After spending a week in Paris and trying out a number of places suggested by guidebooks and by friends, we concluded the friends picks won out. Here is what we did. There will be more on Normandy tomorrow. The first three came from a friend and I have listed them before but now have tried each myself. The next one came form a guidebook and the last was just found.
L’ Epi Dupin 11 Rue Dupin 6th Ardst. – tel. 01 42 22 64 56 – It is a new French style. As the Economist guide says, “With its charming interior (note the Provençal-style stone walls and ceiling beams), inventive, affordable and oft-changing menu—this tiny restaurant…is deservedly a local favourite.” It provided the best single dish of the trip, a very tender duck breast with mushrooms and small potatoes in a creamy sauce.
La Bastide Odeon 7 Rue Corneille 6 th Ardst. – tel. 01 43 26 03 65 – It does French Mediterranean cooking and provided a change of pace for our last meal. We had an eggplant starter, followed by a wonderful roasted farm chicken in a light brown sauce. Desert was a chocolate cake with hot chocolate sauce trapped inside.
Boeuf Sur Le Toit 34 Rue du Colisee 8th Ardst. – tel. 01 43 59 83 80 – It is Brassiere style and the art deco setting provided a great context for our party of ten. It provided the best environment of all the places were tried and the food was decent.
Vieux Bistrot, 4th Ardst is listed in the Time Out Guide to Paris. I used Time Out a lot when I lived in London and they provide objective reviews. The guide said it was traditional bistro food done well and not to be discouraged by the tourist location next to the Notre Dame. I would agree on all counts but the prices were considerably higher than other places we tried. I had frogs legs and then duck with a green peppercorn sauce. I guess a few others read the guide as mostly Americans and Germans filled the place, unlike the other places we ate.
Pre Aux Clercs, Rue Jacob, 6th Ardst, was near our hotel. We found it for lunch when we were getting over our overnight flight and hungry. It gave us comfort food when we needed, a fine beef roasted in red wine sauce, a duck confit with fries.
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