5 days in Paris

[Ziontrain420]

Hello all,

My wife and I are going to be in Paris the beginning of October, 5 days total. Looking for suggestions on food, beer and wine spots in the city. NIce local spots. We are both adventurous eaters, so we are looking for all types of food, as well as great little bars to hang at. Thanks in advance for any help.

[Martins]

For something different in Paris
Maghreb in Paris
Where to go to find the sights, smells and sounds of the Maghreb in Paris
Les 4 Frères
37, Boulevard de la Villette, 75010 (Main entrance: 35 rue Sambre et Meuse)
Métro: Belleville or Colonel Fabien
El Mehdaoui Musique
39, Boulevard de la Villette, 75010
One door down from the 4 Frères and the place for North African music from raï to chaabi.
La Bague de Kenza
106 rue Saint Maur, Paris 75011
Paris’ top Algerian patisserie brimming with cornes de gazelles, ghribia and dziriate.
La Grande Mosquée de Paris
2 bis, place du Puits de l’Ermite, 75005
The courtyard is a lovely place to have mint tea during the summer.
Barbès market takes place in the 18th arrondissement on Wednesday and Saturday mornings under the elevated Métro tracks along the Boulevard de la Chapelle (Métro: Barbès-Rochechouart or La Chapelle), and is the main market for the largely Arab and Francophone African populations of Paris.
The surrounding Goutte d’Or neighborhood is full of cheap restaurants, public hammams and halal butchers.

[mangeur]

Grain d'Orge specializes in Belgian food and beers: http://restaurant.abemadi.com/fr/y/5/...

15, rue de l’Arc de Triomphe, Paris 75017
01 45 72 07 14

[olivierb]

Food and wine spots have been covered in a large number of other posts, and you'll probably get another round of good recommendations from others.

As far as beer goes, let me tell you that Paris is not the best place on Earth (nor in France!) to have beer. That said, it's not the worst either, as you'll have access to many beers, most of them European, and particularly French and Belgian beers. I'm still wondering why excellent Scandinavian, Italian or British beers are not available here, but I promise I'll solve that the day I open my shop/bar/etc. (ie. never).

There are two ways you can taste those beers: either you get them at a bar for immediate satisfaction, or you buy them to bring home (but it's heavy) or drink in your hotel room.

First of all, I can tell you that Paris doesn't have any good beer bar. Or if it exists, please someone tell me, I've been searching for two years and haven't found it. That said, you can find some places that will offer a few good beers like l'Académie de la Bière (5th), Au Trappiste (1st), La Gueuze (5th), etc.
One I like that is mostly a student's bar is La Belette qui Tête in the 13th, not too far from place d'Italie. They have a good selection, and inexpensive. Once again, it's more often that not filled with noisy young people, I'm not sure if you're really looking for that.

So, all in all, I guess the best way to enjoy good beers in Paris is to buy some in a shop.
There are several stores that are all worth checking. My favorite is the Bootlegger rue de l'Ouest in the 14th. They have mostly belgian beers, but also some French, German and English ones. Two other shops that also focus a lot on Belgian beers are La Soif du Malt rue St-Maur in the 19th and Bières Cultes in the 18th (rue Damrémont) and 17th. The last one I know is La Cave à Bulles rue Tiquetonne in the 1st, behind Beaubourg. The selection is focused on French and organic beers. I'm not too fond of most French beers, but some are worth trying and the owner is wonderful, very passionate and eager to share his knowledge with his customers.
At each of these shops, prices are roughly equivalent, from 1EUR to 2,5EUR for a 33cL bottle and 2,5EUR to 6EUR (15EUR for Cantillon beers) for a 75cL bottle.

[PhilD]

Oliver - have you tried the "frog" pubs for British beer...? http://www.frogpubs.com/

[olivierb]

Yup, I found their beers average, all lacking character. In the same style, I guess I like the O'Neil a little bit better.

[souphie]

But they have free wifi and they're cheap.

[Delucacheesemonger]

My apartment has free WIFI and l am cheap, yet my beer selection is meager; Chimay and Duval.

[PhilD]

The answer to the question "why can't I gt excellent British beer i Paris" is quite simple: it is a live product that is maturing in the barrel and therefore needs careful handling which often means it doesn't travel well. It also has a limited shelf life so to be enjoyed at it's best there must be a healthy turnover in the pub with a good volume of the being consumed, maybe a couple of barrels a week..

[olivierb]

This, I can understand.
However, a lot of Belgian beers can age very well for example. Good beer bars can offer different vintage of the same beer. I have yet to see that in Paris.
But hey, Brussels is only 2h away and Antwerp a few minutes more, so it's not like there's no solution to this problem.

[souphie]

So it's the same reason you can't get excellent German beer?