One Last Meal on the Road, Paris

[eternal]

My wife and I are wrapping up a 10 month trip with one last night in Paris. Can you help with a restaurant recommendation? Looking for some place modern, not grand, old world French. We welcome places where you're in a casual, communal environment. Looking to spend a max of 100 euros for dinner and would lean towards a long, tasting menu style meal if possible at that price. Don't need anything too filling as I hate being stuffed the next morning for the flight home. We've been to L'Atelier before and that was a great experience but clearly not in this price range. Is anybody doing something similar, just not as well known? We are staying just south of St Chapelle.

Maybe L'epigramme would work though would prefer to not be surrounded by Americans. That will come soon enough.

Thanks

[SDyson]

Les Papilles might fit your bill. It's a 4 course daily set menu - about 31 euro last time we were there. The food has a modern edge and it is very seasonal. It's definitely informal - but you need to be able to cope with closely spaced tables. You do meet the nicest people that way though. Website is lespapillesparis.fr

[PhilD]

"Frenchie" if you can get in (it is small), it isn't a tasting menu, but the cooking is modern, almost Italian in its ingredient driven simplicity, and interesting. My two meals were great, it has been "discovered" so the ratio of English to French speakers may be heading the wrong way, although not to many on our visit.

At a slightly higher price €45 a head you could try Le Chateaubriand (11eme) which has cutting edge food in a great space. One set menu of 5 course, plus you can add cheese. I can't see you getting a decent tasting menu at €50 a head and would be suspicious if you could (to me tasting is at least 7 courses without the "inter" courses).

[eternal]

I saw Le Chateaubriand. Will check that out along with Les Papilles. I realize now that I wasn't clear on my price ceiling. I meant to say 100 euros per person. Any more options come to mind with that doubling in price? A great lunchtime deal might work as well. We are arriving into the train station at like 11...

[eternal]

Got to Les Papilles just after 2 and they were finished for the lunch service so we asked for a recommendation. They pointed us to Comptoir du Relais, which we later found out was in all the guidebooks for being a great restaurant. And you know what? it was! Nothing crazy going on here but we had a delicious cream of artichoke and celery soup with Japanese pearls (tapioca, i think). A layered foie gras of duck and other things. The wife for a small roasted chicken (coquette) that was bathed in bread crumbs and mustard. Very crispy outside and juicy inside and came along with some crispy roasted potatoes - just to the point of charred on the cut side and flaky on the inside. I had the roasted duck breast, leg and peach. Also well cooked with a slightly crispy skin and tender inside. The only thing I didn't like was the side of mashed potatoes, which had zero flavor despite being topped with some sort of carmelized peach sauce (i think). Good stuff. Total bill with a dessert (coffee creme brulee type thing with coffee slush on top) and coffee was 89 Euros and it was a lot of food. Too much, really but all very good.