Secret Paris: off the beaten track food finds

[mzimbeck]

Salut e-gulleteers!

Many birthdays, anniversaries and special nights with visitors have been enjoyed as a result of the restaurant recommendations found in the France forum. As a Paris resident, however, I'm also interested in learning about your favorite spots that are a little less extrordinary, a little more neighborhoody, and, well, cheaper. While I adore all of the "restaurants that will change your life" postings, I sometimes just want to know where to eat after work on a Tuesday night!

Along these lines, it seems to me that the only way to get good information about spots in the upper arrondissements (12th 13th, 14th, 15th...17th, 18th, 19th and 20th) is by word of mouth or by word of e-Gullet. So descriptions of restos in these areas are especially (but not exclusively) valuable.

I hope residents and visitors alike will chime in and benefit, and I promise to pony up with my own descriptions regularly. I'm eating tonight in Chinatown and will report back toute de suite.

Cheers,

Meg

Edited November 28, 2005 by mzimbeck (log)

[Brad K.]

A few places off the top of my head from when I lived in Paris (2 years ago) -

Le Sept Quinze - on a desolate stretch of Lowendal on the border of the 7th/15th. Fun, filled with locals and Unesco workers. Good food, reasonable prices.

Le Comptoir du 7eme. - on Motte Piq. at the Ecole Militare metro enterance. Very popular bar/restaurant with the under 30 set. Always packed, very inexpensive. Food is hit/miss but they serve a great duck confit with fried potatoes and have terrific coconut profiteroles for dessert - wash it all down with a chilled pitchet of Brouilly.

Also if in the neighborhood, I sometimes popped into Fish on Rue Seine - yes, a big tourist spot, but sit at the bar, have some great wine by the glass and a lot of ex-pat local characters always show up. Like their picodon salad, mussels and salmon.

[Eatmywords]

Hey Meg,

I just got back from Paris last week. I can tell you that John Talbot (host of the French threads) knows his stuff if you want to check his posts. I went to two of his suggestions and they were not expensive and awesome:

L'ardoise - in the 1st, (near the Louvre). 30Euro pre fix lunch (same for dinner I think). Pate to start was good. The pigs foot appetizer was fatty but delicious in a balsamic sc, Coquille St. Jacques with sardines was perfect, dessert was soft delicious profiterols

Le Troquet in the 15th was amazing too. Pate to start was excellent. Carrot foam soup sublime, beef borgninon so tender and vanilla panna cotta with apricot preserves sensational. I think it was 28Euro and worth double.

There are other suggestions on the thread I started back in late October titled "one star or equivalent......". Some may be a bit pricey but maybe good for lunch.

Goodluck

Eat

[mzimbeck]

Those are all good suggestions. I also love Fish, and the wine shop (La Dernière Goutte) that they own. I agree with Eat that John Talbott knows his stuff, and I've happily followed his advice on many occasions. But I would argue that the recommendations from Eat qualify more as "destination eating" places than as low-key/last minute places full of locals and regulars. Perhaps I'm wrong?

What I really want to know is where John Talbott eats on a weeknight, when it's too much bother to put on a bow tie and head down to the 7th. What little treasures is he sitting on up there in the 18th?

As for me, I had a great time this week at Likafo in the 13th. Avenue de Choisy pretty much constitutes the Paris Chinatown. It has countless restaurants that are hard to differentiate, so word of mouth is important here. We tried Likafo after several recommendations and weren't disappointed.

It's a divey little joint with laquered ducks hanging in the window and a sweaty guy spooning filling into dumplings right next to the front door. On the night we went, there was an enormous dog blocking the entrance with a tumor growing like pink bubblegum out of his head. We reserved, but upon arrival saw that many smaller parties were shuffled and tables moved in order to make space. Likafo is brisk and blaring - it's not for those who like to sit quietly and be stroked.

The food is what brings people - it is invariably full, often with a wait - and it's pretty wonderful. The salt and pepper spare ribs, in particular, were great. There was another dish (the name escapes me) that prompted me to consider whether or not pork could be an acceptable base for desserts. Small bites of pig were carmelized in a sweet sauce - I wanted to spear them and pass them out like lollipops. So good. The real (pork-free) desserts aren't much to write home about, so Likafo is best followed by chocolate at home. You can get out of there for about 15 euro, with beer, or you can (like me) order far too many dishes and waddle home happily and less 25 euro.

Likafo

39 avenue de Choisy 75013 Paris

Métro Porte de Choisy (250 m) ; ligne : 7

+33 1 45 84 20 45

Also mentioned:

La Dernière Goutte, 6 Rue de Bourbon Le Château

Fish, 69 Rue de Seine

[John Talbott]

What I really want to know is where John Talbott eats on a weeknight, when it's too much bother to put on a bow tie and head down to the 7th. What little treasures is he sitting on up there in the 18th?

←

My life is an open book, I cannot keep restaurant secrets; besides which, nobody will schlep up to the 18th.

On the cook's night off I go, certainly without the papillon, to 2 Pieces Cuisine, Le Moulin de la Galette, l'Oriental + La Mascotte (without Amelie uinfortunately), and will go back to Le Voltigeur + Le Tяuc.

[John Talbott]

Those are all good suggestions.  But I would argue that the recommendations from Eat qualify more as "destination eating" places than as low-key/last minute places full of locals and regulars. Perhaps I'm wrong?

←

They're not really destination places in the sense that you'd arrange a trip around them. Sure l'Ardoise is nearer fancy hotels than rental flats and Le Troquet a demi-cantine for UNESCO, but they are not Paul Bocuse or Fredy Giradet where one planned the voyage around.

I do indeed plan when to go to l'Ardoise rather than drop in at the last minute, because of its proximity to the Louvre and Jeu de Pommes and I call ahead at Le Troquet because sometimes they turn folks away.

[mzimbeck]

What I really want to know is where John Talbott eats on a weeknight, when it's too much bother to put on a bow tie and head down to the 7th. What little treasures is he sitting on up there in the 18th?

←

My life is an open book, I cannot keep restaurant secrets; besides which, nobody will schlep up to the 18th.

On the cook's night off I go, certainly without the papillon, to 2 Pieces Cuisine, Le Moulin de la Galette, l'Oriental + La Mascotte (without Amelie uinfortunately), and will go back to Le Voltigeur + Le Tяuc.

←

I can't tell you how glad I am to get those names, and I hope to try them out soon! Thanks, John.

[LindaK]

Thanks for this thread. I'll be in Paris soon, staying in one of the upper arrondissements--and since eG'ters are helping me spend my limited budget on Christmas shopping, I can use a few good suggestions for saving some Euros. mzimbeck, I hope you'll share your "secrets" too.

[Culinista]

I used to live near Poncelet in the 17th (left in 2004), and there were quite a few neighborhood spots whose names are unfortunately slipping from my memory. It was turning into a Kosher dining area in places--there was quite a good deli on Wagram of Ternes. I liked the quiche Lorraine at La Lorraine for a quick lunch, but the rest of the menu is quite pricey with standard fare. I am trying to remember the place around the corner from the seafood shops that offered a discount on wine if you went down into the cellars and retrieved it yourself.

At 5 rue 5 Diamants, there's Godines, serving huge Basque piperades and giblet salads family style. Very good gateau Basque, and unbeatable prices.

Lena et Mimille in the 5th is pretty good value in a hard area. I never managed to find good Chinese or Vietnamese in Paris, and I would love to hear of any place worth trying.

L'Homme Bleu at 55 bis rue J-P thimbaud is good Moroccan, but tiny and takes no reservations. For superlative, absolutely dry Bedouin couscous, (quite expensive) I love Wally Le Saharien. Wally is fantastic --he hand made everything in the restaurant--but sadly he is getting on. I don't think he recognized me the last time I was there, and I have known him for years. The couscous is still great, however. Warning: there is no accompanying stew, just roast lamb. (Not much water in Bedouin cooking) There is also no menu choice.

[fresh_a]

easyJet's recent Paris Insider guide looks pretty cool...