Paris France Restaurants See also Restaurants in France and Food in France: Wine, Markets, Books |
Restaurant in Paris: La Taverne
By Linda Thalman March 2008
A couple Sundays ago we discovered La Taverne - a nice little Brazilian/Cape Verdi eatery
in the 5th arrondissement.
It's located near rue Monge and just a short walk to rue Mouffetard. Two wonderful Parisian
sites to visit: the Jardin des Plantes and the Arènes de Lutèce are very
close to the restaurant.
La Taverne has excellent Brazilian punches, tasty food, welcoming service and music on Friday
and Saturday nights.
The bill for our party of three, which included 3 punches, 3 main dishes, 1 bottle of wine
and 2 coffees was a very reasonable 80 euros.
La Taverne - Specialties from Brazil and Cape Verdi
For a wonderful dining experience in Paris, whether you are an international traveler or
live in or near Paris, try the restaurant Le Coup-Chou.
Located in the heart of the 5th arrondisement Le Coupe-Chou has a unique interior
in a 17th-century corner building covered with ivy.
Lovely classical music is continuously played throughout the evening.
The offering is traditional French, featuring the choice of ordering 'le menu' or 'a la carte'.
Starters include: a signature salad, a super eggplant dish, the chef's special foie gras,
burgundy snails and scallops in puff pastry.
Plats (main course) include: veal, beef steak, chicken, rack of lamb, duck and salmon.
Desserts are fresh and include: sologne apple tart, red fruit gratin with sabayon,
triple chocolate cake, crème brulée and assorted sorbets.
The wine list is well rounded, high quality and complements the menu.
Prices are moderate, therefore, giving the patrons another good reason to return.
The experienced waiters at Coupe-Chou are bi-lingual and very helpful if you need ordering advice
or clarification of the menu. A menu is available in English if you wish to see that version.
Their web site is well worth checking out for photographs of the interior spaces, for the menu
or to learn the colorful history of the restaurant.
Now that my wife and I have been there a half dozen times ourselves, we take our guests
there for a unique dining experience. If you try it, you will love it!
Bon appetit
Le Coupe-Chou
The narrow and historic streets between St Michel and Boulevard Saint Germain are full
of very touristy restaurants and, oh yes, tourists from around the world.
For a slightly less touristy feeling and resonable eateries, wander around
the streets from Place St Sulpice going towards Boulevard Saint Germain.
We fell upon this delightful restaurant as it was one-minute from where we'd parked our car.
Often we book ahead and plan to go to a specific place for lunch, but this was pure chance.
Le Kiosque has a regional French specialty - along with the local newspaper on each table - each week.
I loved my red cabbage salad and a tasty main course of veal and vegetables. Pierre
chose the Vosgiennes salad and suckling pig... which is called cochon de lait in French.
Our waiter, dear fellow, had had his motorscooter stolen the night before, and he wasn't concentrating.
Service was a bit slow, our orders were mixed up with another table, but it all got sorted in the end
and we would go back again.
With cocktails, 2 set-menus and a half bottle of wine our bill came to 83 euros
which included the 19.6% tax. A tad bit pricey for lunch, but very creative, very pleasant
and very busy. So do book unless you're really early for lunch.
Le Kiosque
Finding a nice restaurant for lunch on a Sunday isn't as easy as one might think in Paris.
Fortunately - as the restaurant was very busy - I had booked for four at Le Dôme
which is a 5-minute walk from Montparnasse in the 14th.
With an art deco theme, photos from that era and a seafood menu to knock your socks
off we enjoyed a delicious and leisurely 3-hour lunch.
It took time to sort through all the possibilities, but if you like seafood, you won't
go wrong at Le Dôme. There was just one meat dish on the day's menu, so you've been warned.
You may want to review your French for fish terms.
Bar is bass; Rouget is mullet; Lotte is monkfish; Huîtres are oysters.
Starters: 12 to 50 euros
For four people with 2 starters, 2 main dishes, 2 seafood platters,
kirs and coffee our bill came to 66 euros each.
Le Dôme
For a special treat, this elegant and very serene restaurant offers its
clients some of Thailand's most popular dishes, including lemon grass salads
(salade du poulet a la citronelle), spicy beef in curry sauce (boeuf au
curry) and a number of dishes with basil, a staple in Thai cuisine.
The surroundings are very peaceful with dim lights and quiet background music.
When you walk into this relatively new Paris establishment, you immediately feel
welcome in the very comfortable environment. The staff are very friendly and will help with any
questions you have about this exotic cuisine.
The menu includes a number of price fixed options, between 20 and 35 Euros,
including appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and even dessert. The
menus are all excellent and provide you with enough options to ensure that
you'll love your meal. The wine list is fairly complete as well. I usually
opt for a bottle of the Pinot Noir which is excellent value and a perfect
taste to accompany the delicious (and somewhat spicy) Thai food.
THAI
For an incredibly wide choice of pleasant restaurants offering a wide variety of cuisines do
stroll around the Montorgeuil Quarter of Paris.
We didn't know which to pick among French, Oriental, Thai, Cuban, Brazilian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian
and more while wandering along rue Montorgueil, Tiquetonne, Marie Stuart and a few other streets in the 2nd
arrondissement.
Settling on Vieng Siam we enjoyed flavorful and authentic Thai specialities. From Dim Sum, salads,
soups, beef, fish, chicken and pork dishes you'll have a difficult time choosing.
Two starters, two main dishes, one rice, two coffees and a 14 euro bottle of Bordeaux
came to 48 euros for our evening meal. Delicious and fairly priced for the quality and efficient service.
Restaurant Vieng Siam
For a most enjoyable Spanish restaurant do reserve at Fogon St Julien.
There are only about 35 places and it's a busy restaurant. The tables are a little bit close together,
but if you start with a fino, dither a bit about having the tapas or paella you'll soon
just enjoy the warmth of a cozy bit of Spain in Paris.
We were six and ended up ordering 2 paellas (minimum 2 people per paella) and 2 tapas menus.
Spanish wine of course.
You really can't go wrong at Fogon St Julien with
chef Alberto Herraiz.
Taste a bit of Spain while in Paris. You won't regret it.
Fogón St Julien
Not too far from la Place de la Nation is a lovely little restaurant that offers
delicious food for great prices.
We enjoyed a variety of starters, main courses and desserts in our party of five last week for 19 euros
each, with wine at 18 euros.
I started with moules (clams) in a tasty sauce, followed by gambas (shrimp) and finished with
crème brulée. Yummy.
The was a nice selection of fish, meat and poultry dishes, all beautifully presented.
Provençal table clothes with matching salt and pepper shakers in a cheery setting made for a
delightful dinner.
The service was especially friendly, well-timed and professional.
Lunch menus were about 12 euros - I wasn't taking notes at this meal as we were too busy catching up on
news with our friends from London.
Do have lunch or dinner at le Provençal and I'm sure you'll be pleased too.
Le Provençal
On a sunny and warm day I took the RER into Paris
for a most pleasant lunch on the sidewalk terrace of A La Grille Montorgueil.
The specials of the day were listed on the blackboard and there were
so many - fish, meat and fowl at very reasonable prices of 11 to 15
euros.
In the end I opted for a salad with salmon and herring at 10 euros
and my partner, Pierre, enjoyed a freshly grilled 'bar' - sea bass.
The rue Montorgueil was lively as could be on this beautiful spring
day and we enjoyed house wine at 8 euros for 50 centiliters.
Wander up and down and around the Montorgueil quartier of Paris and
I'm sure you'll love the atmosphere of a most delightful part of Paris.
A La Grille Montorgueil
We wanted to have a special lunch with a special friend
- Renée - so what better than a restaurant we'd really enjoyed
in December 2002?
The cozy dining experience at La Tableronde was perfect.
Lunch prices are very reasonable - a starter, main course and dessert
for 19 euros is hard to beat for the quality of the food, service and
ambiance.
My tartare de thon au couteau, gratin dauphinois et mesclun de
salade was yummy.
Desserts are all at 7 euros à la carte.
Wouldn't you be tempted by aumonière croustillante à
la compte de vieux garçon glace callisson or crème
brulée au noix compote de figue et jus d'endive sucrée
- not to mention my favorite: olive oil, lemon thyme and black olive
ice cream?
DELICIOUS.
Wines range from 16 to 75 euros and we enjoyed a Chassagne Montrachet
la Canière, Patrick Miolane 2000.
Chef Eric Geneste had time to chat with me when we'd finished our
meal. He described the new dishes he was planning for the following
week with passion and joy.
Do book a lunch or dinner at the Tableronde on your next trip to Paris.
Simply delightful.
La Tableronde
I had to laugh at a the description of dinner in a
Paris restaurant in Metropole Paris. It reminded me of a rather
tasteless late supper in a not to be named Japanese hole-in-the wall place
in Paris I'd had recently.
Yes, sometimes, one does not dine all that fabulously in the land
of wonderful cuisine.
Ric Erickson writes: "[My meal] was very good, even if I thought
it was the strangest veal with ham and melted Cantal that I had ever
seen. I dug right in and didn't look up until I was finished. I couldn't
believe I ate the whole thing.
Ric's story did, fortunately, lead me to the most mouthwatering descriptions
of food and wine by Randy Harber.
Randy has a collection of restauants and travel tales from a recent
visit to France and Paris that will have you packing your bags now just
to try out all the places he has written about.
"Les 3 Cedres, R.N. 113 - 33190 Gironde-sur-Dropt, Tel. 05.56.71.10.70
-- Jean Jacques Dugardin, the chef at Les 3 Cedres, does not yet have
a Michelin star, but I don't think, judging by his food, that he has
long to wait.
Among our starters was a Moelleux D'eschates une Poignee de Girolles
Saute Quelque Herbs du Jardin, which translates to be shallots with
a handful of chanterelle mushrooms sauted with herbs from the garden.
Moelleux, which means soft, lush and velvety, is just about the right
set of adjectives to describe this dish. The shallots have lost all
their sharpness, blending smoothly with the earthy flavors of the mushrooms,
laced with hints of parsely and thyme.
But the starter I chose was even more spectacular. The menu promised
vegetables -- cooked in a pot-au-feu -- layered with foie gras. What
that meant when the plate came was a slice from a terrine made with
a layer of
Next came a fillet of dorade, known to us as red snapper. It was sauted,
then served atop a cake of polenta and napped with a butter sauce made,
the chef told us later, with sauternes, chardonnay, and cream. Mixed
in were grapes that had been sauted in a beefy broth and chunks of toasted
almonds.
Then came the main courses. Among them was braised lamb shoulder served
with sauted veal sweetbreads over creamy, buttery mashed potatoes. Another
include confit of duck, taken off the bone, packed into a ring mold,
covered with a thin layer of mashed potatoes and topped with a nest
of toasted leeks.
I had loin of rabbit, the tender meat covered with a mixture of four
spices and baked. The loin was placed atop a cake of saffron laced potatoes.
The dish was garnished with halves of plumb tomatoes that had been slow
roasted with thyme and olive oil until they just melted on your tongue.
With these wonderful dishes we drank a red Graves, Chateau Lehoul
Plenitude 2000..."
See what I mean? And this is just one of the restaurants - do read
the wonderful dining adventures in Randy's web column The Fire and the
Hearth.
We had a most enjoyable lunch with friends at L'Atelier de Joël
Robuchon which only opened in May.
You will want to put this on your list of Paris restaurants and
I suggest you book either for 11:30 or 18:30. Reservations are only
taken for the first sitting and then it is first come, first serve
for the rest of the afternoon or evening.
There are only 37 places so do book and go early - you'll be eating
for at least two hours - simply because there are so many tempting
dishes and wines.
The black and red motif is stunning, the seating is on bar stools
and the delicacies are served on the raised counter by a most professional,
smiling, helpful staff.
Les petites assiettes dégustation were all elegantly
presented and so much so that you don't want to ruin the 'picture'
by eating.
We chose three dishes each to start with and drank a very pleasant
Spanish white rueda basa cépages verdejo - Sauvignon
2001 wine with the meal.
Le gaspacho de tomates fraîches aux petit croûtons
for 6 euros was perfect.
Le fondant de légumes acidulé à l'avocat
for 7 euros was delicate and so flavorful.
My third choice was le jambon 'iberico de bellota' escorté
de pain toasté à la tomate for 13 euros and it was
succulent.
If you are used to gigantic proportions, this restaurant is, however,
probably not for you.
But if you wish to savor creative French cuisine, be sure to book
L'Atelier on your next stay in Paris.
The prices ranged from 6 to 24 euros, with le suprême de
pigeon au chou et au foie gras being the priciest dish on the
'small plate tasting' menu.
The Carte des Plats starts at 10 euros and goes up to 200
euros for 100 grams of caviar Osciètre!
The desserts are all 9 euros and each as tantalizing as the next.
There is an eclectic selection of white and red wines by the glass
from France, Spain, South Africa and Italy ranging in price from 3
to 58 euros.
There are also whites and reds by the bottle and vin exceptionnels
with a Petrus 1982 going for a cool 3,727 euros.
A final tip if your French is a bit rusty, the toilettes are marked
F for femme (women) and H for homme (men).
L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon
On a cold winter evening we picked out a delightful
restaurant provençal in the 6th for some southern warmth.
The brochette côte sud with beef, onions, corn, potatoes
and garlic presented on a most original skewer was savory and tender.
My partner started with a paillasson de legumes confits followed
by a magret de canard au miel, à l'anis et aux épices
which were both very tasty.
We chose a simple St. Julien les Vignes red wine and were very pleased
with it.
The Crème brulée à la fleur d'oranger et aux amandes was
very tempting but we skipped dessert that night as it was quite late.
But we'll go back as the food, service and ambience made for a lovely
meal at 60.90 euros for two.
Extract from their pretty web site - in French and English: "Seule
région de France à ne pas cuisiner au beurre, la Provence utilise
l'huile d'olive dans presque toutes ses recettes. Vous gouterez ici
une cuisine légère au bienfait diététique. Pour peu sans sortir de
Paris, on entendrait les grillons en sentant la lavande!"
Le Bistrot d'Opio
At La Table Ronde we had the 3 most unusually flavored
ice cream one could imagine: olive oil, lemon thyme and black olive...
simply exquisite!
It was Nouveau Beaujolais evening and we were lucky to get a table
without reserving at this cozy and busy restaurant.
The menu - written on an ardoise (blackboard) offered a variety
of dishes with fish and meat to choose from. I also enjoyed some lovely
snails. My partner praised the unfiltered wine we had, though I was
less enthusiastic.
But if the daily desserts include ice cream when you eat there,
order it immediately! Heavenly.
La Table Ronde
12 rue Guisarde
"Une cuisine française aromatisée aux saveurs et parfums du
monde. La Boussole garde le cap sur la route des épices."
An excellent dinner was had by all as we relaxed and agonized over
all the creative choices on the menu at La Boussole (The Compass)
in the 6th arrondissement.
I had a lovely seasonal pumpkin cream soup followed by thin slices
of chicken with poppy seeds, oh so nice.
Spices of all sorts, are the specialty of this restaurant. This means
flavor, not hot.
The 'joint' was jumping and every table was full from 20:30 onwards.
We'd just come from a film and got a table without a reservation,
but I'd urge you to book ahead as La Boussole as well as many of the
other restaurants in the quartier had people lining up out
the door to get in.
We had very friendly service, though even for France slightly slow,
so don't be in a hurry - relax and enjoy the evening!
We had a very enjoyable dinner at Baan
Boran, a Thai restaurant located just a short walk from the Louvre,
rue de Rivoli and right beside the gardens of the Palais Royal.
Absolutely every dish sounded so delectable that it took us 20 minutes
to decide what to choose. We had a Mai Tai cocktail while studying
the menu.
I settled on a a seafood salad, followed by a sweet and sour pork
dish. My partner had a warm chicken starter with fresh spices and
then fish in coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves.
We ordered an Australia wine, Joseph's Creek, which we'd also enjoyed
recently in London.
Do book your table or you may be turned away at peak hours, though
tables did free up after 22:30.
Baan Boran
Just seconds from the Place Saint Michel in a house dating back about
five centuries, is the cozy and This is what I call quaint and a just so Parisian place to eat.
At lunch there is a set menu for just 10 euros and in the evenings
a 15 euro set menu. Choosing à la carte will be more.
I overhead one of the waiters taking an order in English from a couple
near our table, though I didn't see a menu written in English anywhere.
From bars to bistros, and all kinds of restaurants, you can often
find staff that are very capable of dealing with other languages than
French - they just don't flaunt it.
I had lovely snails - a poêlon d'escargots and a delicious
paillarde de veau. My partner, Pierre, had a set menu; we shared
a bottle of Bordeaux wine and both had coffee. Including the 19.6%
value added tax, our bill was 58 euros.
La Tourelle
Almost any excuse is a good one for dining
out in Paris. Le Procope is le plus ancien café du monde
started in 1686 by an Italian gentleman, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli!
My best friend's birthday was the perfect occasion for a special
dinner. We started with snails, moules en feuilleté and canalloni
de salmon mariné et chevre frais.
My Coquilles Saint-Jacques with endives was succulent and the chartreuse
de canard with foie gras and maigret de canard with morilles mushrooms
got rave reviews - though the risoto was justly slightly undercooked.
We all choose crème brulée for dessert.
Accompanying the meal we had a Château le Chêne Rond
Premières Côtes de Blaye 1999 and a glass each of Beaume
de Venise and there was a half bottle of Gewurtztraminer in there
somewhere too!
Le Procope bills itself as "le rendez-vous des arts et des lettres"
and with good reason. Voltaire came here and Rousseau, Beaumarchais,
Blazac, Verlaine and Hugo; in the 18th century Diderot, d'Alembert
and Benjamin Franklin. Later Robespierre, Danton and Marat met here
and Napoléon Bonaparte, too.
The decor is beautiful and full of paintings and engravings upstairs
and down. It's a good idea to make a reservation, but Le Procope can
serve 260 people so you might just be able to drop by.
There's a lunch menu served from 11 to 19:30 for 22 euros and the
Menu Privilège at 27.90 euros. There's a carafe of house wine
at 7.50 euros, or for a real treat (and what a price!) a Château
Margaux 1991 1er cru classé at 655 euros.
The delicious meal we had came to 199.10 euros for three people and
I look forward to another birthday 'excuse' to return.
Le Procope
Many readers ask about the Eiffel Tower restaurant. This City
Paris Magazine reviewed the Jules Verne and their tip of eating
at lunch is a good one. The view (if the weather is clear) may well
be better than the cuisine. And it will be full of tourists like yourselves.
You're basically paying for the 'real estate' and the view... but
what a view!
"The Jules Verne Restaurant is on the second platform of the
Eiffel Tower. A private elevator (you must have a reservation to gain
access) takes you 123 meters up, where a welcoming committee will
greet you. Although dinner is quite expensive, lunch is a very good
value. There is a lunch menu from Monday to Friday consisting of three
courses for 290 francs and a selection of wines priced under 200 francs."
Editor's note: This article is quoted with the kind permission
of Laura Wheeler for inclusion in Paris In Sites.
April was the occasion to sample L’Astrance, a Parisian restaurant
whose praises had been vaunted in an article appearing in the International
Herald Tribune. L’Astrance is situated across the river from the Eiffel
tower in a tiny street called rue Beethoven. The experience was enchanting!
We were especially delighted by the entrées and the desserts. To
give you an idea, one of the entrées consisted of delicately seasoned
chopped crab sandwiched between ultra-thin slices of avocado. Another
was a café-au-lait-colored soup based on finely ground bread crumbs
pain poulain and a number of mysterious and wonderful ingredients.
It sounds a bit odd, I know, but the end-result was exquisite.
Dessert was an unctuous orange soufflé harboring a creamy dark-chocolate
centre. And to clean the palate, we were served a light eggnog in
chilled quail egg shells along with a surprising ginger-laced coconut
milk sherbert and an assortment of buttery cookies!
The price is reasonable (275F for the evening meal, and 189F for
lunches). Although they request that you make reservations, I believe
that it is possible to show up for a meal without reserving, because
of the fact that reservations are made 2 months earlier, and people
forget that they made them. At any rate, there were one or two tables
available on the day we went.
L’Astrance
My neighbor, Laurence, recommended La Régalade in the 14th.
The Gault Millau guide 2000 rated it 15 (out of 20) and Le Guide Rouge
France 2001 by Michelin gives it a one fork ranking. I'd certainly
recommend it after the delightful meal we had. Every table was booked
including the second service at 22:00, so it was slightly noisy at
times. We studied 192 FF fixed-price ménu while munching on
homemade paté and bread. It wasn't easy to choose from the many tempting
dishes.
The fresh green asperagus was perfect, followed by tasty coquille
Saint-Jacques (scallops), a salad of greens (some I'd never eaten
before) and a warm soufflé made for an excellent meal. Including wine
and coffee, the bill was 260 francs per person.
La Régalade
Where to have your Christmas and New Year's eve
dinners in Paris is as difficult a question for those who live here
as it is for tourists.
The well-known restaurants will be fully booked, so reservations
should be made early.
The larger restaurants host special dinners at premium prices with
paper hats and silliness included on New Year's eve. You'll find them
advertised in the Paris press a few weeks in advance. The smaller,
more intimate restaurants may send the staff home and shut their doors
tight.
Christmas eve and Christmas day are quiet in Paris. People are at
home or with their families eating, drinking and celebrating. My typical
'problem' is to find a restaurant on the evening of the 24th that
isn't a Christmas dinner because on the 25th we'll be eating from
one in the afternoon until nine at night!
On New Year's it's either at home or at friends (staying over night)
to avoid any drinking and driving problems. As a tourist in Paris,
plan on taking a taxi or walking back to your hotel if you're at a
restaurant other than in your hotel – or stay up until 5 a.m.
when the metro starts running!
Metropole Paris has great descriptions of past meals and seasonal
events. See these pages, for example:
Very special friends, John and Margaret, invited
us for dinner at Le Train Bleu in the Gare de Lyon and I'd like to thank
them again.
Now you might not imagine that a train station buffet would
be worth the mention. But it is. Le Train Bleu is classified as a
monument historique and even if they served hotdogs and frites,
it would be worth the visit. Let me reassure you that the meal we
had was excellent and the presentation - especially the desserts - was exquisite.
While the service lacked just a little bit of attention, I'll be
forgiving and say that we were not in any hurry and the waiter may
well have judged correctly that "French timing" was appropriate
for our table. We arrived at 20:00 and were among the last to leave
just before 23:00.
The English-language brochure describes this incredibly beautiful
restaurant thus: "The Station Buffet with its large ornate rooms,
its many sculptures and gigantic paintings was inaugurated on April
7, 1901 by Emile Loubet, the President of the Republic. The decor
of the rooms is almost overwhelming, but the overall effect is a harmonious
tribute to the distinctive style of the Belle Epoque period."
For a very special lunch or dinner in Paris, you just might want
to dine at Le Train Bleu. Do take the time to marvel at the decor
as well as savor the French cuisine and wine. There may well be many
tourists like yourselves, but it is not a tourist trap in any sense
of the word. At least that was my delightful impression.
See also a story by Ric Erickson on Le Train Bleu here: |
There are several separate dining rooms, most with live fires aglow in
the fireplaces. The atmosphere is vintage Louis XIII and especially cozy in the winter.
I couldn't believe that Nigel had only eaten a third of his. As he pulled
and hacked at what looked like a yellow glob glued to a slab of grey
rubber, it occurred to me that my veal might have been his stewed beef."
tiny leaks, cooked soft in the meaty broth of the pot-au-feu, then a
thick layer of foie gras, then another layer of leaks followed by more
foie gras and then finished with a final layer of leeks.
busy restaurant, La Tourelle.
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