Also, I haven’t been to Astier in years, but used to be great for classic French food, great cheese course. Maybe someone who has been recently could weigh in?
Impossible to know what a good match for any tourist would be. Generation/ style/ etc are important but unknown. Having said that, two more recs on opposite sides of the trad spectrum.
First, Le Quincy on avenue Ledru-Rollin near Gare de Lyon in the 12th is a time-warp bistrot with the olde-worlde vibe and all the clichés that seem to most appeal to tourists. Again, a rather vieux schnoque/old fart kind of place and so old-fashioned it doesn’t even have a website. As a 40-something Parisian, it’s not my kind of place and I haven’t been for years but I can understand its appeal to foreigners.
Second, Brasserie Martin near the Square Gardette in the 11th. A new “old” brasserie that reflects the relatively recent revival of trad cuisine among under-50 Parisians… lots of sparkle and “joie”, very good standard brasserie fare (including a very good steak tartare made with Salers beef), but the clientele is definitely on the younger and trendy side. I enjoy it but not sure if older tourists would enjoy it as much.
One thing about Le Quincy – it doesn’t accept credit cards.
After further review I booked L’Aubergeade.
I first booked Grande Brasserie but a day later they asked me for the CC info and a day after that they cancelled. But I’m happy with the choice. Seems very popular with locals and the owners are super friendly.
1 Like
Great, report back! Hope you are getting some sleep tonight. 
Let’s just say the mattress of The Sleeping Hermaphrodite looked very inviting. But I did manage to get a few hours in.
L’Aubergeade was like one of those old rustic Italian Slow Food places. Meaning the perfect welcome to Paris for us. The tartare didn’t quite sent me to Piedmont (few do) but was just terrific. Albeit very deconstructed. Even the sauces were on the table. But with few adjustments I managed to create something solid.
I’ll give you a proper food rundown when I come back but we really enjoyed this one.
2 Likes
Since l’Aubergeade is not one of the “usual suspects” in tourist Paris, I wonder if there was a language barrier.
And please don’t tout it too loudly. Once these very likeable “bistros de quartier” start attracting tourists, they can quickly transform into very different places. So, shhhh.
Got it. 
Following in Ziggy’s footsteps (Ziggy Does Paris - The Report) after he followed Parn’s advice, we finally wound up at L’Aubergeade tonight. As Parn said, it’s “a bit of a relic” (understatement). Average age of the 8pm tables (sold out) was probably in the 50s & the food came out slowly but efficiently. We were the only table speaking English (& some broken French). Of course, I can only follow Ziggy so far, so nothing we ordered was the same as what he had (see link to his post). Ginny ordered the bone marrow as her entree &, as Parn said, this was very good. My foie was a bit too cold and solid but was more than good enough. We didnt remember to take photos. And the wine was pedestrian, but inexpensive, sold in carafes, ½ carafes & by the glass so we experimented with several. As for the mains (duck & lobster), well we took pictures (something we hardly do) to even try to do them justice. Both great. And the cheese course (instead of the huge, good looking sugar bombs) was fine, especially with digestifs. Total check €105.
We made reservations to return this Sat. eve. If we lived here…. well, you know.
5 Likes
I’ve been staring at this duck longer than I’d like to admit.
1 Like
Me, too, staring at that duck, and it looks like it is doubling in size as I stare! I am torn, as I love lobster as well. Love the pics! (I am also usually delinquent in this area, especially if I am not eating solo…)
1 Like
Our last weekend here & there are quite a few places that I wanted to get to but didnt. But, instead of crossing one more off from the list, we had no doubt that we wanted to go back to L’Aubergeade. It is less than a 15 minute walk from our soon to be ex-apartment & we really liked it.
We walked in, were seated at the same table as before (a 4 top that he graciously pulled apart and didnt seat anyone else next to us - I took that as a positive…. maybe…). At any rate, 2 glasses of champagne appeared and he kissed Ginny hello & shook my hand as he had been doing with every regular we’d seen there. I have no doubt that, when and if we return next year, he’ll remember us. We ordered completely differently from last time and, once again, everything was done pretty much perfectly (within context of course). We split entrees of the grilled shrimp (3 large head on) and the escargot (served 12/order). Then Ginny had the entrecôte medium rare (as ordered) and I had the calamar in a puddle of fresh olive oil, mashed potatoes and some chopped pickled? tomatoes & capers. All was great. This time we ordered a bottle of red wine from Languedoc but, again, it wasnt more than okay. No desserts — we were full. Ginny ordered an expresso since they dont have milk and, therefore, a macchiato or noisette was out of the question. They brought her an American diner sized coffee cup with espresso and a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream on top. This was all a whopping 110euros. And, this time we remembered to take photos of all the dishes:
1 Like
In case you dont get a hug next year, remember there are two of them. Twins. You may need to initiate and/or force the hug and kissing (that way you will again get that private table)
I may have mentioned in my report that we were the only ones not getting hugs and kisses and that will be reflected in my Yelp review.
That Escargot! I remember them well
L’Aubergeade is in the 12th.
Yes it is. Not my fault that Parn recommended it to Ziggy on this thread (although he did say it was in the 12th) and then Ziggy continued with his review of it here. Blame them. 
Pas de probleme!
