I was thinking of visiting somewhere in the north this year. Would you recommend Calais and the surroundings?
Not really. It’s a town that’s grown up around the port so not much to recommend it. A much nicer place to stay would be Le Touquet further down the coast. The whole coastal area does have some really good seafood restaurants.
As I say, my visits to the whole area have always been related to the war, so I’m not really aware of other “stuff to do” in northern France.
Maybe this whole French Asian fusion, French food is into equilibrium, while some Asian cuisines are not in this, especially spicy food . So tuning down to adapt to the typical French liking might not work with people who already know Asian cooking well.
I remembered at Boutique Yam t’cha (Franco Chinese fusion), I overheard 2 girls talking about Chinese food, and how they liked the food of Adeline Grattard because it was different from the typical boring Chinese taste. I doubt they really liked Chinese food in this sense. Husband was furious at that meal, saying it was not Chinese food at all.
What do you think of his recommendations? I believe all of us must have use his blog.
I think his recommendations are pretty good. As I mentioned, we liked Ze Kitchen Gallerie bis, but we didn’t love it. Talbott loves it. On the other hand, we discovered L’Arcane through his recommendation. I read the France bit on Chowhound, and he is pretty prominent there.
I’m sure there are other places that we went to because of John Talbott’s recommendations, but none come to mind at the moment.
I don’t actually have a list of places we have to go to. And we have friends in Paris, so where we go has to be coordinated with them. But I’d love to return to L’Arcane and Montée. Perhaps return to Alliance. My wife loves sandwiches, so we’re interested in CheZaline and Bagnard, which you recommended. Condesa looks very attractive. And I like the Franco-Japanese style, so I’m looking at Automne, Le Petit Keller, Kei, Les Enfants Rouges, Abri, Kokoro, Toyo, L’Auberge du 15, Le Kigawa. And since I love dim sum, Tricotin, which we’ve never made it to. Since we stay in the 5th, Baieta. It is NOT my intention to eat in all these places. But they are the ones I’m thinking of at the moment.
Any thoughts?
Forget Tricotin, I had one or two meals there, not too memorable. As tourist with precisious time, shouldn’t waste one opportunity to eat there. I have heard good things about Taokan and Chez Vong. Personally I haven’t been, so I can’t confirm.
Now you mentioned sandwich, husband loves it, maybe I will see if he wants to eat in the few good places. Strange, I thought copious sandwich was a male thing.
Strange about Tricotin. It’s one of the places that Chowhound’s Ptitpois is especially fond of. Up to now the best Chinese dumplings we’ve had in Paris were at Raviolis Chinois in the 13th. Raviolis Chinois Nord Est in the 10th was much less good. Of course, I’m looking forward to Great Shanghai Cafe in Manhattan.
I know, she usually has very good recommendations, except Tricotin. They seem to do one of two dishes she liked, duck tongue or something like that.
Chez Vong was recommended by my Hong Kong friends (they invited their parents there), a bit pricely.
Someone recommended Chinatown Olympiades in a thread in Chowhound. We went last year, and I thought it was terrible.
If you dislike Olympiades, Tricotin is kind of the same range. If you live here and has desperate craving for Chinese food, it’s another story. LOL
I must say, Chinese food improves a lot in the last 2 years in Paris.
Thanks. I’ll take your advice.
21G Dumpling is better than the 2 places in the 13th you have mentioned, for example.
I am in search of good dim sum too.
Well, I didn’t say Raviolis Chinois was really good. I said it was the best I had had in Paris. And the one in the 13th was much better than the one in the 10th.
But I’m looking forward to 21G.
I think I will try Raviolis in the 13th…
Do you read Chinese? If yes, this site might be useful for you.
I’ll be interested to know what you think. And if you ever get to Berlin, definitely try Wok Show, a great place that @linguafood sent us to.
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No, sadly.
FYI chef Yoshinori Morié has quitted Auberge du 15 and started his restaurant Yoshinori in Saint Germain 6e end 2017.
