[Paris] Some thinking about our last meals and French food scene

You know, rudeness can be bi-directional. Sometimes you make a bad impression on the server. Sometimes the server makes a bad impression on you. Sometimes one of you or both of you have a bad day. Sometimes people write unfavorable comments on websites to undermine the competition. When we were there the service was very friendly. It took us a few minutes to decide what to order, so they gave us a few minutes and came back just as friendly as before.

The Chinese were saying the rudeness was against the Chinese, they were friendly to the French.

Some (Chinese) places I have been here, the same waiters could be rude on a busy day, but kind of nice on a day with less clients.

But well, actually Au Pays de Confucius seems to be in the same group as Délice de Shandong. Complicated.

We passed Au Pays de Confucius on the way to Shandong. I thought it looked like a good place to try, but my wife usually does not want Chinese food twice in one day. Although in Manhattan it happens to her quite a lot.

When travelling, I usually refuse to eat the food not from that country. Unless we want a small break. :wink:

Chinese food on rue Volta, in Belleville, in the 13th is as French as it gets!

I guess you are right that they are part of the French eating experience too.

But both restaurants are serving Lu cuisine, your wife was correct to refuse!

I like the way women stick together!

A propos local food, once on a trip to Greece we got so sick of Greek restaurant food that I decided I had to find a Chinese or Italian restaurant for one evening. We found something that called itself Italian. We ordered something called pizza. After that we were quite happy to stay with Greek food.

In Thailand too, we had to eat some Korean… because Thai food were too spicy. But the Korean food there were equally spicy! :laughing:

In Rome today. For lunch, we took a “break” from the great Roman food. :wink:

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Ok, off to resume gorging on MORE of the fantastic Roman fare here.

Lucky you! But you are still eating the seafood there, just raw!

Looks good, but wasn’t some of it cooked? I had raw shrimp once in a Roman restaurant. I much prefer cooked.

We enjoy seafood raw, my wife much more than I. Raw shrimp and cooked shrimp are like two different animals. Flavor and texture so unlike the other. I’ve had my share of shrimp and lobster sashimi, and now lean more towards the cooked preps.

The tuna on the salad was cured. The server described it as ham-like. A bit too salty to my taste, but complements the greens, tomatoes and fruit well.

We’re pleasantly surprised how affordable food is here in Rome. As is the vino.

Today, I did a quick search on the 3 stars chefs lunch price.

Piere Gagaire is the cheapest 90€ for a set lunch. 115€ for the set lunch if you want a glass of wine, water and coffee. Quite attractive.

Other ‘cheap’ set lunch under 150 €:

  • Guy Savoy - 130 € 3 course meal

  • Le Pré Catalan140 € - 4 course including Entrée/Plat/Cheese/Dessert

  • Christian le Squer’s le Cinq - 145€ 4 course

Cheaper than some 1 star’s dinner!
Sometimes stars are about better services, more fancy dining room…than food.

We’re ending our month here in Paris & I’m not going to attempt to review the 25-30 places we went for lunch or dinner (apartment rental owners love us: when we leave, the oven is much as it was when we arrived… restaurants and market food not needing to be cooked, that’s us). I’ve just commented on some places that already had threads, but may/may not start any others. Other comments can be found in CH or Mouthfulsfood.com if anyone is interested.
At any rate, just wanted to put in my 2cents that we really liked Ze when we went 4 years ago, but felt no need to return. And we finally made it to L’Ami Jean, where we sat right by the pass thru and had a great meal. What can I say? I loved it. After all these years, the chef still looks like he loves being there and carefully & lovingly finishes each plate going out. During our entire stay in Paris, we noticed that almost all staff, from chefs to waitstaff, were efficient yet friendly and interested, and the staff at L’Ami Jean was at the top of that ladder. I’d also put a plug in for Korus, where we went early in the month and loved enough that we’re returning tonight for our last meal here before flying home to NYC tomorrow morning. And, in addition to the places I’ve already posted about, L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre & Grive & La Bicyclette & Bofinger (yes, that’s right — it was damn good) & A La Biche au Bois & Chez La Vieille & Fish La Boissoniere (a sentimental favorite for reasons I can explain elsewhere) were all winners. Au revoir.

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As someone who visits France fairly often, but not to Paris, I’m interested in the “French food scene” as your thread title has it. Did you have any sense that the food scene in Paris may be different from the rest of the country? Reason for asking is that I often read about trends in the UK food scene and come to the conclusion that many articles really just mean the London food scene - and that those trends have not really found their way to other major cities, let alone the smaller places. And, in fact, often never reach places outside the capital.

Yes, many of the talked about trends take hold in Paris and other large cities. But young chefs do set up shop in smaller towns and actual countryside, offering modern food and service styles. But it’s my sense that these are more self-conscious, so to speak, less casual and frequently at higher price points than their more casual Paris counterparts, as they set themselves apart from more traditional local dining rooms. .

The parents of Mr n don’t live in big city. The dining scene is very different from bigger cities where there are a lot of creative modern cooking with foreign influences and with tasting menus. You find more simple, traditional, food of the region with the traditional 3-course menu in the “rural” areas.

Paris is a cosmopolitan city with lots of influences, first regional and from other cuisines, in such a way that if you ask what are the traditional dishes of Paris? Not easy! Some younger chefs may try to follow the newer trends or have worked a few years in Paris and go back to their origin in the regions.

In general, if you go to other regions, even in big cities, you feel more the roots and the traditions. One thing is noticeable, price in bigger cities even like Bordeaux, eating out in the same cuisine level, the restaurants in Bordeaux is cheaper when compared to Paris.

I have been eyeing at la Bicyclette… Thanks for the confirmation.

Bofinger is loved by visiting friends, they adored the food, especially the oysters and the decoration there.

Great that you enjoyed l’Ami Jean. Many people visited, disliked it, not meeting their expectation of creativity or some even criticised (maybe on CH?) chef Jégo was too dramatic or on show. Note that l’Ami Jean remains the first generation of gastronomy bistrot democratising fine dining in a bistrot setting with an affordable price tag. Of course, the people now wants newer concept and different experience in tasting menus, but if one has to go back to the roots of bistronomy, the few bistrots that started the movement were la Régalade (14th), l’os à moelle (15th), Chez Michel (10th)… l’Ami Jean (7th) came slightly after the big 4…

Interesting. We ate at Le Comptoir du Relais on a weekend afternoon (not for the chef’s one seating weeknight dinner) and felt that it was just not that interesting. Nothing bad, just nothing to get excited about. Especially curious, since our times at L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre next door and at L’Avant Comptoir du Marche were both well enjoyed. L’Ami Jean’s food, comparatively, was alive (as was, as usual, the chef).

We went for a dinner, I think the food there was more classic, it was fine, but nothing very exciting. I don’t know how much Yves Camdeborde involves in the kitchen anymore.