Actually, Parn, I was serious. I have been to Paris just once and don’t really feel I have enough dining experience to recommend solid restaurant options, especially to former CH regulars. You all have so much more dining knowledge (and sophisticated taste). But I saw a couple things and couldn’t resist posting. No ruffled feathers here! 
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True. It was made with beef cheeks, and my first time having them. They make an excellent stew.
@naf
Speaking of food events, have you ever been to Le Food Market (monthly) on the boulevard Belleville. Sometimes I love it, other times not so much. I’d be interested in your opinion. https://www.lefoodmarket.fr/
The organizers are also involved in a huge food court-type brick-&-mortar development near métro Gaîté in the 14th, scheduled to open later this year.
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Actually no, strangely. Although I know this for years. Just checked the site, saw some familiar names. I guess many are food truck people.
Remind me a bit of Ground Control, have you been there?
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Yes, I usually enjoy Ground Control but can be hit-and-miss. Lots of fun counting how many guys have top-knots and beards and overhearing conversations heavily laced with “verlan” but then revert to perfectly grammared (is that a word ?) French when just a little too much has been drunk.
Yeah, it’s a place to have fun and hanging out with friends, than for food, I would say.
Re: le Food Market, I will give it a try, I like street food!
I used to live just east of Paris (how can I have been back 9years already!)
Chez Janou was a favourite when we ventured into the city…crowded and noisy, but good service, solid food, and an extensive list of pastis.
For fish, I second Belle Maison which we never miss when visiting Paris. Also, Jake and I and our respective spouses had a superb seafood Sunday lunch last autumn at Le Bistro du Dôme on rue Delambre.
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Thank you Carole!
I’m still trying to decide between Comptoir de Mers and Belle Maison. Also looking at Marius ( heard its better than Le Dome…which I’ve eaten before and was not that impressed )
Note, Carole is referring to “Bistro du Dome,” which is the lesser cousin of the flagship (Le Dome), and which is right across the street. This little bistro has access to the same fish supply, and is a much simpler and more neighborly (and, in our experience, friendly) place. And it’s certainly less expensive. We’ve been at least six times now (and we’ve noticed the same waiters for the last 10 years), often on Sunday for lunch. If this interests you, and especially for Sunday lunch, make sure you book, because it’s really a neighborhood crowd (of a certain age). PS, we’ve also been to Le Dome, but after discovering the bistro, have never found reason or interest to go back to the flagship.
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Hello Sunshine, I am remembering your many helpful posts on the TripAdvisor France forum, and on Chowhound. Nice to see you back here.
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I’ve been here for quite a while now…good to see you!
“I’m still trying to decide between Comptoir de Mers and Belle Maison. Also looking at Marius”
Comptoir de Mers is fine as a raw bar, much less recommendable as a restaurant. And Marius is a bit of a has-been and far less good than Le Vent d’Armor which, despite its excellence, no one else on this board seems to know. (scratching head)
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Well, as someone who could easily live on seafood alone you had me curiously pondering the same question. I looked at the website for Le Vent d’Armor, read the NYTimes article which mentioned the resto and slowly started remembering…
We visited Le Vent d’Armor in October 2018. In an email to Jake, Onzième and Pilgrim, I wrote the following:
"On Monday evening we walked across the Seine to Vent d’Armor on quai de Tournelles. As much as we were looking forward to superb fruits de mer from Divellec alums (read here from Pudlo: http://www.gillespudlowski.com/190099/restaurants/paris-5-bon-vent-darmor), and as much as we enjoyed a couple of the courses, we shall probably not return. It’s just a little too slick and Divellec-like and most of our fellow diners were from New York. I really felt like I was in Manhattan. Then there was the “no soul” problem… We chose the 4-course menu (2 entrées, plat, dessert) for 70€. " I then continued to describe the meal, some courses of which were very good, especially the Marennes Oléron oysters and “sliced scallops in a winey beurre blanc sauce with truffles”. Finally, I concluded that we might return for lunch someday when there would probably be fewer of those pesky Yanks. Onzième responded with the same thought. Not sure if he ever did…
We probably would have returned during our “planned” trip in 2020…then as a couple of years elapsed we simply forgot about it. I am curious as how it’s currently doing.
As a final thought I want to add that Le Vent d’Armor is a small, refined, elegant classic restaurant (not a bistro). That is not usually what we are looking for.
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Thanks again for your suggestion!
May be we’ll give Marius a pass. Kind of out of the way too!
Based on Comptoir’s website, they offer a good looking ‘Soupe de Poisson’ which my travelling partner is looking for. Also, they offer a whole range of daily catches in fish, crustaceans and bi-valves which they will prepare and simply cook for you to retain the freshness of the ingredients. Looks like razor clams, scallops, prawns…are readily available?! Place is less formal and more rustic too.
Le Vent d’Amour looks great ( …and my meal at the 2* Divellec years ago was amazing ), but after a few planned Michelin star restaurants prior to this meal, we would prefer something less formal, pricey, with a bigger and more varied menu and pretentious.
Sooo many choices!!
BTW, Heard good things about ’ Seulement Sea ’ as well! Any comment?!
Given that my preferences as a local are often very different than those of a tourist, I like Sea Bar Paris Pêche (the cantine annex of a very good fishmongers on rue d’Aligre/ rue Crozatier in the vibrant Aligre quartier) much better for the things that you describe about Comptoir des Mers. To a large extent, the location of Sea Bar on a very buzzy market street makes it much more of a Paris experience than Comptoir des Mers. And they have a very decent soupe de poissons. Although I wouldn’t hestitant to order a platter of oysters or fruits de mer at Comptoir des Mers, I have found other items on the menu very hit-and-miss.
Seulement Sea is very good but not better than a dozen other places of the same ilk elsewhere in Paris. Its location in tourist-favourite St-Germain-des-Prés does ensure that it will have a higher profile in English-language reviews. If it appeals to you and the location is convenient, go. We’d be here for days discussing all the possible alternatives.
Speaking of St G des P, L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer (wine/ French tapas bar) on Carrefour de l’Odéon is always very much worth a visit but a caveat: there are few tables and most customers have to stand. And careful. There are three Avant Comptoir in the same area and only one does seafood.
I could be wrong but I got the impression from your posts on Chowhound that you are a bit of an old fogey (used in the British sense to describe style and not the pejorative American sense). It will be interesting to see how you respond to less rarified and more “populaire” bistros. Note: populaire in French has a different meaning than popular in English.
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As sf carole notes, my response to Vent d’Amor is similar to hers. We had a more than satisfactory lunch there in autumn 2018 sparked by the ever-reliable John Talbott’s rave review. And yet, . . . it wasn’t compelling enough to cause either of us to think of going back, in part because of the highly competitive state of the restaurant scene here in Paris. It was good enough that I’ll try to schedule another visit, but it’s unlikely I’ll get back before middle or late spring.
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To be fair, I have never had lunch at Le Vent d’Armor and, indeed. lunch and dinner can be entirely different experiences at the same restaurant.
Thanks Daniel for the Sea Bar rec.,!
Wow! Great memory! I was indeed from the UK and actually lived and worked in Paris for 2 years over 20+ years ago! Guess a lot have changed then! During the interim, been chowing a lot in the Orient ( Japan ) instead…their seafood is out-of-this-world!!
It’s amazing how different restaurants can be between the two meals. I have some that I’ll only go to at lunch, others only at dinner, some either one is fine, some neither one.
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