I rather like La Tour Montlhéry Chez Denise (Paris 1) portion are extremely generous, also if you want to meet some French politicians. 
My one visit to Bistro Paul Bert was my last. My husband’s pork dish was the only bad food we had on our entire trip. Dry, tough. My steak frites were good but hardly worth a special trip. Dessert was a mess. Our aloof server, who spent more time in the restaurant’s other dining room, never brought my tea or husband’s dessert, though he poked his head in several times to say he hadn’t forgotten and they would be out soon. I’m still waiting. The Grand Marnier souffle did arrive and was absolutely flavorless. Zero Grand Marnier. Just sugar. Not worth it. The restaurant was publicly recommended by Ina Garten a U.S. food personality. Victim of its own success.
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Ouch! When was this?
May 2019, pre-covid.
Sorry to hear that. Another place that falls into this category is le Comptoir restaurant (Odéon), i just don’t quite understand the fuss.
I believe Le Comptoir with Chef Yves Camdeborde was once heavily touted by Anthony Bourdain and it too may be a victim of too much hype. I must say I absolutely adore the stand-up wine bar L’Avant Comptoir du Marché with delicious small plates.
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I’m not a fan of Paul Bert as of my last visit (about 9-10 years ago), but there was an era before that when I think there was quality to be had there.
Amarante was tremendously popular on CH, yet it’s not a restaurant without controversy. I and my wife have dined there multiple times trying to figure out what others see in it, or perhaps our meals had been exceptional failures, and finally, we’ve given up. We find the food undistinguished and the setting “triste”, and the chef’s predecessor restaurant (Christophe) over in the fifth arrondissement was the same. And we’re not alone, by any means.
Great palates, like great minds, can differ.
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Although I realize that I post on food boards, I constantly remind myself that I’m not always led by my palate. Especially when I’m a tourist, I’m always glad when I have enough time to explore the recommendations given by those with respected palates (yes, I’m looking at you Pilgrim, parn, onzieme, Jake and now that we’re on HO, naf) AND to go to the places where my palate compromises with (but is not replaced by) my sense of adventure or just love of the Gestalt of a place. Hence, some of my choices like Bofinger – the food was more than good enough for me to enjoy being there. Hard to explain it better than that &, trust me, I know when the intended “compromise” has stretched too far and sacrificed any palate respectability. I won’t mention the 3 or 4 places we went to that met that description.
By the way, we lunched at Le Comptoir and found it thoroughly mediocre, while we spent several afternoons next door at both L’Avants having a great time, eating very appreciated small plates, drinking good wine &, yes, talking with everyone else there doing the same.
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Which Paris by Mouth tour are you doing ?
RE Bofinger, the extraordinary decor can go a long way to boosting the experience above just-adequate food. (Disclosure: I haven’t been to Bofinger in probably 20 years, but in the proper circumstances, I would go, especially given what Parn has said about it).
I haven’t yet figured out how to quote and other HO options, sorry.
Re Paris by Mouth, we elected to try the Northern Marais…there’s some meat, not just sweets. I know people who rave about it.
Re sweetbreads being like foie gras, that is very helpful. I love foie gras. Not sure I could handle foie and sweetbreads at the same meal, however lol. Appreciate the explanation!
Re different palates, decor etc, I understand that my mileage may vary. I always turned to CH for places I don’t really know because I believed most poster genuinely care about the food. Maybe more sophisticated palates (not that I’m so sophisticated but I would not recommend an Olive Garden) while some Trip Advisor travelers may think that’s fine dining. When we go out with other couples I usually choose the place because I care while the others just want to socialize and hardly notice the food.
My daughter would actually like to see some sites in Paris too lol, not only traipse from restaurant to restaurant lol. We will try to match up our touring with the recs made by you fine people and that may factor into the equation or where we ultimately go. She doesn’t like doubling back if we’ve been in an area on the morning to then go across the city for dinner.
As an aside, I once dragged her from the Vatican to some pizza place in Rome that was a very expensive and long taxi ride, based on someone from CH raving about it. She’s now the coordinator of time and locations!
We will be taking the Chunnel to London and I hope to bring some baguettes/cheese/wine with us for the ride. Hoping there’s some decent options near Gare du Nord, or Bastille by our hotel.
Once again, thanks all for taking the time to reply, I’m thoroughly enjoying reading them all!
I am a huge fan of Cafe des Musee. Unfortunately have not been since 2019. I am on their email list and during the pandemic they would send some of the recipes out to try for home cooking. Hope to get back this year. If you get a table by the window on the right side you can watch the world go by while having a wonderful tartar. The remains of my last meal there at the window table. I never remember to take a picture of my food before I start eating. Only after I finish do I think damn, I should have taken a picture. 
Chez Denise portions are just too much for me. I swear the tartar portion there is at least a kilo. I do adore the never ending frites though.
If you like foie you should absolutely try sweetbreads. Make sure you have it at a place that does it well though. When it’s good it’s divine, when it’s not it’s a mealy mushy mess.
Chunnel - that’s a term I have not heard in forever. Sign of someone of a certain era.
I first had sweetbreads in Boston in the late 70s and never looked back. Unfortunately, when I moved to the west coast in the 80s, I found them very rarely. At their best they are creamy inside and croustillant on the outside. The taste is very subtle. I love them, but I also love lamb brains! Do you like oysters and fried clams with the bellies?
I was trying to think of the right word for the ambiance at Amarante and onzième hit upon it: triste. Very moody, somber, even dreary at times. We last went there in 2019 and the braised agnelle that Christophe Philippe prepares so beautifully was as tender and delicious as usual. But everything else was mediocre. Service lackluster, although we have had better service there in the past. We didn’t return there in 2021.
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Bkeats- I love saying Chunnel:wink:
Parn, I love the flavor and if the shrooms are big enough I’m ok. When I make it at home of course I omit them.
As often the case, the side conversations of this thread are the most illuminating. Two of my most revered dining mates write about experiences far different from ours. The case of the three blind men feeling up the same elephant. All perfectly precise in their descriptions, each having a different perspective.
Vis a vis Amarant. We walk into a room decorated in Middle French Mr. Bricolage. Greeted by what we later deemed the quintessential Parisian waiter. Ramrod straight and slender and stiff as a wooden spoon. Shown to our table(s). He reads our table, we understand his professional stance. He and we somehow connect. We order, he pretends to love our selections… The food is everything we expect: classic innards, plats well sourced and executed.
When my entree appears, I tell him it is enough for 4 people; he cocks his head, looks at it and responds, “No, madam, only 2,” We are off to the races. He then looks ever so slyly at the adjacent table where two men are attacking sides of cow and whispers, “For 10”. He continues to check our table to make sure we are well tended. The food is well prepared and what we expect. The tab was minimal. We parted with meaningful smiles.
It is far from fine dining. But it created memorable vignettes we treasure above many more ambitious rooms. Will be one of our first returns.
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Exactly. And our part of the elephant was that we went to Amarante for a leisurely lunch with Ptipois, who had been there before & was more than willing to share many dishes with me while Ginny got non offal based food that she liked. I felt like someone had invited me into a recently converted butcher shop and that the lack of the usual “restauranty-ness” was not a meaningful absence. And I loved the food, which I cannot get at home (nope, not even in NYC).
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While I am an offal hound, I haven’t found fraise du veau on any other menu on our travels.
