Eating & Drinking Advice- Paris

[Carema]

Please excuse me if this topic has been covered before. Mr Buxbaum suggested I post this inuiry here, alors....

My 8 year old son and I are going to be in Paris at the end of January for 5 days. I would love suggestions for moderately priced lunch and dinner places with

a) great food

b) more than servicable wine lists.

I am a sommelier, my son is in 3rd grade. He has mucho patience, and I can eke by in French. Wine shop and food mart suggestions would also be greatly appreciated. We are willing to travel all across town, are not afrid of the dark and are all about the metro. I am from chicago, so paris always seems small in comparison.

Thanks in advance.

carema

[halland]

I'm going for my first time at the end of January, and my wife went to school there in '88. I've got quite a few notes that I'd be happy to pass along regarding places I've earmarked to try. PM me if you're interested.

Additionally, I'd recommend getting the Food Lovers Guide to Paris by Patricia Wells (she's the food editor for the International Herald Tribune which also has restaurant reviews). In addition to restaurant listings, this also has listings of bakeries, fromageries, cookware shops, etc. Also you might look at this link at Yahoo for English language Paris newspapers that have restaurant reviews.

I've got a copy of the Marling Menu Master to help with menu decoding.

Hal

[Bux]

PM me if you're interested.

There are times when a private message is the best way to communicate. For all I know, you have good reason to request a PM here and shouldn't take my message personally, but I'd like to take a minute to request that members make a good effort to share what they know in public. The public exchange of information and ideas is what drives and strengthens eGullet.

This is not an admonition not to use the private message system which is here for members to use as they see fit as long as they don't use it to harass another member. The PM system is yet another strength of the site.

[Bux]

My 8 year old son and I are going to be in Paris at the end of January for 5 days. I would love suggestions for moderately priced lunch and dinner places with

a) great food

b) more than servicable wine lists.

Although my wife and I visit some outrageously expensive restaurants, we don't travel on a very huge budget. I'm not sure what sort of budget you have for food or wine. France is no longer a place where one cannot get a bad meal, but one can still eat very well on a reasonable budget in Paris.

There's an interesting wine shop on the left bank called La Dernière Goutte at 6 rue Bourbon le Chateau in the sixth arrondissment (phone 01 43 29 11 62). It's owned by Juan Sanchez, a Cuban American who also runs a nice little restaurant wine bar around the corner called Fish (69 rue du Seine, 01 43 54 34 69, 01 43 54 33 47 fax). The food is quite good and a good value. My wife and I were very pleased with the meal we had there. Juan may not remember us, but if Phyllis is till there tending bar or waiting tables, she probably will and she sometimes posts here. The wine list is short but interesting and there were a few wines available in carafe which might be useful assuming your son is not drinking as well.

One place that impressed me greatly for value was the bistro in which Ducasse recently invested, Aux Lyonnaise, 32 rue St. Marc in the 2nd arrondissement. This is good somewhat traditional and somewhat simple as well as a bit rustic, (the foie gras came potted with meat from a pork shin) but exceptionally well prepared food of the kind I sometimes lose hope of getting these days. I can't remember the wine list either, but I see that they had a young Domaine Tortochot Mazy-Chambertin Grand Cru in carafe (half liter for 42 euros). 50 euros should get you an excellent three or four course meal, although you can spend more and there is a 28 euro prix fixe offering which is not bad considering I spent 42 euros and had the plat du jour from the prix fixe.

I've been a fan of la Régalade in the 14th arr., but haven't been there in a long time so it's hard to say if I might prefer it to Aux Lyonnaise or not.

There are a number of good wine bars in Paris, but I don't know how good any of them are for meals. Legrand (enter via door off the galerie Vivienne, or from the adjacent shop on rue de la Banque in the second arr. 01 42 60 07 12) is a wine bar we've enjoyed for snacks or a one plate lunch. They offer a nice selection of wines by the glass and will open any bottle in the shop for a reasonable premium. Their charcuterie, cheese and salad plates are quite good. At least one of the women behind the bar was English when we were there.

Am I on the right track?

[OAKGLEN]

The "sweet spot" in Parisian dining, in our opinion, are the "Bib Gourmand" rated restaurants. You can access these Michelin ratings on line on their web site. These restaurants combine great food with reasonable prices (for Paris, that is). I last counted 36 spots, located throughout Paris. Each offers prix-fixe menus at considerable savings as well. Many of the restaurants on this exclusive list are discuss elsewhere on this site. JP

[Louisa Chu]

Hey Carema - bienvenue - and I grew up in Chicago!

Totally agree with Bux's suggestions - especially Fish, Aux Lyonnais, and La Regalade.

Another place I strongly urge you to go - especially given your profession and that would be really good for a kid - is La Cave a L'Os a Moelle. It's the wine bar/communal tables cafe owned by L'Os a Moelle/Chef Thierry Faucher - who was also at the Crillon under Christian Constant.

Ditto again on La Derniere Goutte for a great wine shop.

And for food market, come over to Rue Cler in the 7th - Metro Ecole Militaire.

And don't miss the Champ de Mars - kid heaven especially weekdays around 16:00 and all day weekends - go-karts, pony rides, merry-go-rounds - tastefully insane. THE place to go for after-school/after-park snacks is the boulangerie on Rue St. Dominique, just on the other side of Bourdonnais - yellow awning - does your son know that in Paris it's socially acceptable to have a chocolate bar sandwich?

And you can catch the last of the Galettes des Rois - just watch out for the favour inside.

[hollywood]

As for wine bars, you've probably heard of Willi's. There's also a French "chain" called L'ecluse which has nice snacks and lotsa wine. For seafood, I recommend Taira.

[halland]

Carema,

I'll post what I'm planning here, but it should be known that these are just my plans -- I have not eaten at any of these places.

R. Peirre Demours & R. Lebone (I'll find the address) - reputed to vac-pack cheese so that its easier to get through customs. Not that I'm recommending doing this -- I don't want Ashcroft putting me on the list.

18e -- La Chope de la Marie, 88 r. Ordener - has live Parisian(?) music on Friday and Saturday nights.

18e -- Aux Negociants, 27 r. Lambert - Go for the baby lamb and the chocolate mousse (FLGP)

11e -- L'Occitanie, 96 r. Oberkampf - Reputed to have a very good 9e lunch.

11e -- Clown Bar, 114 r. Amelot -- Get the foie gras (in FLGP)

11e -- Jacques Melac, 42 r. Leon-Frot -- Good lunch (in FLGP)

4e(?) -- L'as du Fallafel, 34 r. du Rosiers -- Has excellent falafel and lamb schwarma

4e -- Calixte, 64 r. Saint-Louis en I'lle - Patissierie that is supposed to have some of the best croissant and pain au chocolat. Sells out by 11:30am. (in FLGP)

NOTE: My notes that have (in FLGP) in them are all establishments listed in the Food Lover's Guide to Paris and were also recommended by friends who spent 9 months living in Paris and eating their way through much of this book.

I have some more notes at home that I'll have to add later.

Hal

[viaChgo]

I'll throw my vote in for La Derniere Goutte as well. It's a great little wine shop and each time I've gone in there was always an English speaker who was extremely helpful. I believe they are always tasting things on the weekend. When I was there this summer, they were doing an Absinthe (the real stuff) tasting.

I'll also throw my vote in for getting the Patricia Wells book, Food Lover's Guide to Paris. It's a great resource.

I would definitely try to have Moroccan cuisine if you have the time. I don't recall the name of the place I went to this past summer but I'll look for the name tomight & post if I can find it.

[Bux]

Speaking of the rue Amelot, C'amelot is a gem. Menu choice may be very limited. In fact there may be no choice or maybe two choices for first course, main course and dessert, but you can count on well prepared food and honest wine.

La Derniere Goutte is most likely to have a bilingual and friendly person on duty.

I have the third edition of Wells' The Food Lover's Guide to Paris. It was published in 1993 and still quite useful. I think the fourth edition was published in 1999, but it's a shame it doesn't get updated even more often. The Food Lover's Guide to France was also a gem, but I don't believe that's been updated since 1987 and is really showing its age in spots.

[Schneier]

The "sweet spot" in Parisian dining, in our opinion, are the "Bib Gourmand" rated restaurants.

I agree with this 100%. Investing in a Michelin guide is the best $25 you'll spend.

La Derniere Goutte is a great wine store.

My favorite bistro is Benoit, in the 4th.

Bruce

[menton1]

With thousands of restaurants and potentially hundreds of great meals to be had, your choices can be dizzying. You should probably narrow it down a bit by price, neighborhood, and style.

For my money the best restaurant guide for decision-making is the "Pudlo Paris", where the descriptions are much longer than Michelin, and more opinionated. He also describes the ambience and types of dishes offered. He groups them by arrondissement, and also uses black and red symbols (I wonder where he got that idea?).

The book, alas, is not available in the US, but you can order it on amazon.fr, or buy it upon your arrival in Paris. Bon appétit!

[Bux]

I've heard many complaints about Pudlowski and his opinions.

[menton1]

I've heard many complaints about Pudlowski and his opinions.

Any guide expressing an opinion will generate complaints, including Michelin. The NY Times restaurant reviewer will always generate complaints. It goes with the territory.

The thing I like about the Pudlo is his descriptions; he can tell you about a chandelier, the artwork, the size of the room, a mini-bio of the chef, and lots of details about the food. This can be a terrific aid to getting a feel for a place before you go.

I have been steered to many good meals by the Pudlo. Some better than others, but nothing's perfect; I just think for getting a baseline of information about restaurants in Paris, it's very helpful.

[Carema]

Thanks everyone, I think I will have more than enough places to choose from and am planning on gaining 10 pounds in 5 days!

I did purchase the Michelin Guide and Wells' 4th edition. I appreciate all the helpful suggestions and will post a lengthy report upon my return. I am excited about go karts as well but do you think they will let me ride the ponies?

[Louisa Chu]

Hey man, you'll have to stay off the little ponies - but they do have cart - and you can do the go-karts.

[Bux]

The Jardins du Luxembourg have ponies and donkeys.

[Carema]

The last time I rode donkeys I was 14. But with my special pixie fairy dust (known in the trade as Burgundy) I will try once more. I used to ride thouroughbreds (his name was Purely Pleasure I kid you not) english saddle when I was seven. I can probably handle a French donkey or two.

[Bux]

These are kid's rides only.

Jardin du Luxembourg