March 4, 2003

John Brunton, some months ago listed ten of his choice brasseries, The Observer,

Sunday October 20, 2002. In no particular order, as I recall them they included, in addition to the usual Flo and other suspects which have already been mentioned:

Les Grandes Marches, 6, place Bastille. I believe that Bux has recommended this too. A modern retake of the classic brasserie.

L'Européen. Two entrances: 2 rue de Lyon, 21, bis, boulevard Diderot. 12th. Tel: 01 43 43 99 70. Metro: Gare de Lyon, 75012 (Tel: 43 43 99 70)

Opposite the Gare de Lyon, Tacky decor, pleasant outdoor terrace.

Au Pied de Cochon, 6 rue Coquilliere, 75001 (Tel: 40 13 77 00)

Brasserie ma Bourgogne, 19 Place des Vosges, 75004 (Tel: 42 78 44 64)

The distinction here is that the cuisine is from Burgundy, Auvergne and the Beaujolais cuisine, rather than Alsace.

I join those who down-grade La Coupole. Been there over the years. Each visit was worst than the previous one. As for Lipp, I won't go unless somebody famous takes me, other wise I don't think its worth the effort. :rolleyes:

Bux · March 4, 2003

As for Lipp, I won't go unless somebody famous takes me,

I've had the feeling that if you're not someone, you're no one there. Anyway I've felt the same way about St. Tropez, although that was years ago. My feeling then was that I'm not going back unless I'm in possession of a large yacht or large pair of breasts. Either of those is what I thought it took to get attention.

Les Grandes Marches is a large open and airy restaurant of exceptional contemporary design featuring fairly simple but very contemporary food--a lot a good simply cooked seafood as I recall, but that may simply have reflected the taste of our table that day. It was put together by the Flo Group to show they could do something creative. It seemed more restaurant than brasserie, but so do many brasseries. I suppose it still qualifies as a brasserie. I enjoyed a Sunday lunch there and would like to hear if anyone's been there recently.

GC++ · March 6, 2003

Small place but great one.

La Regalade - 14 Ar. 49 Av Jean-Moulin

Had one of the best (simple - not haut-cuisine like) pigeon. or their cold pot-au-feu (which is kind of imposible).

Bux · March 6, 2003

Small place but great one.
La Regalade - 14 Ar. 49 Av Jean-Moulin
Had one of the best (simple - not haut-cuisine like) pigeon. or their cold pot-au-feu (which is kind of imposible).

La Regalade has quite a few fans among the membership and is frequently recommended here, but it is not a brasserie by any definition.

balex · March 6, 2003

Can't say I second La Coupole -- pretty grim food there. You are much better off next door at Le Dome, which is a great seafood restaurant in addition to being one of the prettiest brasseries in town.

I second that. I had lunch there a couple of days ago, and I thought it was excellent. I felt slightly stronger on the simpler things. I had some sea urchins, that were maybe the best I have ever had.

fresh_a · March 6, 2003

Forget "Ma Bourgogne" in the place des Vosges... don't ask why, but forget it.. perhaps the worst experience I ever had in a restaurant (except for the food-poisoning one)

VivreManger · March 7, 2003

Thanks for the warning about Ma Bourgogne.

John Talbott · January 11, 2005

The Brasserie Lorraine aka La Lorraine, 2-4 place des Ternes, 01.56.21.22.00 is back full force. A good while ago, the Freres Blanc took it over (and a good thing too; it was in serious decline) but our first couple of meals were a bit shaky, however, more recently they’ve totally renovated the kitchen, furniture, decor, etc. and it’s back to the status quo ante; e.g. good oysters, bulots, scallops and fish soup that is tasty and a volonte; bill 153 Euros for four.

Bux · January 11, 2005

It's certainly a handsome looking enough place to get by on good quality oysters and bulots. It's interesting, that it seems to offer up a simple enough not earth shaking menu -- one aimed at local and traditional tastes -- yet it's easy to spot the dishes and terms one wouldn't have found in its earlier heyday. Plancha from Spain, seaweed tempura and épinards au wok show the discrete signs of contemporary influence. It's a very comforting sounding menu if the food is well cooked and one that positively reeks of being in Paris. There's not a dish I wouldn't enjoy having right down to the (mostly) old fashioned desserts.

One question. Are "pouces-pieds" goose barnacles, or what are known as percebes in Spain? They've gotten outrageously expensive in Spain and can't be any cheaper in Paris.

John Talbott · January 11, 2005

One question. Are "pouces-pieds" goose barnacles, or what are known as percebes in Spain? They've gotten outrageously expensive in Spain and can't be any cheaper in Paris.
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You ask the darndest questions - here's a pix and this dictionery sez they're barnacles.

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