I think it was my rec of Pierre Sang that got ninkat to try it, and I felt terrible when she reported back that she hadn’t liked it. I too greatly value her recs, and leaned heavily on them when we visited Rome this summer.
We’ve been probably a half dozen times now to Oberkampf (once each to Gambey, which we also really liked, and the more formal Signature, where the food is a little better but the experience imo a net minus, where at the other two it’s a huge plus), and have always loved it. It along with Les Parisiens are our two “must visit” places each time we return to Paris. We usually go on a Sunday, when many other restaurants are closed.
Fantastic qualité-prix, if not always the best food, especially the meat course. The most recent time we were there 3 months ago might have been our best visit ever, and the meat was a fantastic veal with gochujang that was one of our favorite bites of the trip. But YMMV, menu changes very frequently.
For other French-Asian “fusion”, you might consider Ze Kitchen Galerie and Kitchen Galerie Bis. And if you want to spend a bit more (though not a lot more), I and several of us here have found Parn-rec Perception to be excellent. The chef is ex-Ze Kitchen Galerie, and the restaurant is “‘French-by-a-Korean-chef”, with touches of Korean/Asian to it. I won’t be surprised if it gets a Michelin star soon, and we can’t wait to try it again.
I should add that oysters and fruits de mer/ shellfish are very iconically parisian and, at that time the year, a huge part of Christmas/ New Year noshing. For a family with teens (especially if one of the teens is a girl), the vibrant and somewhat flirty Huguette on rue de Seine just off the boulevard Saint-Germain in the 6th is perfect for experiencing the parisian love of oysters.
We usually use AirBnB in Paris, so I have no input for you on particular hotels. In terms of location, if your family is anything like mine:
your teenagers might prefer the 5th
if you have no issue with the reality that it’s mostly tourists, your wife will likely prefer the 6th
the 11th/upper 3rd (Haut Marais) is our current favorite for foodie area, it’s less expensive than the 6th, and because it’s near the Marais (lower 3rd) which is another favorite tourist shopping area for my wife.
We tend to alternate between the 6th and the 11th/upper 3rd. The 6th is somewhat more central for doing touristy things.
And whether you stay at Pavillon Faubourg Saint-Germain or not, in or near the 6th or not, make sure to go to Les Parisiens for the fish! (Hat tip, Parn.)
I debated staying at the Petit Moulin but ended up at hotel national des arts et Metiers. If they need two rooms both those places are expensive hence my Jeanne D’Arc suggestion. I would also pick upper Marais. Much better food options and you can still walk to lots of sights or hop on metro.
I laughed at your fisherman’s wharf analogy. Was dragged there many years ago by out of town relatives who wanted to eat at Bubba Gumps (shudder). Still traumatized from that meal…
I can’t add much to the steak frites discussion because I rarely order it at bistros or restaurants. But I do enjoy a good high-quality steak at one or other of the very enjoyable butcher shop/ resto combos in Paris. i.e. Boucherie Les Provinces on rue d’Aligre (great area for sampling the non-tourist Paris food culture on steroids) in the 12th and Bidoche on rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud in the hip Oberkampf quartier in the 11th. http://www.boucherie-lesprovinces.fr/ and https://bidoche.fr/
Well, I can confirm Ninkat’s opinion of Pierre Sang. The place used to be interesting years ago. It has dwindled over time and is now rather mediocre. And the little guess-what-you’re-eating game that they play (since 2015, a lot of people have learned what ssamjang is, really) is now a tad worn-out.
I would probably go to Bistrot Paul Bert for steak more often if there weren’t better opportunities for that in Paris, like Le Bœuf Volant (in the Batignolles) or, duh, Le Relais de Venise, which remains the most reliable place for steak-frites that I know in Paris.
Personally, I think one should skip Double Dragon, unless they have considerably improved since the last (first, and only) time I went. It has the recurrent flaw of “would-be” Chinese restaurants designed for 11th-arrondissement yuppies but generally inferior to Mom-and-Pop neighborhood “chinois-vietnamien” joints that have been going on for decades without attracting any media attention, and are far less pretentious. http://foodandsens.com/made-by-f-and-s/a-la-petite-cuillere/double-dragon-ou-comment-paris-goute-asie/
Le Relais de l’Entrecôte is a knockoff of the original location, Le Relais de Venise. So it’s better to go directly to the real McCoy. Not that the knockoffs are to be avoided, but they tend to be less convivial, the quality fluctuates from one place to the other, and there’s never been an off day at Le Relais de Venise since it opened in the 1950s. The only Relais de l’Entrecôte that I found to be almost better than the original was the one in Bordeaux, near the Grand Théâtre. It was flawless.
If you’re in the vicinity of one Relais de l’Entrecôte or another, you can let yourself be tempted, especially if you don’t want to trek to the Porte Maillot. It’s still good. Just avoid La Maison de l’Aubrac, which has become a genuine ripoff.
There is no one-size-fits-all restaurant in the world. Nevertheless, I am creating a scorecard for Pierre Sang Oberkampf. On Hungry Onion, 2 against and 3 or 4 (or maybe 5) very enthusiastic plus a score of 4.5 out of 5 from thousands of other reviews. And the winner is… ?
We’ve only been to Double Dragon once and it didn’t blow me away but it was good for a change. The place I wanted to check out in May, Brigade du Tigre, was closed the week we were there. I’m also a big fan of Kunitoraya (in the 1st) and their udon noodles.
Creating a scorecard on that type of subject seems pretty pointless. Funny that you feel the need to identify a winner when none of that is needed. If you’re a six-year-old and we haven’t figured that out yet, then I understand.
Dont know whether I’m already in your tally, but we really liked our one meal at the bar there in Oct. I can see how repeated visits might wear thin or how that night’s fare might not work for someone, but we’d recommend it for an easygoing reasonably priced night out.
Sometimes it is hard to judge tone through the written language. I was not trying to score points, but asked a very real question: What have you eaten at Pierre Sang Oberkampf recently that really impressed you?
Thank you @andygottlieb42 for answering my question, as I am perfectly willing to give the benefit of the doubt that a great restaurant can have an off evening. However, your statement that it is not “always the best food,” leaves me skeptical. Perhaps it is very hit or miss at this point to find a good meal there, and I am not willing to risk it again since there was not a single course in the meal that I had that I would have described as even a good bite.
P.S. Not trying to sway anyone toward or against any restaurant, but rather to give as full a description as possible of my experience and takeaways, what I ate, etc. Any restaurant can have terrible nights, and brilliant ones for sure.
We had a couple of great meals at various Pierre Sang restaurants but I think there are so many better options discussed on this forum. They used to have 2 seatings of which one is too early and one is too late for me (all of our meals there were on the too late side because it worked well on the days we arrived to Paris late in a day).
The problem is that what you ate will not be the same as what someone else eats because the Pierre Sang menu changes so frequently. Out of at least a dozen meals there over the years, I have never had the same dishes more than once. Your snapshot is perfectly valid for for you but not necessarily relevant for others.
And I am not sure what’s the big deal about the gimmicky guessing game. I usually just shrug my shoulders and say “pas nécessaire” and it’s dropped. But I do have friends who love to guess. Chacun son truc. At least it provides a fun factor that so many other deadeningly earnest gastro restaurants don’t have.
And please tell me where else in Paris you can find a 6-course tasting menu (very good in my opinion, bad in yours) for 44€ for dinner. Amazing value ! Yes, you can easily have a better meal in Paris but usually at 2 or 3 times the cost of Pierre Sang. For me as a local who doesn’t feel the need to make every meal “significant” but does insist on making every meal enjoyable, the price-quality ratio is a huge factor in my restaurant preferences.
