Restaurant Stephane Martin — we just visited Paris for the sixth time recently, and this is an absolutely wonderful place for a very reasonable price. The neighborhood is not touristy, and it is a 2-3 person operation. Msr Martin can be seen serving and cooking at times!
This came recommended by a guy from the neighborhood and we have been 3 times.
echoing the love for L’Assiette and Le Cinq. i don’t know if you’ve played out the majors and agreed that chalk cellars do look alike eventually, but i really loved the Dom Perignon tour.
if you have any need or love for old style artery clogging bistro food, Bistro Paul Bert’s steak au poivre and Paris-Brest are both absolutely wonderful.
Michel Abood and I hit La Carte des Vins and did some damage across some harder to find bottles of Agrapart and PYCM. Really appreciated the atmosphere, which was not pretentious at all.
Just sat down on our Paris-bound flight. Thanks for all of the useful suggestions. Welcome to any last minute additions.
Cheers
Warren
If you like Rhone check out Willi’s not sure about the food but the wine list hits the spot
We always stop by Willi’s to get our “Dauvissat fix” (because the Raveneau hasn’t been available for years) and usually find a nice northern Rhone too. The food is generally very nice and a good value too.
It’s been mentioned several times in the Paris thread in the Epicurean Exploits forum, and worth mentioning here … We really enjoyed Le Bon Georges in the 9th. They were featuring several mushroom dishes that were delicious. The wine list was large, but on the young side, and seemed reasonably priced. The service was great, too, and all the staff seemed like they were having fun. We went because they were open on Sundays, but I wouldn’t hesitate to go any night one could get a reservation (which is a must).
You just reminded me that Le Cinq had a great Ravenau list when I was there.
28 posts and nobody mentioned Les Enfants du Marche! One of the best lunches in Paris, just thought about it after the restaurant manager from CAM Import/Export posted a pic. Natty wine, for sure, but they’ve got some nice ones at least and the food is spectacular and very reasonable.
Yao,
I was just rereading this post. I should have taken your advice and skipped L’Assiette Champenoise. The food was interesting, some dishes outstanding, but we were treated as though we were commoners smuggled in amongst royalty. You might be thinking, “Oh, they were probably demanding or obnoxious”, but no, we’re easy going and a grateful, happy, relaxed couple. On top of pretentious and aloof service, Marybeth was sickened by cross-contamination with shellfish. It was memorable for all of the wrong reasons, and the most expensive negative restaurant experience of our lives.
Cheers,
Warren
So sorry to hear! I have a crustacean allergy myself so that last detail is particularly awful ![[barf.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/8943c0ebb2703c20afa757f7ca84a099bb9de70d.gif "barf")
Hope you’ve had good experiences to make up for this one
Yao,
Fortunately, over two weeks, that was the only regrettable experience. Our trip was fantastic.
I should have posted that link to my travel thread earlier.
Cheers,
Warren
Sorry you had a bad experience Warren, and more still if my take influenced the choice to go. Beyond the service and the shellfish, were there any dishes or wines that pleased you or your wife?
A La Biche au Bois (in 12th near Bastille) is a gem. Just enough off the track to still serve more locals than tourists - serving honest, classic french bistro cuisine (e.g. rabbit terrine, escargots, coq au vin, slabs of fois gras, and the best fries I’ve ever had) in a warm and lively setting. As game is a specialty of the house, I can’t imagine a better time to visit than October. Astounding reasonable pricing for the quality of the food. Chalkboard specials reflecting whatever is in season. Waiter suggests a 50 euro Bordeaux wine you’ve never heard of that somehow is the perfect accompaniment - that sort of place. While the famous bistros like Chez l’Ami Louis charge a fortune to the hordes seeking the authentic Parisian bistro experience - this place in IMHO actually delivers it.
While everyone’s experience is different we had dinner at Le Cinq this past October. The room is beautiful, the service is wonderful. We ordered a la carte and 2 of the mains out of 4 were bad. Not just meh but bad. One was charcoal roasted venison. The sauce was jet black and tasted of… charcoal. Gritty, crunchy charcoal and way over sauced. Mentioned this to the waiter and he said that is the way chef likes it. The other was a hare dish in almost an American bbq sauce. Again way over sauced and the sauce did not taste at all good. YMMV
Really enjoyed on the casual side Le Bon Georges and Le Petit Sommelier.
Had a fun dinner at Jules Verne. Food was good, wine was OK but it was fun to do but you certainly are paying for the experience.
George
No worries, John. We already had reservations before I read your note.
I don’t recall any of the dishes, but I know I loved a few. The night started incredibly poorly from a service attitude and went down from there. We were in the bar, waiting for out table. One of the staff was moving from table to table, showing a large white truffle. They skipped us, and I thought it was an innocent oversight. When I asked to see it, the manager didn’t bother hiding his annoyance. It only got worse.
On a positive note, we had reserved the Krug Experience, so the wines were incredible. I think we had three full bottles, including the newly (at the time) released 2008, the Rosé (I think 24eme), and one or two others. We couldn’t finished the wines, and shared the rest with the staff, but were still treated like shit. I still don’t get it. All I can think of is that my truffle request just set them off. It wasn’t included in the Krug experience, but I hadn’t known that when I asked to see it.
That said, it was the only negative experience in 2 weeks, which included multiple wineries, restaurants, museums and more. The sights, smells, flavors, history and people of Champagne and Paris were glorious.
Cheers,
Warren
My goodness, that is inexcusable! It’s startling to me that you had already signed up for several pricey bottles, shared them, and still received contemptuous service. Very sorry that it happened, regardless. I can say that we were 6 dumb Americans at lunch and had quite the opposite treatment, without showing the generosity you did. Sometimes when the wheels fall off at places like that it’s hard to get the train back on track. But at a 3* place, you know as well as I that the goal of service is to make the guest feel as comfortable as possible, often to a fault, so it’s just surprising to hear. Glad to know the remainder of your trip was more satisfying!
I’d agree with Mark above. Although it has been some years, our meal at the Parc at Les Crayeres remains one of the best I have ever had anywhere. The hotel is lovely but we did not stay there, so I can’t comment