In Paris for about a week in early June. My 15th trip (previous ones for as long as three weeks) but we have not been since summer 2019, and this time we will not have the wise guidance of John Talbott, who steered us to so many good places. It’s a work trip for my partner, and for the first time we are staying outside the Péripherique (about 500m outside), in Saint-Ouen, because it is cheaper (work is not covering our extra days) and close to where her meetings are in the NW 9e.
It’s not an area I’m familiar with, and if anyone has any reliable addresses, I would appreciate it. We will of course leave the area (by Métro and bus) as needed. We tend to go for prix-fixe lunches up to 50€, preferably less than that, but we do need to eat dinner also. We were fortunate to eat at Alliance and Montée before they earned their Michelin stars, and I dream of experiences like that. I think we dine more modestly than many HO regulars, though. We live in Lisbon now, so can get (at home) good seafood and meat, charcuterie, raw-milk French cheeses, bread. Baguettes and viennoiserie are more problematic.
What I have gleaned so far from reading through threads: A.Léa, Ose, BOULOM, the two Les Canailles, and a bit further out, Benjamin Schmitt, Eunoé, Café de l’Usine, Lazu, Dame, Pouliche. Thanks!
Just off the top of my head, Le 975, Fana, Soces, Coretta, La Datcha, Elsass, Géosmine, Les Résistants - La Table, Habile, eels – all are 17, 18, 19, 10, upper part of 11.
Thank you! Some of these I had looked at and decided against, but many are new to me. I had completely forgotten about Coretta, a place I had on a list from a previous visit (from a Talbott rec) but we were staying in the 11e and it was too far out of the way.
Strictly within the limits of the Paris Great North (18th arrondissement, the East part of the 17th and bits of the 10th and the 19th), I can recommend a few nice places, some of them already on your list:
In the 18th BOULOM (beware, it’s a buffet, though a wonderful version of that), Bistrot du Maquis, Le Maquis (go for dinner, at lunch there’s nothing on the plate), Chantoiseau, Crêperie Pen-Ty, Les Canailles, Au Bon Coin (rue des Cloÿs), Thu Thu (good Vietnamese food).
In the 10th : Les Arlots and Billili, Café les Deux Gares.
In the 17th: Gare au Gorille, Essens’All.
On rue Lamarck (18th) is Atelier P’1, which is in my opinion one of the very best boulangers in Paris.
Not a fan of Pouliche at all but Benjamin Schmitt is great.
Thanks! BOULOM reminded me of something, but it took me a while to remember what. In 2003, we visited Thierry Faucher’s La Cave de l’Os a Moelle, which seems to now be closed, but had a similar bistronomie-influenced buffet style that may have been BOULOM’s inspiration. The food was good, but what I mostly remember is that we sat at a communal round table with five or six younger French people, who said something to the effect of “Merde! Les Anglais sont arrivés” to each other when we sat down, not realizing that (1) we were Canadian, and (2) we could all understand what they were saying, including the elderly Japanese gentleman and the two little girls in our party. Halfway through the meal I pointed to the bottle of red wine I had plucked off the shelves and said, in French, “I can’t drink this whole bottle by myself, so if you would like some, please help yourselves.” They were surprised, but accepted the peace offering, and we ended up all having a nice conversation over dessert.
I had a terrible experience at Bistrot du Maquis (not to be confused with Le Maquis). While talking with friends, I gave them my credit card and signed the bill. Right after signing, I looked at the bill, and saw that we had been charged for something we neither ordered nor received. I pointed this out to Madame (who takes care of the room while her husband cooks) and she admitted it was a mistake but refused to refund the overcharge saying we signed, and so it was TS. Think about whether you want to deal with people like that. (I have almost never encountered people like that in restaurants in France.)
Sorry about your experience. Le Bistrot du Maquis remains a very good restaurant, even if you have to check the bill carefully. So I still recommend it.
Saint Ouen is quite a gastronomy desert. I have tried Bonne Aventure recently, sadly speaking, it lost the touch that made it special compared to a meal I had a few years ago. There are brasseries: Thierry Marx’s Le Bouillon du Coq, or top chef winner Mohamed Cheikh‘s Meïda (north African influenced mediterranean food) if you want something in your « neighborhood » to eat, but I haven’t try them. TBH, It’s better for you go to Paris to eat. The only thing that I can recommend in Saint Ouen is the bakery Clem and Gwen, we’ve tried everything: baguette, bread, viennoiseries or pastry, all are pretty good, try to go earlier, if you don’t want to see empty shelves. It’s a few minutes walk from the city hall. Le Mékong is ok if you want Cambodian food. Also there is the new food hall, COMMUNALE you may want to have a look. (I considered it rather expensive for what it is and for Saint Ouen.)
I had no problem with the food – we used to go regularly and brought friends, as on this occasion. But there’s no problem finding places as good or better in Montmartre, so we’ve never gone back and never will (at least until the place is sold). So for an extra 15 or 20€ (I forget the exact amount) that she cheated us out of, she lost many future lunches and dinners.
It seems to me that Thierry Marx finally put his paws on the old Le Coq de la Maison Blanche, which was a venerable institution. This is the sad way of things.
Oh there’s no question that she should have refunded you, this is terrible behavior on the part of a FOH manager. But the food at Le Bistrot du Maquis remains one of the best in the area.
I expect we’ll eat in Paris proper, but a good morning croissant or pain au chocolat would be nice (coffee will be at home). We’re staying a bit south of Garibaldi station, so Clem & Gwen is a 15-minute walk to the north. Might prefer to head south to Atelier P’1.
And right down the street from Atelier P’1 is Restaurant 975, one of my favorite spots in the area, also on rue Marcadet. Their lunch for 25 € is a steal. There’s also a 5-course menu at dinner for 59€, but I generally prefer to order off the carte which is reasonably priced.
