Report from Paris: Cafe des Musees, Le Troquet, L'os a Moelle

[shopwinedinefine]

I am just back from a week in Paris and wanted to give an eating report - I will break it up into a couple of posts for easier reading....

1) Cafe des Musees (3eme) - This lunch was our first meal, and the only one on my list not recommended by Chowhound. I took Pudlowski's recommendation, and found out quickly that Chowhound is far more reliable. There was nothing really wrong with Cafe des Musees, but I found the food to be a little on the oily side. Typical bistro atmosphere, good service. The two course prix fixe was 13.50.

2) Le Troquet (15eme) - Fantastic!!! We had the 6 course degustation for 36E, which was an absolute steal for the quality of the food. There was a soup, a salmon starter, a fish course, a meat course (a fabulous duck!!), cheese, and dessert. The atmosphere is very lively. The restaurant is kind of an L-shape, and we were seated along the side near the kitchen. The cook was at the kitchen door most of the night, readying plates and then clapping his hands to get the attention of the servers when it was ready. He would call out the table number it was for, like: "Seize!!" It was a lot of fun to see. We had a fabulous meal and as you leave the restaurant, you can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance.

3) L'os a Moelle - This restaurant is well supported on this board and for good reason. We had the 5-course degustation for 36E. With wine, the bill came to 100E. Some of the items we ate included mushroom soup, pork leg, and beef shank. We were there for around 2.5 hours and had a fabulous time. The food is excellent, the service is good, and the yellow walls give the place a very warm atmosphere.

Thanks to all those on the France board for their invaluable advice!

[Brunella]

I just finished reading Patricia Wells book We've always had Paris. In it she describes how when she was a food critic she would go into a restaurant anonymously and always made reservations in her maiden name so she would not be recognized. She explained that in France, food critics usually announce themselves (well....Michelin does it anonymously too) . This would support what you are saying about Pudlo. Its very possible they knew who he was and pulled out all the stops. One more thing in favor of Michelin.