259836 Wed Dec 27 11:26:35 -0800 2000 7 26 International 0 1373457 Are there any recommendations for casual dining around The Latin Quarter /St-Germain-des-Pres area ? We need some guidance as this is the first time we will be staying in 5e area, and a three four meal slots are empty for this purpose. Wed Dec 27 11:26:35 -0800 2000 0 Anil Khullar 1 1373458 Brasserie Balzar on the Rue des Ecoles is a favorite of mine--very tasty standard brasserie fare-leeks vinaigrette, steak frites, good lamb, and it's quite atmospheric and Parisian. La Lozere, which I think is behind the Musee de Cluny, is an inexpensive regional restaurant -- the food is delicious and served in gargantuan portions--very good cheese selection. Polidor can be a little touristy, but has good snails and, if it's on the menu, guinea hen that'll knock your socks off. If you'd like a splurge for lunch in that area, try Arpege. I know it's gotten mixed comments on these boards but I have eaten there several times in the last few years and found it consistently well above average, and the ambiance is not quite so stuffy as some of the other big-name places. Wed Dec 27 13:19:47 -0800 2000 1373457 0 Martha Gehan 2 1373460 In the 5th, near the Institut du Monde Arabe on Blvd. St. Germain, there is an excellent Moroccan restuarant (the best North African food I've had in Paris) - L'Atlas. All the tajines are wonderful, and suprisingly we really enjoyed the desserts as well (a mint "creme renversee" to die for). Plus great mint tea. (Do not confuse this with Le Ziryab AT l'Institut du Monde Arabe - although the building is pretty cool, and there is a great view from the tea room (a fun stop on any clear day) on the top floor - the food at the restaurant is pretty pedestrian.) In the 6th, Le Relais Louis XIII, is a good "splurge-lite" restaurant - expect to spend $50 pp. Great classic French food in a beautiful setting - really nice if you want a treat, but can't afford (as I haven't been able to so far, the Arpeges of the world). Right near Saint-Sulpice, also in the "splurge-lite" category, is Les Brezolles, a small restaurant opened by a guy whose last restaurant was a fancy Michelin 2 star deal. The food here was superb and finely done. However, I thought the service was a bit rude and disorganized. For a cheaper eat in the sixieme, we had a good meal last time at the family-run Le Bistrot D'Alex - "menus" start at 140F ($20). The menu has a regional split personality - half lyonnais/half provencal - but everything was hearty and yummy and the proprietor (his son is the chef) was really warm and friendly. My notes say "R. Clement" - but you might want to check the Paris yellow pages. PS. If you are brave, try the brains -- I only had a bite (being cowardly) but they were delicious! Contrary to Martha, I would give Polidor a definite NO. It's got to be one of the cheaper meals in Paris - last year a complete lunch was still 55F ($8), and I have a friend who is the biggest cheapskate in the world (despite being rich) who eats no where else in Paris. I finally tried it two years ago at his urging, and was pretty grossed out - totally packed with bargain seeking tourists and I felt that the kitchen had decided to just play to that audience and not even attempt to cook well - tough veal, soggy tarte tatin, and runny creme caramel were among our complaints! Wed Dec 27 14:09:38 -0800 2000 1373458 0 Elaine 3 1373464 I just got back from a week in Paris and have been meaning to post my recommendations and notes. We depended heavily on Patricia Wells' Food Lover's Guide to Paris, which I can't imagine traveling to Paris without. She also has a website, and I will post the link below. On the website you can link to her International Herald Tribune reviews and some book updates. All of our eating was of the casual sort, so as to be able to fit into our budget. One of the best meals we had was at Les Bookinistes (6e, 53 quai des Grands-Augustins). There's a really bizarre website devoted partly to this restaurant at www.guysavoy.com, but I couldn't extract any useful info out of it. Again, I recommend getting Patricia Wells' book. We arrived at the restaurant having made reservations through our hideous hotel to find that we, in fact, did not have reservations. However, they wanted to make us happy and found a table for us within half an hour. The place was packed all through the night. The crowd was somewhat touristy but overall a good mix, and the restaurant is far enough away from the main Latin Quarter crowds to avoid the mobs. The service was very good although slightly uneven, very friendly, and the food was excellent. William Ledeuil, the chef, is supposedly trying to produce updated French home cooking. I would have to say that he succeeds admirably. I had an incredible potato soup, easily the best appetizer we ordered, although a raw salmon dish with mashed broccoli was very good also. We all ordered fish, but I don't have the details handy right now. Suffice it to say that everything was great, and I think we ended up spending $165 for three including wine. I second the recommendation for Balzar (5e, rue des Ecoles). I've been there a couple times now. It seems at first that the service will be stiff, but for us at least, they turned out to be warm and friendly. The food is delivered to a side table where the waiter makes up a plate for you. Twice I have enjoyed the skate with capers in a butter sauce with a side of beautiful boiled potatoes. I don't recommend the desserts, however, although maybe you should just avoid the glaces. Balzar is fairly inexpensive. I think it ran us around $30/person. Cafe de Flore is one of my all time favorite inexpensive meals. You can go anytime and eat--I particularly like it for a very late night meal after a day spent hoofing it around Paris. It's a beautiful Art Deco place with red banquettes and has a great vibe, not to mention a history as a literary hangout for the likes of Camus and Sartre. When I went to Paris by myself, I felt perfectly comfortable sitting and reading and taking in the crowd while nursing a coffee. My favorite thing to eat there is warm goat cheese on Poilane toast and a green salad. We went to numerous other great places, but they weren't in the 5e/6e. However, with the excellent Metro system, you don't really need to limit yourselves, since you can be just about anywhere else in Paris in about half an hour. I should note that a Patricia Wells recommendation, Les Bouchons de Francois Clerc, has definitely gone downhill since its review. Perhaps it is under new management. Have a great time! Link: http://www.patriciawells.com/ Wed Dec 27 17:26:24 -0800 2000 1373460 0 Peter Cuce 4 1373465 I neglected to mention L'Equitable, in the 5th arrondissement (1 Rue Fosses-Saint-Marcel), another Patricia Wells choice from her IHT reviews. This was our first meal in Paris, fresh from checking into our hotel. The place is a little hard to find but worth the effort. One of the owners runs the dining room, and she's incredibly friendly, helpful and speaks great English (she lived in DC for 15 years). I won't go into too much detail but instead will include the review below. Our meal started with a wonderful sour cherry aperitif (special of the day). All the courses after that were great, but I have to say that without the help of my travel-mates, the rest is a blur. By the end of the meal, we were practically falling asleep at the table, having been awake for 42 hours. I'll talk to the people I traveled with and get some more cogent rememberances together. Link: http://www.patriciawells.com/Articles/2000/cheer.htm Wed Dec 27 17:38:17 -0800 2000 1373464 0 Peter Cuce 4 1373466 Peter, Did the wine disappoint as well at Les Bouchons...? I've been curious to try this place, but wondered if the emphasis on great affordable wines wasn't being done at the expense of the food... (No one ever seems to talk about the food after going there). Wed Dec 27 18:02:42 -0800 2000 1373464 0 Elaine 5 1373467 Hi Elaine I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn't focus all too much on the wines, not knowing beforehand that the place's reputation rested on its wine list. The list is certainly voluminous, with many choices per region, and most of them seemed well-priced, but as I said before, we didn't spend much time with it and ended up with a decent Sancerre. Mainly, we were disappointed by the overall Les Bouchons experience, and it's not my desire to pay the 225FFR per person prix fixe for mediocre food and listless service to experience a well-priced wine list. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Wed Dec 27 19:07:01 -0800 2000 1373466 0 Peter Cuce 6 1373468 Admittedly, this information is outdated, but we went to ...Clerc last February and I still have some recollection of both food and wine. First off, if I'm remembering accurately, this is now a chain with other locations in Paris. Maybe this expansion was subsequent to the Welles review. Nevertheless, we ate at the one in the 5e. As I recall, everything is prix fixe. I had oysters en gelee with wasabi cream, and my wife had a salad with foie gras & prosciutto. Mains were 7-hour lamb for me, and rognons (Kidneys) for my wife. The food was adequate or better and reasonably priced. The desserts were not memorable - or at least I don't remember them. The cheese course was, however, the best part of the meal. They bring over the entire cheese board with some 20 or so cheeses and it's yours to go at ad lib. There were some interesting and smelly cheeses - a real plus. The wines at "cost" were an interesting feature. I couldn't resist a '97 Vosne Romanee for something like $20-25 but should have. The wine was either way too young or not too good. Even "breathing" for a while didn't help. I suppose I could have found a tastier, if not better "value" selection. C'est la vie. Your move. Andrew Wed Dec 27 20:05:26 -0800 2000 1373467 0 Andrew