And other interesting places to source great supply for the evenings at the apartment, i had fantastic tiny delicate FL in the past at L’ami Jean, had also not so delicate ones at other places, i wonder if there are better places to buy raw for cooking or we are talking today only about different brands that are available in the form of frozen bags ?
And is there maybe a “one stop” good shop or area where i can get excellent seafood like Lotte, Langoustines etc, plus the above mentioned legs and other delicacies, PLUS there is a great butcher/charcuterie place closeby ? We are eventually scheduled to stay at the 15th but not limited for that arr only, i marked several places for meat and charcuterie like Viande in 3, Arnuad Nicolas in 18, not sure about the “hot” fishmongers now, it’s been a while, so was wondering if i might be able to find an attractive shop or several ones close by to find most of the things “at once” 
Thanks !
You might also be inquiring about the source of your frogs legs. Even 10 years ago, much of the French consumption was imported.
Interesting reading, thanks for the link
For French-caught frogs’ legs, you’d have to stay some time in the Bresse and order them at local auberges. Or in South Burgundy (technically in the Bresse) in places like L’Auberge de la Grenouillère in La Truchère.
In a big city like Paris, they’re likely to be frozen and imported.
Le Languedoc (boulevard de Port-Royal) is famous for its frogs’ legs meunière but I’m not sure they still serve them.
Fishmongers: try La Poissonnerie du Dôme, Lecourbe Marée, Poissonerie Monge, Daguerre Marée (one location on rue Poncelet) — expensive places but there’s a chance you may find fresh frogs’ legs (generally threaded onto a skewer). I must say this has become a very rare sight in Paris. Some years ago they were still readily available.
If you go to Arnaud Nicolas for charcuterie, the location in the 18th is like a classic charcutier-traiteur with outstanding products. I recommend that you try the salade de museau, when they have it. It’s probably one of the best thing’s you’ll ever have. Don’t forget that the 7th-arrondissement location on La Bourdonnais also sells charcuterie, but mostly terrines.
I wouldn’t put too much stress on the trendy butchers, generally extremely pricey and sometimes with an attitude (I remember when one Le-Bourdonnec-trained young butcher at Terroirs d’Avenir pressured me into getting one leg of lamb instead of the two shoulders I wanted — one moment of weakness and I ended up buying something I didn’t want to buy at all). Any large traditional neighborhood butcher store on a rue commerçante or a place that has many other food outlets will have more choice and kinder prices, also some ready-to-cook prepared items like pre-stuffed roasts, and the meat won’t be any less good.
Salade de museau! Be still my heart
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I am not a home cook and, when not eating out at a restaurant, rely heavily on the excellent Picard frozen food chain (better food than at many restaurants, especially in the tourist zones). But I am a bit surprised that you are focusing on frog’s legs, a pretty rare dish in Paris. In my family, they used to be on the Christmas feast (on 24 Dec) menu when I was a child but not exactly everyone’s favourite dish and they disappeared from the festive table decades ago.
Strangely, I remember the excellent “persillade” that usually came with frog’s legs rather than the frog’s legs themselves. Maybe saucing/ seasoning is the key to enjoying cuisses grenouille.
I do frequently visit poissonneries (where cuisses grenouille are usually sold) for oysters, house-made fish rillettes, house-made fish soup, etc but don’t remember ever seeing fresh frog’s legs on offer except for maybe a few days before Christmas. I seriously doubt there would enough demand for poissonneries to stock them at other times. I suspect that frozen from a supermarket or Picard (from Indonesia) will be your only option.
The 15th is a huge and rather diverse arrondissement with occasional pockets of monotone and unremarkable mini-quartiers. There is no need to make treks to other parts of Paris or even within the 15th but it depends exactly which market street and street market are the most convenient for you. Where are you staying ? Closest metro or major intersection ?
The market streets are open Tue to Sat all day from, roughly, 9am to 7 or 8pm (but some shops close for a long lunch between 1:30 to 4pm) and Sunday from 9 am to 1:30/ 2pm and, like the 2- or 3-times a week outdoor street markets, are also hubs of neighbourhood life. Not only a source for food for you but they will also let you experience the French food culture and la vie parisienne.
I’ve been able to get good seafood at booths at the market by the Bastille, including a beautiful skate wing. I think the key to selecting good seafood and, I suppose, amphibian food, is to stick you nose right up to it and sniff it all over. It attracts attention but …
Definitely. I love skate but the first time I bought some to make at home, I didn’t pay enough attention. Stuck it in the fridge that morning and went to cook that evening, and it was ammonia all over the place. Unlikely it “got bad” in just a few hours in my fridge. My fault.
Thanks a lot for the information
Well my wife never had them and as usual i aim to challenge her culinary comfort zone "-) If i’m not mistaken the only place i saw frogs legs at a supermarket was the frozen area in Tang Freres, along with some other interesting things of course… Don’t know quality, i guess it will be far from highest or “local” etc… And we will stay not far from the 15’s TF branch, at (probably small and monoton street) rue de Chamberry, we do love wandering the supposingly less touristic areas, like a day around the 12 and marché course de vincennes that i loved in the past and want to connect this time to lunch at Bistro S, that a friend highly recommended… Thanks a lot for the help !
Thanks, i’ve visited and bought from the fishmongers at Richard Lenoir , don’t like the market itself but the fish stands were good
I live in the Netherlands, less than 300 miles north of Paris, and I sometimes see fresh produce here coming from the Rungis market in Paris.
It’s one of the largest fresh produce markets in Europe, specifically for restaurants, local shops and wholesalers. Typically, one needs a special entrance pass to get in. For example where I live there are also a few large fresh produce wholesale markets for restaurants, and as my brother has his own company me and my mum typically use his pass to shop for excellent groceries…
Maybe you could ask one of the local butchers you encounter in Paris if he can source frog legs? Typically what you see in the counter is not everything that is available, though it does mean you have to wait a few days for him/her to source your product, perhaps at Rungis. Otherwise, you can try one of the Chinese shops?
oferi
I think you’ll be a short walk from le Jeraboam, of which I’ve heard good things, although I’ve never been. And I agree about the less touristy places. We had a great stay a few years back in Montparnasse, which isn’t exactly remote, but a far cry from the 6th. We actually had to rely in Nancy’s French in a number of places.
Admittedly I don’t have as much familiarity with this almost-not-Paris part of the 15th as I do with most other neighbourhoods but my initial impression is not good. I have been to Grand Pan, Beurre Noisette, and Bistro Indochine and have liked each well enough to recommend all and do greatly enjoy Parc Georges Brassens and its fabulous weekend book market but I have never been inspired to explore the rather hodgepodge-y (yet surprisingly monotone despite the mix of architectural styles) neighbourhood. Perhaps there are hidden gems here and there but I doubt it. There are no secrets in Paris.
There is a Wed + Sat morning outdoor food market on boulevard Lefebre on the other side of Parc Georges Brassens but, having driven by it several times, it seems rather small and strangely quiet in comparison to other “marchés volants” that I am more familiar with. But I could be wrong. There is also a much larger and more vibrant Tue+Thu+Sun morning food market on rue Convention @ rue Abbé Groult… about a 15-min walk from your rental on rue Chambéry or hop on a bike from the Vélib station on the park-side of rue Morilles (but a warning: Vélib stations in the outer arrondissements often have no bikes available between 9am and 3pm because of the heavy demand from residents commuting from the outer to inner arrondissements).
The rue Convention also has a nice cluster of butcher-baker-candlestickmaker shops that almost but not quite qualifies this short stretch where the outdoor market is held as a market street. Don’t know anything about the boucherie there but do like the L’Amour du Terroir épicerie fine + rôtisserie that is operated as a collective by a group of smaller artisanal producers from southwest France. And best of all for sweet-loving moi, a branch of the exceptionally good pâtisserie Laurent Duchêne (awesome croissants and an even more memorable lemon tart). There is also a rôtisserie that I don’t know first hand but from a brief glance, my intuition tells it’s a place to try. Just off rue Convention, a Picard frozen food shop on rue Dantzig that perhaps stocks frozen frog’s legs.
A somewhat longer walk/ bike ride, the rues Cambronne and Lecourbe have a much more market street feel and a wider choice of food shops. Poissonnerie, boucherie, several boulangeries including the successor to the once famous Maison Prichard (sex scandal alert), two or 3 cheesemongers including the usually well respected Androuet, a large Monoprix supermarket ,and, surprisingly for such a middle-income neighbourhood, an outpost of the once mighty/ ultra-chic and still excellent Lenôtre pâtisserie empire but now also a traiteur/ caterer (well worth a visit).
Thanks Daniel I tried to convince my spouse to go again with the more culinary fun areas of the 10-11 but she preffered to pick this specific rental appartment in the 15, maybe will be nice also for me for morning jogging at the close park.
I will check all the great information you wrote, regarding the restaurants, as i need a pretty close option for late lunch/dinner the day of arrival, i already marked for consideration Grand Pan, Noisette, Jadis, Radis Beurre or even Le Clos Y… Or i will put Montee on that spot as it is not very far by metro, but price for sure on the higher side…
And it would be great please to get opinion on the restaurants plan, daily “gastronomic lunchs”, looking for the interesting “young bistronomique” talents doing marvelous food in a simple decor setting "-) If eating out we are looking to indulge and build sort of our own “lunch mini feasts”, and i have seen that some places offer sort of a la carte, along with the possibility to take advantage of a good bargain formula, so i guess it’s a plus for us, formulas with taking some interesting extras, or getting piggy with it and ordering 3 interesting different formulas
So this is what i have till now :
For the D’orsay morning plus 1,2 and necessary couple of hours at the touristic areas, uncertain between choosing “calmer” options of Auguste/lately mentioned Les Parisiens or invest more and get more adventurous with Alliances Lunch menu, no visit there yet so i guess it’s the leading option
Half day of torturing my wife with the climbs in the 18 th - i thought it’s a pretty boring area for culinary adventourus but i guess nowdays i’m totally wrong… So either A.Lea or Chantoiseau ? Both ? Something else ?
For the 3,4,5,10,11 which we will probably do 2-3 lunchs i’m as expected very confused with all the options, i want ilo but not sure how “strict” is the tasting menu with the options to select, i think we have to try Le Grand Brasserie for a change of pace and my list lacks i think in more “traditional options”… I also marked some asian spots to check in the area, like Kawamoto for the Japanese/Sushi fix, it looks like a nice place, or Zakuro izakaya in 2, don’t know yet…
For the 16 th culture plus food, La Causerie, HSP La Cabane, Pages ? I’m all over the place i know
For lunch in the 9th again too many options - Maison Belle, Jeanne Aimee ? Other Bistronomy new talent ? Or interesting Korean/Asian ?
And for the 12 voyage as i mentioned i think a visit to the (not so popular on this board?) Bistro S looks like like an interesting plan
And to add to it, so many other names to consider - soft spot for Chef Gousset’s cooking, so maybe Tomy@Co or Hugo@Co ? Dilia in 20 sounds fun, Petit Boutary in 17… And i need a fun gastronomy place for Bday dinner on Sunday evening, not sure anymore about Automne which is open those times, maybe Korus ot how is Cho Cho ? They seem to have an open menu with many interesting options…
Thanks a lot !
While waiting for Parn’s responses, I can say that of the three you list for the Musée d’Orsay, my order of preference is Alliance, then Les Parisiens, then Auguste, with quite a separation between each.
As you may have seen in other threads, I like a.léa a lot, my experience at Chantoiseau was not good. If you want another suggestion for 18th, look at Polissons.
I like La Grande Brasserie – I wish they would change their carte more often, but that’s really only of concern to locals.
HSP La Cabanne is excellent – I was just there again two weeks ago – but a lot of locals go there and there aren’t a lot of seats, so reserve in advance.
Jeanne Aimée lives up to the expectations.
Dilia and Petit Boutary were good last spring, haven’t been since. I’d take Chocho easily over Korus, but that may be a matter of individual taste.
Thanks a lot for the information here and on other threads, very helpful I will try to book HSP in advance and it will probably be a Sunday lunch so i guess it’s a popular time there… And ChoCho to close that bday celebrations on that Sunday, it will make more sense to choose a place that looks at least virtually more lively than Korus, for possibility of some drinks and a couple of plates from a la carte based on how hungry we will be instead of “commitment” to a tasting menu. Thanks !
