|
I realized we don't have a current Paris thread, but it seems too significant of a city to just be lumped into the "other cities" thread. I'm just here in town for a few days to get a visa to Liberia, and will be leaving town this weekend, so I have to cram in some cool meals. I'm not looking for absolute fancy $300 dinners, partially because I'm traveling solo for work and don't have anything nicer to wear than slacks and dress shirt with tie. I'm mostly looking for: a) really niche regional or international cuisines that are hard to find, like Corsican food, or Malagasy (Madagascar) food b) unusual, experimental, and craft food and drinks c) at least some traditional French food at moderate price. So far I've had: - dinner at Comptoir de la Gastronomie, had their foe gras tortellini in truffle cream sauce which people have raved about online, and it was pretty awesome - lunch at Bistro Paul Bert since they're supposed to have the best steak tartare in the city - drinks at Experimental Cocktail Club - beers at Le Super Coin; they have some really cool bottle beers, but part of me is aghast that one of the most-blogged beer places in Paris literally only has 3 taps. On my to-do list is Lemurien de Madagascar (awesome name), and Prescription Cocktail Club. I really wanted to find somewhere with good cider from Normandy, but all I'm seeing is a few crepes joints, and the one full-time ciderhouse closed down here. Anyone got some must-visits? TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Jul 21, 2015 |
#
?
Jul 21, 2015 19:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:24 |
|
|
I've lived in Paris for over two years now but am leaving on vacation tomorrow so won't be able to stick around and give much advice. If you're looking for corsican food though the Hall 1900 near the Centre Pompidou is pretty good. For quality generic French food I recommend Le Chardenoux in the 11th arrondissement. It's 60€ a plate but you can't go wrong. Whether that is moderate or not depends on your point of view.
|
|
#
?
Jul 21, 2015 21:32
|
|
|
I'm not sure if this place fits the bill, however was one of my most memorable meals I've ever had. Wife and I were on vacation and found this hole in the wall via Tripdadvisor. http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d715006-Reviews-Chez_Toinette-Paris_Ile_de_France.html Amazing food, small location, and really decent prices. Best to get a reservation in advance if you can.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2015 00:46
|
|
|
Where are you staying? There's places that are worth a trip (e.g. Le Chateaubriand, Septime, any of the classic old places) and places that are good around you. If you're at all in the east of town, head to the 11th. You're into beer, so go to La Fine Mousse on Av. Jean Aicard, off République. 20-something taps of craft, both local and from elsewhere. Better than Super Coin, definitely. If it's crepes and cider you want, try West Country Girl there, on St. Ambrose. It's Breton, not Norman, but good stuff. There's also pretty good stuff in the tourist center, too. Dunno if you've heard of Frenchie, but worth a trip, even for sandwich lunch and wine. There's also a large japanese neighborhood there with a couple of really quite good ramen-ya. And Telescope, which is some of the best coffee in town.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2015 01:24
|
|
|
I'm staying at the huge hostel up by Gare du Nord, but am finding it pretty easy to get all over town. Going to West Country Girl tonight for crepes and cider! Then maybe La Fine Mousse if I have some drinking capacity left. Thanks for the other suggestions too, adding them to my possibles list. Any other niche foreign cuisines that pop up here? I've had the usual favorites of former French colonies elsewhere (Moroccan and other North African, Vietnamese, etc). I'm not having any luck finding restaurants of France's former Pacific/Oceania colonies. Madagascar is the most unusual one I've found a place or two for, and though I think I've had Cambodian once in the US, I'll try it again here. Also found a place that has cuisine of French Guyana, though glancing at their menu it looks to be pretty close to the usual Indo-Caribbean stuff you find in Trinidad. Any other nationalities worth checking out? Other than Senegal and Niger since I've had those cuisines before, and also imagine that while though not identical to Liberian food there's probably a lot of crossover. Might poke around to see if Chadean or Malian food is around and interesting. Any other niche regions of France with cool restaurants? I've already had some good Alsatian food in the past (in New Orleans, of all places), but if there are some cool regional specialties that are hard to find outside of France, or usually require visiting their home regions but can be found in Paris, I'm up for it with my remaining days.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2015 18:18
|
|
|
Hmm... the one place I used to go not far from my school (near Le Panthéon) was Chez Gladines, which had really good Basque stuff. Maubert-Mutalité stop. Thing is there's not really much other reason to be down there unless you have a reason to hang out in Quartier Latin. (except to start or end a walk through Ste Germain). It's sort of in the student area, not the touristy/nice/expensive bit of the rive gauche. The salon de thé at the grand mosque is near there and is also really beautiful, and kind of a see and be seen place, but in no way particularly "French." You can obviously get Vietnamese food elsewhere, but there is something to be said about getting the really good stuff while you're there. Since you're staying near Nord, you can walk northeast into Belleville into a vietnamese and chinese neighborhood. Just get a bahn mi and go sit in parc de belleville. If you really want to seek out African food there is the goutte d'or, in the 18th. I went to a few concerts up their for Syrian relief and the like, and always had a good time, but couldn't tell you any specific places to go. Also, while nowhere in Paris is unsafe, it probably is the least-safe area within the periphérique. But truly african, both north and sub-saharan communities.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2015 18:54
|
|
|
Ate at West Country Girl tonight and had a great Bretagne meal. A fat black buckwheat crepe with cured ham, emmenthal cheese, and soft-cooked egg. Had three glasses of different kinds of cider, a digestif of lambig (cider brandy) and a dessert of crepe with salted caramel and cream. Was going to call it a night but turns out La Fine Mousse was only 7 minutes' walk away, so got a glass of a hoppy Pale Ale made by two French brothers who studied brewing in the US, and a glass of Norman cider. Great eating tonight.
TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Jul 23, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2015 23:58
|
|
|
Glad you enjoyed! You're making me miss Paris, too. If you walked the logical way from West Country Girl to La Fine Mousse you walked right past my old front door on République.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 03:35
|
|
|
Appreciate this thread, we'll be staying in the 9th arrondissement for 10 nights in late August. Would love any recommendations.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 03:56
|
|
|
I looked into Chadean, Malian, and Malagasy joints, and I'm finding just one of those each, and they appear to be more lounges than restaurants, so only a few dishes at each. I think I'll give those a pass and check out Le Cambodge for some Cambodian chow. No luck in finding any really niche colonial cuisines like New Caledonia (down by Australia) or St Pierre et Miquelon (island off the coast of Canada's Newfoundland). When I was at West Country Girl the barman was from Normandy, and he said that while a ton of pan-French places include Norman dishes on their menu, he's not aware of any purely Norman restaurant in Paris, but to let him know if I find one. Basque is cool stuff, but I've had Basque in some of the US's main ethnic enclaves, Bakersfield and Boise, so already checked that box. I've seen a number of African joints, but mostly Maghrebi (which isn't hard to find in the US) or Senegalese, which is the single most common kind of West African food in the US (relatively speaking), I think because Americans find Senegalese cuisine less off-putting than Nigerian or Ghanaian food, which can be an acquired taste. Also have had Haitian in DC, though Haitian is interesting enough that I might try it again here. DC had a really cool Haitian joint, but it closed down in 2010 or so after having *several* strong-arm robberies during working hours; it was in a pretty sketch neighborhood. EDIT: just remembered another drink that sounds awesome: pommeau. It's a type of mistelle, a fortified cider produced by adding calvados or lambig to hard cider. I need to find a bottle-shop here that carries it; any ideas how to find it? TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Jul 23, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 12:18
|
|
|
bathhouse: which end of the 9th are you gonna be in? The area around Opéra/Haussmann is way different from Clichy/SoPi. Some places are gonna be worth the trek and some are more good if you're nearby. As it is, you really need to try Chartier. Not saying it's the absolute best bistro food in Paris, but it's THE classic old French bistro, and cheap. Surly waiters, super traditional menu, the works. Quite an experience. TapTheForwardAssist: not gonna be able to help with any of the really specific cuisines, gone outside of my knowledge base now. For the pommeau, I have a couple of hunches. You could try Le Grand Épicerie de Paris, which is a really fancy grocery store and market attached to Le Bon Marché, a high end department store. Can't promise they have pommeau, but they tend to try to carry tons of good French stuff, some common, some obscure. There's also Breizh Café, a creperie in the haut marais that has an épicerie attached. They really just carry bretagne stuff, but including wines and ciders and the like, so there's a chance they have it to. I'd call ahead rather than check either out blind, though. Hell, I just checked the website of Nicolas, a chain of wine stores, and a quick search lists one bottle they stock, but they don't specify which stores have what specifically.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 13:45
|
|
|
JohnCompany posted:bathhouse: which end of the 9th are you gonna be in? The area around Opéra/Haussmann is way different from Clichy/SoPi. Some places are gonna be worth the trek and some are more good if you're nearby. As it is, you really need to try Chartier. Not saying it's the absolute best bistro food in Paris, but it's THE classic old French bistro, and cheap. Surly waiters, super traditional menu, the works. Quite an experience. Chartier looks amazing. Thanks! We are staying around the corner from Folies Bergère (is that worth checking out btw?). Chartier is a 5min walk from our apartment door. I'll research the other suggestions in this thread as well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 18:34
|
|
|
Im pretty sure we dont have one cause no one cares about all the scrub tier cities that are not inside of the US 
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2015 19:10
|
|
|
Bergere, Moulin Rouge, those sorts of things I've heard are very good fun, but are also quite expensive. Since I was a po' student, I never went. Spent my time drinking on the quais, to be honest, since I lived in the rive droit and most of my friends in the rive gauche. You'll be near L'Office and Richer, speaking of more places I never got to. The guy who runs them is a big name, getting good press. Check Paris by Mouth to get a feel for the places in English, or Le Fooding in French. Rue de Martyrs is totally walkable from where you'll be and that has a number of good bakeries, little gourmet shops, chocolate shops, etc (and a pretty good aussie-style coffee bar called kb that I have actually been to). If you walk up it, you'll get to bvd de clichy, and place de clichy has a few little bars I used to go to unwind after work and try to speak French with my colleagues - Bar Cyrano is quite pretty, and not at all special or touristy, which is it's own kind of nice. You can also walk in the other direction to Canal St. Martin, an area I know a little better, which is full of younger people and the types of restaurants they, and I, go for. There's surprise surprise an excellent Mexican hole in the wall (literally, it's a counter selling tacos) called El Nopal at the north end where I used to go when I was homesick. There's Du Pain et Des Idées, one of the best bakeries in town. On the south end, near Ave. République, are Les P'tit Indecises and Jeanne A, two bistros that I really quite liked (if they have the crème brulée trio at P'tits Indecises, get it just for the pistachio one and thank me later). Jeanne A is run by the people who run Astier, which is a super classic restaurant, and is a little more casual, foodhall with tables in it place. Any further east and you're in the areas I sent poor ForwardAssist and I'd refer you there. EDIT: I just reread and realized you're there in August. Traditionally, French vacations are in August, and what a lot of service places in a neighborhood will do is stagger their two weeks closed around that time (e.g. one bakery will take off the first two weeks, a second the middle, and a third the last). So any particular place might just not be open for the week your there around that time of year. Jean-Paul Shartre fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Jul 24, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2015 03:17
|
|
|
Went to Le Grand Épicerie de Paris, lots of cool stuff there. Got a cured sausage sandwhich, cheese souffle, Piedmont potato salad, and a variety of olives I've never tried before (and that's saying something) from their huge olive bar. They also carried just one brand of pommeau and I got that: not bad but not amazing, "does what it says on the tin", it's hard cider with cider brandy spiked into it. At 18% it's not something you'd want to have a pint of, more something for a cute little apertif glass (though several of them). I am a big fan of the Continental-style ciders (Spanish, French, Quebecois) rather than the British-style ciders; Continental are a lot drier and more wine-like. Basque ciders are really awesome, and at least in DC a local chain of bottle-shops has been carrying several Basque makes, really funky stuff with that kind of Belgian-beer-esque wild fermented taste. Apparently they've gotten way stricter about picnicking in parks with alcohol since some college kids started taking it way too far and causing hassle, so I opted to be discrete and got some paper cups for mine. The huge industrial hostel I'm in (St Christoper's) doesn't allow bottles in the rooms so had to leave mine at reception. This morning got up and got a Coca Cola, drank part of it, then dropped by reception and asked to have my bottle back for just 10 seconds, and poured a measure into my can of Coke. Got rather a look from the girl working the front desk. Really tasty mix. Went to Dirty Dick in Pigalle which is supposed to be an awesome tiki-bar, but it's closed for upgrades.  I think today's goal is Cambodian. That and buy DDT and malaria medication to take to Africa. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Jul 24, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2015 09:30
|
|
|
Nooner posted:Im pretty sure we dont have one cause no one cares about all the scrub tier cities that are not inside of the US Except the most active city-specific thread is usually London? 
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2015 13:09
|
|
|
JohnCompany posted:EDIT: I just reread and realized you're there in August. Traditionally, French vacations are in August, and what a lot of service places in a neighborhood will do is stagger their two weeks closed around that time (e.g. one bakery will take off the first two weeks, a second the middle, and a third the last). So any particular place might just not be open for the week your there around that time of year. These places look excellent, we're so excited for this trip! I am kinda bummed we didn't think about the August timing before booking, but with so many great choices we're still going to get so fat. 
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2015 21:45
|
|
|
JohnCompany posted:Hmm... the one place I used to go not far from my school (near Le Panthéon) was Chez Gladines, which had really good Basque stuff. Maubert-Mutalité stop. Thing is there's not really much other reason to be down there unless you have a reason to hang out in Quartier Latin. Well, there's always Violon Dingue. Hands down my favorite bar in Paris. Well, ten years ago, when I still lived there.
|
|
#
?
Jul 24, 2015 23:04
|
|
|
I always liked La Pomme D'Eve. Was underground near there, on Laplace. Run by a not-sure-if-racist-or-not Afrikaaner, but a really nice guy to me. 5e for full pints of affligem (or krone), the football on, and unlike Bombardier or Hurling Pub, the crowd wasn't American (or worse, English). Le Pantalon was also fun. Then there was the time we stumbled through the 14th to find this one Canadian pub for a Canuck friend's birthday. Other than that I drank on the river or in Oberkampf.
|
|
#
?
Jul 25, 2015 22:18
|
|
|
I like Rosemary at the beginning of Canal/Marais. It's I think 35 bucks for the formule and they have some of the best desserts ever. Take the boring one (I think tea icecream something), it owns the most. Apparently there's also beer, but in Paris that means British beer so ugh
|
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2015 14:46
|
|
|
We're in Paris right now and tried to go to West Country Girl, but they're on vacation until September 5. Still, lots of good eating to be found.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 11:34
|
|
|
If you're still looking for crêpes in particular, Breizh Café, the place I told ForwardAssist about looking for pommeau, does really solid ones too. As well as being in the lovely part of the Marais. Where are you staying?
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2015 18:11
|
|
|
Getting settled into Liberia, fixing to be here a year or so. Paris and Brussels are our main hub to get to the outside world so I expect to be hitting this thread up whenever I have a trip upcoming. Le Fine Mousse is sure to become one of my drinking mainstays. The craft beer scene in Liberia is... exceedingly limited. If I'm here long enough I may see if I can get some kind of tiny business set up to make proper craft beer as I imagine the small but well-off expat and cosmopolitan crowd here would buy up a few thousand bottles easily. That and/or mass produce mead since honey is cheap and widely available here. I'm really missing the raw oyster happy-hours that are popular in DC; any advice on a good raw bar in Paris where I can get some good raw seafood and a glass of bubbly in a convivial environment? I'll use Brussels for at least one of my trips out of Africa, and looking forward to some good horsemeat, moules frites, and beers. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Sep 13, 2015 |
|
#
?
Sep 13, 2015 19:03
|
|
|
Hey Guys, Got about four days in Paris in early april with my wife on our honeymoon and looking for a few places to have dinner. Going to be out and about during the days so all good there for lunch but just wanted to get some opinions. Two things we were looking for- 1. Some kind of Japanese/French Fusion place. Big fans of Japanese food and there are a couple of great places in our city but of course you always hear about how amazing Paris is for this. The problem is looking online I kind of just see either basic ramen or sushi places (not bad but we can get that here) or like 150 euro with wine pricing to match. I totally get there is a huge market for that but trying to avoid spending that much. Or am I missing something with the wine there, sometimes you see like a 90-150 euro 'tasting' menu but then with wines you kind of see the wine prices being like 60 per course... am I reading this wrong? Generally a restaurant with a tasting menu in Australia might be say, $180AUD (or whatever) for the menu with an additional say, $120 for ALL matching wines not per course. Anyway any good suggestions in a more middle priced range would be lovely. 2. Similar price range but for like any romantic or nice restaurant that is more just french style. Or anything that is particularly romantic. I guess our price range on these dinners would be hoping to spend no more than 200 euro total for meals + wine (not huge drinkers so even just a glass or two each) IF that is reasonable for a good meal. I know you can go heaps cheaper. I also know you can go heaps more, I'm just looking for a happy medium. Any good suggestions throw at me. We are staying super central thanks to a good deal I got through a contact near Place de la Concorde so can walk it around anywhere.
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 06:54
|
|
|
teacup posted:2. Similar price range but for like any romantic or nice restaurant that is more just french style. Or anything that is particularly romantic. Joke(ish?) recommendation: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2011/04/lami-louis-201104
|
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2016 07:28
|
|
|
I just noticed this thread, and while I'm no Parisian expert I've been there twice, last spending 3 weeks there in 2014. I'm a poor filthy American, so anyplace I recommend would be inexpensive. JohnCompany posted:I always liked La Pomme D'Eve. Was underground near there, on Laplace. Run by a not-sure-if-racist-or-not Afrikaaner, but a really nice guy to me. 5e for full pints of affligem (or krone), the football on, and unlike Bombardier or Hurling Pub, the crowd wasn't American (or worse, English). Le Pantalon was also fun. The bar we spent pretty much every night at is called The Pure Malt, it's on Rue Caron right by the St Paul metro station. Owned by a Scotsman named Shep, he does bartending on the weekdays and his relief guy is Matthieu. Both great guys. You get a mostly English-speaking crowd. It's a tiny little hole in the wall, but everyone there was really friendly and fun. We stayed in the Marais right on the Place St. Catherine, and it's a tiny little square ringed by restaurants. We tried them all and by far the best was la Marche. It had a cameo appearance in the Bourne Identity. Get the goat cheese stuffed chicken breast, it's only like 12 euro. Drunk and hungry? Go get fuckin' Pizza Momo. You will not be disappointed. It's right on the Rue Rivoli just east of the metro stop.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 19:21
|
|
|
There's 2 canadian joints around that area. The Moose and the Great Canadian. The latter is right by the river. Both in the 6th.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2016 21:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 08:24 |
|
|
Admirable Gusto posted:Joke(ish?) recommendation: http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2011/04/lami-louis-201104 I'm not sure this was helpful but thank you
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2016 12:45
|
|