Chez Andre. Another one I heard about from Patricia Wells, maybe more recently.
Unfortunately they ran out of the Paris-Brest before we got to dessert.
In a bit of a rut with the Côte du Py.
excellent simple white asparagus
great though not very photogenic lentil salad
excellent confit
Excellent AAAAA andouillette, fries weren’t great but went well with the funky sausage.
La Taverne de Zhao, Ménilmontant
Not quite as tiny a hole in the wall as the Canal St. Martin branch we went to a few times on our last trip.
Liang pi XO, great cold noodles on a warm day.
Mo No. 1, didn’t realize this was the flaky kind of bun, good but not my thing. Lots of meat for the price.
The branch in the 2nd by the Palais-Royale is open all day.
Went back to Brasserie Flo because the kugelhopf glacé was back on the menu, and was shocked to find the place radically redecorated.
Historic Parisian institution destroyed by horrendous “renovation”.
We sat outside so didn’t really miss it. On the plus side, the choucroute garnie was much improved. This was overall the best we’ve had on the trip. Balanced, all four meats juicy, reasonable portion, choucroute itself clearly fresh so not very sour but nicely seasoned / sauced / whatever they do to it. This was a portion for two.
House Riesling was good and a good value at €21.50 / 500 ml.
The kugelhopf glacé turned out to be a mistake on the menu, they don’t have it and won’t have it, but the Coupe Floderer with sour cherry sorbet and sour cherries soaked in kirsch was a fine consolation prize. Worth a detour if you love sour cherries.
I’ve had Brasserie Lazare flagged in Google Maps for years, don’t remember where I heard about it. Went today because we were at the Grand-Palais and it’s nearby. The place is actually in the Gare Saint-Lazare.
squid with chorizo and bird peppers, really good
perfectly cooked shrimp
nice bavette with the best bearnaise I’ve ever had
perfectly medium-rare
decent fries, best of the trip so far but not at the same level as the other cooking
“La meilleure saucisse purée de Paris,” sausage was pretty damn good and the potatoes were great.
Trou Norman, green apple sorbet with Calvados, ate the pretty slice of apple on top before I remembered to take a picture. Very nice.
affogato with caramelized hazelnuts, fantastic
A bit expensive but a delightful meal. Weather was nice so we sat outside. Good people-watching with the constant parade to and from the station / shopping center.
Did they leave the shallots in the bernaise? Looks pretty chunky (and delicious)
I think so. Didn’t notice as there was so much tarragon and I was eating it with the crunchy fries.
Usual Thursday lunch Chez Paul.
The foie gras didn’t relate to the green bean and snow pea salad, so it was like getting two entrees. Both very good. I like snow peas so much more than the cloying sugar snap peas that have pretty much supplanted them in the US.
Warm goat cheese and salad were both really good. The bacon was overkill.
Veal was a little dry, mushroom sauce and Charlotte potatoes were very good and went great with the inexpensive Cabernet Franc.
Had the tarte tatin again. Hard to resist, it’s like a fruit course.
We’ve been going to the Ambassade d’Auvergne for 40 years. Sad I don’t have the appetite I did back then, it’s paradise for big eaters. Hasn’t changed much except that they switched to service compris (I think France made it illegal not to).
100% Fer Servadou. Tasty.
Warm lentil “salad” doesn’t have much vinegar so not particularly salad-like. Very good. I think I might have the recipe at home.
Crispy pig’s trotter with cabbage. Great but so rich. Only ate about half to save my appetite.
So many places here have branded knives.
Waiter serving the aligot. Could have been hotter. Still great.
Sausage. Nice and simple.
Lamb shank. Really good. Great sauce.
Very nice cheese course: Laguiole, Fourme d’Ambert, St. Nectaire.
Didn’t get a great photo of the chocolate mousse with Grand Marnier, best I’ve had anywhere. The waiters serve it out of a big bowl. They used to put the bowl on the table and let you pig out. I’ve got the recipe at home in Patricia Wells’s Food Lover’s Guide to Paris or Food Lover’s Guide to France.
Apricots and cherries in Armagnac, great combination, they both make each other better.
Went on a day trip to Meaux and bought some Brie Noir, which I’m not sure is available elsewhere. Aged ten months in controlled conditions, it ended up as sharp as old cheddar, but with a smooth, sticky texture. Very good, strong cheese with a long finish.
Went to this place a lot the month we spend in the neighborhood in 1989/1990.
Some free cold cuts to start. Really good butter.
I guess the leeks were comped, don’t see them on the menu.
One portion of cassoulet to share would have been plenty. There was a pot sitting on the sideboard, we ate maybe half.
Beans were spectacular.
Back to Chez Paul with a visiting friend.
Muenster tart, nice lighter starter.
Leeks vinaigrette, good version.
Rabbit rillettes.
Beef tartare, highly seasoned, really tasty. I couldn’t eat more than half. A little French lady at the next table polished hers off, after splitting a rillettes with her husband.
Came with an excellent salad.
Back to Mollard.
“Vegan” salad: I wanted something more than just lettuce and that was it.
salmon
assortment of oysters
vegetable side that came with the lobster?
assortment of vegetables we really didn’t need to order
squid poêlée
swordfish
homard (spiny lobster)
Back to Ambassade d’Auvergne.
Sorry we’ll be gone for the musical evening.
Nice Auvergne Gamay. We wanted to try a 2005 Fer Servadou, but they were out.
White asparagus with morels and morel sauce, excellent.
Artichoke tart, pretty sure there was eggplant in there too. Very good.
Duck confit, good though I wish they’d crisped up the skin. Fries could have been better but I really wanted them with the duck. Finished all the duck for once
sole
an even better Auvergne Gamay
Mousse in the big bowl they serve it from.
Not the most photogenic but so delicious.
Went back to Chez Michel for the great creme caramel.
Good Chenin.
Nice fish soup. Not sure it really needed the chorizo.
Fricassee of morels with macaroni, very nice but why add bacon, which overpowered the delicate flavor?
Shrimp risotto, good but why add cheese and a red wine-meat sauce?
Nice brandade but why put a salad on top?
The creme caramel was as fantastic as before. I think this chef is best when he cooks classic dishes but goes awry when he gets creative.
I think that’s not spiny lobster but rather homard bleu, like your menu says. Homard bleu is often mistaken for spiny lobster, but they are different species and the latter don’t have those kind claws. Nonetheless, homard bleu can be great.
My bad for trusting Google Translate.
Actually genuine thanks for using Google Translate. Stark contrast with other posts here where I feel like I need to go learn Japanese to be able to comprehend what they are saying (I just give up and scroll past)
Yeah, some of the sushi experts on this board are incomprehensible if you’re not one too.
Homard bleu (Homarus gammarus) is the closest relative to American lobster (Homarus americanus). Langouste (Palinurus elephas) is the spiny or rock lobster common on French menus,
Dante’s chef is a protégée of Alain Pasard.
Neglected to photograph the amuse of slices of perfect brioche served with salt and a carafe of olive oil.
Started with a Damien Courbet l’Origine Savagnin ouilé, one of six Savagnins and three ouilés on the unusually Jura-centric list.
Tarama was very nice. The breadsticks had tiny sesame seeds embedded in one side. There was also crusty bread, warm, best of the trip. Went great with the wine.
Fish quenelle was lovely, unique texture, insanely great sauce of reduced fumet, poultry juice, vanilla, “caviar” (tobiko), and lemon. This really showed off the chef’s talent for combining flavors.
Sole meunière. Best dish of the trip so far. Every element was perfect: fish, potatoes, spinach, sauce. I was sort of sad not to try more dishes but wouldn’t have missed this.
We were running low on wine so got a bottle of Jean-Yves Devevey Champs Perdrix Hautes Cotes de Beaune. Took home a lot of it, it was very good but the Savagnin went best with the sole.
Vanilla and fig leaf dessert: there was a crunchy layer of bitter caramel on a cookie? hidden under the creams. Complex, subtle, startling.
Strawberries and cream: hard to beat that combination.
Great place, friendly service, reasonable prices, great playlist (Miles Davis, Coltrane, Julie London … just like being at home). Made me feel like we’ve been too focused on hardcore old-school cuisine (though the sole was also the best hardcore old-school dish so far).
