20 Little Cities » French

Le Bistrot Paul Bert: Traditional French cuisine in Paris.

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:58:34 +0000

Le Bistrot Paul Bert and its neighbor L’Ecailler du Bistrot are owned by the same family. Le Bistrot Paul Bert is the quintessential Parisian neighborhood restaurant. It serves traditional French cuisine—vegetarians might want to skip this place—with a penchant for meat served rare. They like it blue (that means very rare as in barely warm inside) but you can still order it your way. If you crave red meat and fries head for Le Paul Bert’s entrecôte-frites (rib steak and fries). This is a typical French bistro frequented by regulars as well as tourists — it’s been written about everywhere. It’s very lively and if you have a late dinner you might get to hear rowdy French people sing in English. I would highly recommend the decadently buttery Tarte Tatin or the sinfully creamy Paris-Brest (said to be one of the best in Paris) to finish on a happy note. The lunch and dinner menus are 34€ for an appetizer+main dish+dessert (or 21€ for a main dish only and an additional 8€ for an appetizer or a dessert), to choose from the regular menu, with a cheaper lunch option at 16,50€ for an appetizer+main dish+dessert (or 11€ for a main dish and an additional 4€ for an appetizer or a dessert), to choose from a smaller selection of dishes. These prices do not include beverages. Reservation is highly recommended; Le Bistrot Paul Bert is a very popular place.

Bistrot Paul Bert
18 Rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.72.24.01
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

Tu-Sat: 12pm-2pm / 7.30pm-11pm
Closed on Sunday, Monday and one month in summer.

Le Square Trousseau: A perfect terrasse in Paris open all day for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:51:17 +0000

If you saw the movie “Paris, je t’aime” then you have seen the inside of this lovely turn of the century café-restaurant located right across the street from the pretty square Trousseau—a perfect view from the heated terrasse. My favorite time to hang out at Le Square Trousseau is during off-hours when there is always a free table on the terrasse (and not too many smokers around) and for l’apéro or breakfast. They serve good coffee and some of the best croissants and pain au chocolats (voted best in Paris) that come from the very popular bakery next door, Blé Sucré.
The restaurant fills up pretty quickly for lunch and dinner so I would recommend making a reservation. If you want to try a dish that makes this restaurant more than worth going back to, try the seven-hour lamb. Oh, and the hamburger looks delicious. Le Square Trousseau restaurant can also accommodate private parties up to 18 people in the restaurant’s adjacent private dining-room. The food is good, the staff is great, the place is very charming, the atmosphere is peaceful, there’s free Wi-Fi and magazines, Le Square Trousseau is always open—it’s a great address.

Le square Trousseau
1 Rue Antoine Vollon
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.06.00
Metro: Ledru-Rollin

Open 7/7
M-Sun: 8am-2pm (lunch/dinner menu from 12pm until 12am non-stop)

L’Ebauchoir: A neighborhood bistro packed with regulars.

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:21:11 +0000

L’Ebauchoir in Paris is a classic bistro, right off the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, that has never ceased to live up to its reputation. It is a popular restaurant among the neighborhood’s artisans and artists who fill it up at lunchtime, while other regulars and first-timers crowd the room for dinner. Their fish or meat dishes are always cooked to perfection and the wines that accompany them are always good. The desserts at l’Ebauchoir are delicious and you might find yourself ordering seconds. The 13,50€ lunch menu is for an appetizer+main dish+dessert with a set main dish, or 25€ for an appetizer+main dish+dessert with a main dish to choose from the regular menu. Count about 20€ for a main dish at dinner.
Check out their blog for pictures of their dishes. It offers some recipes too.

L’Ebauchoir
43 Rue de Cîteaux
75012 Paris
tel: 01.43.42.49.31
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

M: 8pm-11pm
Tu-Sat: 12pm-2.30pm / 8pm-11pm (Opens at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday)
Closed on Sunday

Café Charlot in Paris: The perfect hamburger fix.

admin — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:05:14 +0000

When I feel like eating a hamburger I head straight for Café Charlot in the Marais, right across the street from the Marché des Enfants Rouges, on rue de Bretagne. Here it is served with the right kind of bread, a soft sesame seed bun, a perfectly cooked burger (medium-rare by default), with everything it should have inside, and crispy French fries. It’s actually a cheeseburger and it costs €15. For the same price you can also order a delicious, and organic, chicken burger, also served with fries. Among the other gourmet sandwiches are the BLT, the hot sandwich Charlot (cheese, beef and grilled onions served on a french roll) and Café Charlot’s own take on the classic croques: le croque jeune homme and le croque jeune fille.
That’s for the sandwich section, there are also some classic French dishes a la carte such as bavette à l’echalotte or swordfish steak served with green beans. Aside from the food, the service is amicable and fast. If you stand out and like to be noticed you are more likely to be stared at, just as much as you can entertain yourself checking out the very Parisian crowd that itself cries for attention!
Other good places in the neighborhood that I recommend are Rose Bakery (another “trendy” place) and Breizh Café (a refreshing bowl of down-to-earthness!)

Café Charlot
38 Rue de Bretagne
75003 Paris
tel: 01.44.54.03.30
Metro: Filles du Calvaire

7/7
M-Sun: 7am-2am (Food is served all day until 12am)

Café des Musées in Paris: Seasonal and artisanal bistro food.

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:50:52 +0000

At Café des Musées, the food is seasonal, straightforward and comforting. Whether choosing the Entrecôte à la plancha with fries and salad in a tarragon dressing (17,50€) or the 19€ dinner menu with its artichoke (served with both crème fraîche and vinaigrette), mackerel and rice, and the plum tart of the day, you will find yourself enjoying a simple meal very well crafted, in a relaxed atmosphere. For dessert try the red currant clafoutis for its perfect balance of sweet and sour (the caramelized hard crust makes it more of a crème brulée than a clafoutis, but that’s just one more reason to order it!) The service is very friendly and the servers are more than happy to speak English. The menu offers a good selection of classic French dishes reasonably priced and for lunch the prix fixe menu is a bargain at 12€. The Café des Musées is open all day and serves breakfast until noon.

Café des Musées
49 Rue de Turenne
75003 Paris
tel: 01.42.72.96.17
Metro: Fille du Calvaire

7/7
breakfast
M-F: 8am-12pm
Sat-Sun: 10.30am-12pm

lunch
M-F: 12pm-3pm
Sat-Sun: 12pm-4pm

Dinner
7pm-11pm

Au Vieux Chêne in Paris: Sustainable, seasonal, delicious bistro food.

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:40:56 +0000

Au Vieux Chêne is a typical French bistro serving traditional food. The restaurant owners are against intensive agricultural practices and the ingredients they use are seasonal to ensure freshness and quality. The food is delicious, whether it be the plate of charcuterie (16€), the suckling lamb shoulder for two, served with a perfect gratin dauphinois and some mixed greens (48€/2 people) or the monkfish cheeks on a bed of buttery spinach that melts in your mouth (24€). “A meal without wine is like a day without sun” says a sign on one of the restaurant’s walls. At Au Vieux Chêne the wines and the Champagnes are excellent and very reasonably priced (wines go from 14€ to 120€ a bottle). Whether simple or elaborate, the dishes are always carefully crafted. For a less expensive meal try their lunch menu: 14€ (appetizer+main dish or main dish+dessert) or 17€ (appetizer+main dish+dessert), and respectively 28€ or 33€ for dinner menus.
For dinner, I recommend making a reservation.

Au vieux Chêne
7 Rue du Dahomey
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.71.67.69
Metro: Faidherbe-Chaligny

M-F: 12pm-2pm / 8pm-10.30pm
Closed on Saturday and Sunday

Le Refectoire: French bistro food.

admin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 06:44:14 +0000

Le refectoire means refectory. The water glasses are the same ones that French kids drink out of in the school cafeteria (the ones that have a number at the bottom.) The dishes served overall are traditional bistro food, sometimes with a twist such as the hachis parmentier (a ground beef-mash potato dish) made here with boudin noir sausage instead of beef. It would have been perfect if served a bit warmer. The hamburger comes with bacon, cheese and avocado and is served with good fries. The place gets very busy around lunch time and quickly empties as people go back to work. Le Refectoire is open all day every day of the week, the wine is cheap and good, there’s free WI-FI, the atmosphere is nice, the servers are very friendly and the few tables on the sidewalk (I’m not going to call it a terrasse) get a lot of sun. You might even get the unsolicited company of the house cat.

Le Refectoire
80 Boulevard Richard Lenoir
75011 Paris
tel: 01.48.06.74.85
Metro: Richard Lenoir, Saint-Ambroise

7/7
M-Sat: 8.30am-12am (lunch: 12pm-2.30pm
dinner: 8pm-11pm)
Sun: 11am-4pm

Rose Bakery in Paris: healthy tasty food in lively neighborhoods.

admin — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:30:12 +0000

Franco-British couple Mr. and Mrs. Rose had a child. They called it Bakery. A Rose Bakery was born in London. Then they decided to move to Paris and they gave birth to a second, and recently a third, Rose Bakery. Rose Bakery is the name of their very successful—hence the new addition to the family—bakery/restaurants. The third Rose Bakery restaurant is in the hands of chef Kaori Endo, a 34 year-old Japanese cook who just published a book of recipes and who will be on T.V for eight cooking shows. At Rose Bakery they use quality ingredients, lots of organic and carefully chosen goods for their savory tarts, quiches, healthy salads (lentil salad, carrot salad, potato salad, baked beans, duck pot-au-feu…) and their delicious desserts (carrot cake, cheesecake, vegan fruit cake, lemon cake, green tea-raspberry cake, banana nut bread, scones, muffins, brownies…) They serve breakfast during the week and brunch on the weekend (eggs, pancakes…). In other words, Rose Bakery is a perfect place for breakfast, lunch, brunch and afternoon tea and pastries. It’s healthy, good, pretty and it is located in two great areas of Paris.

Rose Bakery 3rd arrondissement
30 rue Debelleyme
75003 Paris
tel: 01.49.96.54.01
Metro: Filles du Calvaire

Tu-Sun: 9am-6pm (kitchen closes at 4pm)
Closed on Monday

Rose Bakery 9th arrondissement
46 rue des Martyrs
75009 Paris
tel: 01.42.82.12.80
Metro: Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, Pigalle

Tu-Sun: 10am-6.30pm (kitchen closes at 4pm)
Closed on Monday

Le Temps au Temps: contemporary bistro cuisine in Paris.

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:36:06 +0000

Located on the lively rue Paul Bert Le Temps au Temps is a very small restaurant made very popular by Parisian chef Sylvain Sendra who has opened a new restaurant, Itinéraires, in the 5th arrondissement. Le Temps au Temps is now in the hands of Sylvain Sendra’s former sous-chef but the 26 seats of this tiny restaurant are still always full and reservations must be made. The food is simple and comforting; the dishes are well composed and the ingredients carefully selected. Dinner is 20€ for a main dish, 27€ for an appetizer+main dish or a main dish+dessert. Wine is not included. If you are interested in trying the tenderest part of the beef, try the beef cheek (a French traditional delicacy) and its celery mousseline, it’s delicious. The menu changes regularly according to what is seasonal.

Le Temps au Temps
13 Rue Paul Bert
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.79.63.40
Metro: Faidherbe - Chaligny

W-Sun: 12pm-1.30pm / 8pm-10.30pm
Closed on Monday, Tuesday, for Christmas and in August.

Le Petit Café on rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine in Paris

admin — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:08:57 +0000

When 70’s formica countertops meet 90’s track lighting, you have Le Petit Café on rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. It is a very small and charming little neighborhood café, with 8 tables (6 tables of 4 and 2 tables of 2) and a bar — a small formica bar. It is tended by the lovely Arlette, a lady in her early seventies, who bakes the sweet tarts and the delicious quiches herself. I walked in really hungry one day and even though it was tea time she made me up a plate of quiche Lorraine and cruditées (shredded carrots, celery remoulade, red cabbage and some diced beets). It totally hit the spot.
Le Petit Café is a very mellow place, a little corner of peace and quiet in the middle of the very busy Faubourg Saint-Antoine—the cabinetmakers’ neighborhood since the Middle Ages.

Le Petit Café
89 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine
75011 Paris
tel: 01.43.43.11.63
Metro: Ledru-Rollin

M: 1pm-7pm
Tu-Sat: 10am-7pm
Closed on Sunday