Paris - Trip Recap

[Amor_Fati]

It is hard to believe that my trip to Paris has already come and gone, but alas, such is life!

I wanted to provide an update on where my husband and I ended up going, thanks in large part to the wonderful recommendations on this forum.

Day 1
Arrived into Paris at half past noon, and checked in to our wonderful room at the Hotel Montalembert.

Lunch
With the weather as nice as it was, we headed a short walk to the Bistrot due Passage - Restaurant Caviste Paris 7. The atmosphere was excellent (I believe we were the only English speakers, a pattern repeated nearly everywhere we ended up going), service was top notch (and not bad on the eyes, if I may say so ), and the food, well, we devoured it! A great start to the trip.

My main:

Dinner
We had a reservation for 8:30pm at Juveniles, which was a lovely walk from the hotel. The place was packed with locals and the food was just as perfect as the atmosphere.

For starters (not photographed; I was very bad at remembering to take photos in the beginning) we had the ‘Bouchot mussels, venere rice, leeks with asparagus cream & citron’. We were initially quite surprised when they arrived as we expected “normal” mussels where they come in a pot with the shells, but this was more of a creamy dish with the mussels mixed in. It was delicious, and had us rethinking ways to make mussels at home going forward.

For mains, my partner had the ‘Pressed pork shoulder from the Ferme de Clavisy, pan-fried potato gnocchi, peas & chard with sage.’

While I went with the ‘Duck fillet, artichokes, carrots & pak choi in juice, taggiasche olives, bear garlic cream & fresh mint’.

And to top it all off, we ended the meal with their rice pudding (not pictured).

Everything was perfect, and I would highly recommend to anyone to come here for a meal; a lovely way to end the day.

Day 2

Lunch
Given our itinerary (Hotel de la Marine at 10:30am, Louvre at 4pm), we decided to stay on the right bank and had booked reservations at La Véro Dodat. The entire experience was, in a word, exquisite. The proprietor was an absolutely lovely gentleman who we wish we could have spent our entire day with; a fascinating life he clearly lives, one I think most (including us) would aspire. The attention to detail and care put into this restaurant was evident the moment you sat down and were presented with the Christofle flatware.

We went with the 3 course lunch option.

L’oeuf Mayonnaise, Spianata et oignon de roscoff

La brioche perdue au zaatar, atom et pois

Le bar, le fenouil et le kumquat

La suprême de volaille rôti, le maïs et le combawa

La pavlova aux fraises charlotte et le galanga

L’asperge la vanille et le parmesan

I will remember this lunch for a long time.

Dinner
So… dinner. This was the only meal that, upon reflection, is difficult to place whether we actually did enjoy given the price. We decided a few days prior to swap out L’Ami Jean for Restaurant Le 122. The weather forecast spiked for Paris into the 80s, and given the tight interior space of L’Ami Jean, we were honestly worried about heatstroke. I will wonder for a while whether we should have just risked it.

For starters, I had the ‘White asparagus, honey/truffle vinaigrette’ and my partner had the ‘Duck foie gras, seasonal chutney’ (not pictured). I really enjoyed my starter, however my partner said he thought it just tasted like cold asparagus covered in salad dressing. I love salad dressing, so maybe he was right, but I enjoyed it none-the-less.

For mains, I had the ‘Pork steak, mashed potatoes and condiment’, and my partner had the ‘Lamb cooked 7 hours, eggplant, and bulgur’.

The pork was perfectly fine, no issue with how it was cooked, and it did taste very good. But, will I remember it? Probably not. My partners lamb was much better.

For dessert, my partner got the ‘Mille-feuille with vanilla bean and tonka’, and I got the ‘Japanese pearl, red fruit and pistachio’. The Japanese pearl was very, very, very good. My only regret is having gotten too full from the start and main to finish it all! My husband’s Mille-feuille was, in a word, a disaster. It melted in under 30 seconds. For a restaurant of the caliber I believed Restaurant 122 was, we found this unacceptable. The photo shown here is how it was presented to us.

On a non-food note, the wine we ordered was not the vintage reported on the menu. Not the end of the world, but it was the only restaurant where this occurred. When the bill came, we were also surprised to see a charge of 8 euro for water! Again, the only restaurant this ever occurred at. The atmosphere however was very nice, the restaurant beautiful, and the staff were very kind. No fault on any of those fronts.

So, overall, it was a “fine” meal. Certain dishes were great, and we still feel fortunate to be able to dine at places like Le 122, but I do not think we will be returning, and I would probably advise a friend to go elsewhere.

Day 3
May 1st. The weather was lovely, so we decided spur of the moment to walk to the Places des Vosges for lunch. This turned into quite the riot. We went to eat at Capitaine: they were closed. We then went to Les Petites Bouchées… also closed! We haven’t been to Paris during May 1 and clearly we have now learned that even many restaurants close for the day. So, having been thrown for a loop, we decided to eat at La Place Royale directly in the Places des Vosges.

It was honestly very good for a spur of the moment decision. We trusted in the 4.5 google review and it paid off.

We had been stuffing our face with pastries on the walk to the des Vosges so we only took an entree with glass of wine to pair, and we both had the duck. It was perfect, 10/10. Would definitely recommend coming here for a nice lunch.

Dinner
We had dinner at Le Bon Saint Pourçain. It’s funny, when a place is perfect, there is very little to say, and Le Bon was perfect in every way. The atmosphere, the proprietor, the food. Everything. I cannot wait to come back here.

I had the asparagus as my starter, and wow did it put the Le 122 asparagus to shame.

My partner had the foie gras (not pictured), which was sooooooo good.

We went with the duck for two, it was divine.

For dessert, we got both the baba rum and mille-feuille which I think got a chuckle out of the proprietor (we are both rather skinny and in our 30s) but hey, we came to Paris to eat dessert especially, so screw it! Both were devoured. The mille-feuille held up perfectly which I comment again as a comparison to 122, as the weather this night was just as hot as the previous night. The baba rum was very well soaked.

We long to return here, and it was such a perfect place to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

Day 4, our final day

For our last day we decided to just aimlessly wander through the 7th, and so grabbed lunch at the Carrousel de Rennes. We sat out front and watched the world go by for an hour. Won’t spend too much ink on this one as I really just want to get to the dinner, but once again the meal was great, hit all the notes, and we’ll definitely be returning here.

Dinner
Dinner… this was truly a religious experience. We left feeling like we had just been transported to another world. A world where food reaches its maximum and becomes something more than just food. The respect for the ingredients, the love put into each dish, the flawless execution. Simply typing this up brings back a treasure-trove of emotion from the experience. Where did we dine?

Restaurant Gemellus.

We experienced the 7 course menu, with a lovely bottle of wine recommendation to pair. Before going into the food, I must commend the absolutely perfect service from the two gentlemen (whose names unfortunately escape me) that attended our table. One, clearly the senior in rank, the other, could not have been more than a few years past 18 (the senior waiter told us the junior had started at the restaurant at the age of 18). Everything came out exactly at the right time, was presented in the most perfect manner, and the descriptions enhanced the excitement and anticipation that built with each course.

On to the food…

The chef is a genius. With each course we both wanted to go into the kitchen and praise him, but it goes without saying we restrained ourselves. We left after 3 hours feeling both the highest high, and also, truth be told, a bit of sadness knowing we’ll never ourselves achieve anything remotely close to this level of mastery of food. To taste food like this, leaves such a feeling of longing in its aftermath. Bravo to Restaurant Gemellus. They have created the proverbial lightning in a bottle here. We will, without question, return here every time we visit Paris.

On a non-food note, the restaurant itself was beyond gorgeous, a real feast for the eyes.

Recap

If you’ve made it this far, I thank you for joining me on this journey. Paris is a place like no other, and is worth a visit for the food alone. We also visited around a dozen patisserie shops which I’m sure I’ll add notes on as a follow-up comment, but for now, I shall leave this post focused on lunch and dinner.

[onzieme]

Thanks for getting back, and it sounds as though you had a great trip, despite a speed bump or two.

I don’t know what to say about le 122. My last meal there was in February and everything was excellent. With respect to the water, were you served a commercial brand, e.g., Badoit or Châteauledun? If you want free water, you have to ask for “une carafe d’eau” – which is supposed to be free, although I have been charged for it on a couple of occasions, but never as much as 8€.

May 1 and Christmas are probably the two most difficult days of the year to find restaurants (or anything else) open. You really have to reserve in advance and then check again a few days in advance to make sure that they’ll be open. Without a reservation, you’re really playing with dice.

[Amor_Fati]

Thank you! It really was a great trip.

For Le 122, I think for us it boiled down to: when every other place was flawless, one meal with hiccups really stands out.

Perhaps we did forget to ask for the carafe, but we’ve been to Paris before so we know the drill, and all other restaurants brought us a carafe when we asked. We were presented with a glass bottle, but when we looked around and saw every other table with a glass bottle as well, we just assumed this must be their take on a carafe. “Why would Parisians want the paid water” was our thought (we were the only non-French speakers in the place), and mix in a fear of embarrassing ourselves when asking for clarification, we just went about our meal. So, maybe chalk that one on to us!

Putting the water to the side though, the mille-feuille was just so disappointing, and we wondered if we were only being served it in that condition because we are tourists.

I would however amend my OP to say I would advise a friend to go for lunch first before committing to dinner, rather than writing off the restaurant entirely. The staff were all incredibly nice people, and the atmosphere was amazing, so I really do hope it was just a one off thing with us.

Totally agree on the reservations, we had booked for each nights dinner and 2/4 of our lunches, but we knew for our last 2 days we’d want to wander around the city and take lunch wherever we happened to be, so didn’t want to commit to anything.

[ninkat]

Thank you so much for this write-up! It cheered my day enormously, and I felt I really would like to follow in your footsteps to so many of these places. I actually really appreciate your mix of bookings and wandering in places. Though I would have trouble eating both lunch and dinner every day (and I am fortunate enough to be able to be in Paris fairly regularly these days), I also appreciated your desire to experience all that you could.

[onzieme]

Yes, it’s sad but true that most places, if you just ask for water instead of “une carafe d’eau”, they’ll bring you commercially-bottled water, for which they’ll charge you. It’s so common that I wouldn’t hold it against Le 122 specifically. On the flip side, there are some places that put a (free) carafe of water on the table as soon as you sit down.

[ernie_in_berkeley]

I’ve asked for eau nature in the past. Does that still work?

[bcc]

une bouteille d’eau

[ernie_in_berkeley]

That would seem to imply bottled water, not tap water, though.

[bcc]

No, it’s tap water.

[onzieme]

I’m not sure that will always be taken as a request for tap water. Commercial water comes in a bottle, water from the tap comes in a carafe.

[onzieme]

Don’t know; I have never heard anyone ask for it.

[bcc]

Of course you’re right. Une carafe d’eau. It’s been a while since we’ve been in Paris.

[jmc167 (John Cummings)]

@Amor_Fati - THANK YOU for the greatr report and another couple of places to add to our list.

[VaPaula (Paula)]

Wow! What a great report, and your photos are amazing. I did chuckle when I saw your ages because I can’t do two meals out anymore - so I’m happy to see you’re running with that while you can. Nice writing style, too. Btw, I eventually love when I forget to take photos because it means I was so caught up in the moment - and it’s hard to beat Paris for that.

[Carmenere]

“Eau nature” is not a thing, I doubt the waiter understands immediately if you ask that.
It’s “une carafe d’eau”.

[Steve (from DC)]

How about “eau dans la façon paysanne”? What would that get me?

[ernie_in_berkeley]

Or eau de Paris?

[SteveR]

@Steve

How about “eau dans la façon paysanne”? What would that get me?

It would probably get you sent out to the nearest public fountain

[Carmenere]

Sorry, “eau dans la façon paysanne” doesn’t mean anything, let alone lexically. There’s nothing country-like in a carafe or bottle of tap water.
Eau de Paris works, but if you say “Château la Pompe”, everyone will admire you, for only natives know the expression.

[sfcarole (Carole)]

We’ve been traveling so I’m chiming in a little late here. I loved reading your report, in large part because you tried places for lunch that most of us are not familiar with. Your reviews showed me that in seeking out the latest restaurant openings, we sometimes miss what’s right in front of us. And it looks like you had a delightful time at Le Bistrot du Passage, Le Véro Dodat, La Place Royale and Le Carrousel de Rennes. Most of these places I have walked by many times without noticing them. And while they may not be the edgiest or the “best of the best,”that’s often not what we’re looking for at lunchtime. A good meal, careful service and a pleasant ambiance; a glimpse into another aspect of life in Paris. And even if in some cases a few of these restaurants may serve a fair number of tourists, they’re not necessarily all Anglophones but visitors from other countries in Europe and French from outside Paris. Thank you for bringing them to our attention and taking the time to share your impressions.