And our reaction, at dinner, was similar. My notes from 2018: “Le Vent d’Armor, https://www.le-vent-darmor.com/. The quality is high; the feeling is just a bit cold and subdued at dinner.” But thanks for reminding us of this place, and we may ty it for lunch, which, as has been observed, can be a quite different experience.
For some reason this reminds me of yet another fish/ seafood specialist were we were not exactly overwhelmed with at dinner – but to which we might return to for lunch: La Cagouille, https://www.la-cagouille.com, in the 14eme ( Métro: Gaite). I see it’s still conveniently open daily.
On our only visit years ago, we had the impression that it’s all about the food — and an incredible carte des vins et cognacs. The general setting was rather late 1980s, and the (then?) nautical main room left us cold, which is a bit ironic because it also was way too brightly lit at night. But I’ve been thinking it would be nicer to dine on the terrace in good weather. Yet when I just now looked at reviews on TA, those in French (which we tend to credit more than those in English) are rather mixed.
Finally, maybe I’m just missing it, but a new thread focusing on just fish/ seafood would be useful?
I went maybe 5-7 years ago to La Cagouille for lunch, mainly on account of the wine list. The food was disappointing and I posted on it on Chowhound, to which Dr. Talbott correctly replied that the razor clams, served as an appetizer, were the only good dish. Even if your interest is just the trophy wines, they’re generally the same price or not that much below what you can find them at in some other places in Paris.
THANK YOU ALL for your kind and valuable feedback!
The itinerary for my up-coming Paris food-crawl is almost complete! Man! This research project is tougher than my University thesis on Aerodynamics! Ha!
One last question if I may?!
My travelling companion is a lover of ’ Foie Gras '…especially ‘seared’! As such, for one of our bistro outing, he is planning to arm himself with ’ Cholesterol reducing Crestor ’ and feast on a ’ Foie Gras Centric ’ meal.
Is ’ Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie ’ over-hyped and touristy due to its convenient Las Halles location? Is the food good and more than acceptable as per numerous reviews I came across?..OR…Shall we head further north to more out-of-the-way Pigalle and eat at ’ Le Petit Canard '?! Looks like the duck dishes are more rustically prepared here, though the seared Foie is only available for dinner!
Guess, on top, we’ll be ordering some typical bistro food like Escargots and Onion Soup as well?! Are the two places comparable or one version ( Onion Soup ) more flavorful and complex than the other?
Seared foie gras is a very common menu item and you can find it in hundreds of places. Le Comptoir de la Gastronomie is indeed very touristy but that shouldn’t matter because, after all, you will be a tourist as well. FWIW, the last time I had it was at Bistro des Oies on rue Marie-et-Louise, one of my favourite restaurant streets in the Canal St Martin quartier.
A little surprised to hear that the trendy Sud-Pigalle is out-of-the-way. It’s one of the best restaurant quartiers in Paris. I haven’t been to very kitschy Le Petit Canard in years. It’s also very touristy but you are looking for clichés so why not give it a try ?
BTW, to ensure that it is seared, you can ask for it “aller-retour” or “snacké”.
Like I said in a previous post, escargots are escargots are escargots. There is no holy grail. Just avoid the giant ones. Most escargots are made from kits… shells, frozen meat, mass produced garlic butter. The only place that I’m sure make them “fait maison”/ from scratch is Chez Monsieur near La Madeleine in the 8th… but that doesn’t mean they taste any different from the ones made from kits.
Like most Parisians, I only eat onion soup as a hangover preventative at 3am, on a particularly bleak and cold winter afternoon, or when I have cold. Never as part of a meal because it also ruins the taste buds. Since it’s largely a tourist dish, quality varies enormously and is often watered down as the day goes on. I only know of consistently good onion soup at La Rotonde Montparnasse.
Thank you, Daniel, for your prompt and detailed response. Greatly appreciated!
Actually, based on my having resided and worked in Paris for over 2 years about 20 years ago, I hope once I set foot in Paris and settle in, my memory will propel me back and I won’t feel too ’ touristy '?!
BTW, most of the questions I put forward were actually on behalf of my foodie brother-in-law who possesses quite a discriminating palate. Though he is quite a globe trotter ( mostly in the east and North America ), this trip is the first time he set foot in Paris. ( though he had been to Southern France and of all places ’ La Rochelle?? )
Just wanted to make sure my planning and suggestions won’t disappoint him and if possible, impressed and wow him a bit!
Cheers!
I am an outlier on onion soup in Paris. We somehow have never encountered a dubious or watered down bowl. It is winter lunch of choice, usually at a busy “bar”. L’Horizon is often our choice. Ample bowls of steaming, deeply flavorful broth full of sliced onions and of course a melty mound of gruyere on a hefty crouton. Restorative elixir on a cold day. I am sure there are poor examples, but we haven’t found them.
That’s the one I meant. But while it may not specialize in fish, it does fish quite nicely. I had a spectacular cod there 3 years ago the last time I was in Paris. I think I have had 4-5 meals there and mostly had fish. So for me its Fish. LOL.
Been to the last one on Thursday, theme was Italian. Without doing much homework before going, I felt a bit overwhelming in the beginning with many people and many queuing lines, and not easy to understand what stands sold what, as some were not very clear in communicating what they were selling, but some displayed the cooked final dishes. We arrrived around 8pm. After examining each stand, we finally decided to line up separately to gain time. Some stalls was already sold out with some items.
Food was better than anticipated. Mixed feeling with the large crowd and the extremely loud music. (impossible to talk), but if seated on the opposite side of the DJ, it was fine. Around 9pm, much less people. I think I will be back depending on the theme. Their website is not much help as I discovered most of the information is posted on their FB. Next time I will read the menu of each stand and choose what I want before going.
According to you, which is the best time with lesser crowd to have a chance to try more things?
My experience at Bistrot Paul Bert was similar to Trish’s. While the steak frites was very good, we had a bad experience in terms of how we were treated, the rest of the food was just average, and I would never return. Which was a shame given how much we were looking forward to visiting the place that year
I’ve been to easily over a hundred Paris restaurants over the years, and the service treatment here was in the bottom 2 or 3, quite anomalous to our usual experiences in Paris restos.
I want to state for the record that I value Parn’s advice, along with that of John Talbott, on Paris food recommendations above all others. I almost always agree with his recommendations - and hope to continue to benefit from them!
That said, Joséphine Chez Dumonet, and in particular their boeuf bourguignon, is the one place I disagree with him.
Well, actually his comments on the environment, especially the ventilation in the summer, are quite valid.
However, I have never had boeuf bourguignon anywhere nearly as good as theirs. The noodles served with it are the best pasta I’ve eaten in France (which admittedly is not the high bar that almost all the rest of French cuisine is). The house red is very good and a reasonable price. And the Grand Marnier soufflé is excellent.
Now, we are definitely tourists, and partly the restaurant holds a nostalgic place in our hearts, but it is one of the few places we almost always return to when we visit Paris.
…and now post-COVID you can even make reservations online, so I no longer need to get my fluent-in-French sister to make our reservations there!
My disdain for Joséphine Chez Dumonet is largely based on own my preferences and style. Like many Parisiens of my generation, I don’t regard trad boeuf bourguignon as something remarkable and have no great liking for it. Admittedly, I could enthusiastically consume a huge bowl of the stew sauce as a soup but then most Franch stew sauces with a sieved mirepoix/ braising liquid are fab. But give me the daube de joue de boeuf/ beef cheek stew at Chez Denise or Chez Fernand Christine instead. Love beef cheeks, hate beef chunks. And the average age of Joséphine’s admirers was easily 30 years older than me at each of my several visits (never as my own choice) over the years. I simply prefer a more mixed-aged clientele for the sort of restaurant theatre I enjoy and a theatre not limited to elderly English-speakers at the surrounding tables, complaining that they had been seated in the English-speakers ghetto (secret: the entire restaurant is an English-speaking ghetto for the first seating). Not an ounce of the parisian buzz, sparkle and joy that I like so much. My last visit several years ago as the reluctant guest of some American friends of my parents was the coup de grâce. Summer, a heat wave, nothing remotely seasonal and summery on the menu, the dining room was suffocatingly hot and sauna-like, sweat dripping from the overworked server’s nose and chin and seasoning every dish served, even the usually excellent grand marnier soufflé (but not better than similar soufflés at Le Récamier, La Cuisine de Philippe, Auberge Bressane, Philippe Excoffier, etc) couldn’t stand up to the heat. A sign from the gods: Never again.
