So overwhelmed..please help.. Le Cinq & Taillevant

[amerasianchic]

Hello! I am new to Chowhound and would really appreciated your expert advice! Both my hubby and I love food but are definitely not as experience or adventurous as some of the people on this board. This will be my first time in Paris and I want to have some amazing meals while I'm there. We love "good tasting" food but don't want it to be too "experimental" if you know what I mean..we are picky in the sense that if it sounds "too" fancy/ avant garde, we are scared to try it for fear it may be too advanced for our tastebuds. After doing some research, I've come to two choices:

1. Le Cinq for Lunch

2. Taillevant for Dinner

Do you think the restaurants I chose fall in that arena or would you suggest something else? I am very open to suggestions!

Thanks!

[Parigi]

When you say you have come to two choices, do you mean you are eating in both places or are thinking of choosing one out of the two?

My choice would be for Le Cinq.

Soup pointed out recently that the choice of both Le Cinq and TaillevEnt should be rethought because they may be too similar an experience, and I agree.

Don't worry about the food being too fancy/avant garde. Firstly Le Cinq is inventive without being weird. (I may not be the right person to talk to, as I have eaten many weird things - dragonfly and silk worm, etc., none in Paris, - and liked them.) Secondly, you have this wonderful occasion of coming to Paris. Why not try the best that Paris has to offer and be more adventuresome? You don't have to like everything, but it would be regrettable not to try.
If you are very afraid of eating something you don't like, limit your losses and go for the menu-dégustation if such is available.

And whether you finally choose Le Cinq or TaillevEnt, I would not schedule two such rich experience on the same day, lunch followed by dinner. Give yourself at least two light meals in between. -- Well, that's how I would pace the dining experience, but I have noticed that many fellow hounds have much much better eating stamina than I… :-)

[amerasianchic]

Hi Parigi! Thanks so much for your reply! To clarify, I meant that I was going to have lunch at Le Cinq and then dinner at Taillevant as two of my "splurge" meals..on different days though. I did read somewhere that you should not have such wonderful/decadent meals so close together. I totally see where you're coming from about Le Cinq & Taillevent being too similar. I've heard great things about Guy Savoy but when I looked at their menue online, it just didn't "pull" me in so to speak. But obvsiously everyone is raving about them for a reason..do you think maybe I should do Guy Savoy for lunch at Le Cinq for dinner..or vice versa? Or are they also very similar to each other? I've heard Guy Savoy's atmosphere is more "American" in terms of service/atmosphere but the food..is it similar to Le Cinq? Would you suggest anything else?

Much thanks & appreciation!

[Parigi]

If Guy Savoy were any more user-friendly, it would be giving massage !

With restos of that strastophere, petit bourgeoise that I am (it is tattooed on y forehead), I expect excellence (food AND service) plus inventiveness. GS certainly has the excellence down. I find it less inventive than I would expect, or than, say, Le Cinq. But it may be just right for you if you are afraid of too avant-garde taste. I don't mean to sound condescending; you know what I mean.
Back in the days when one could smoke in restos, 4 diners next to me at GS started to light up cigars and I immediately asked to be moved, which the waitstaff did in record time and with a smile. Can you believe that later in the evening another table of cigar smokers obliged me to demand to be moved again? So happy those days are behind us...

And excuse me for being such a spelling fundamentalist when it comes to proper names. For some reason everyone misspells Taillevent. And Pré Catelan. :-)

[shortstop]

<<If Guy Savoy were any more user-friendly, it would be giving massage !>> Fab!

Agree with Parigi that Taillevent and Le Cinq are duplicative. Amerasianchic, given your criteria, Guy Savoy is a great choice with one of those two. As to your concern that the menu did not pull you in, fwiw, the dishes at Guy Savoy are more interesting than they read on the menu.

Here's a recent report on Guy Savoy: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/696625

[amerasianchic]

Hey guys! Thanks so much for your input! So Le Cinq is definitely on the list..now it's just figuring out the other one. To give you an idea of the food I like, I love savory sauces/food..my favorites are foie gras, scallops & risotto (together), rack of lamb, lobster ravioli, etc. Probably not avant-garde but that's just to give you an idea what I "like" to eat. Let me know if you think there is another restaurant that I would like or if I should go with Guy Savoy!! Thanks!!

[souphie]

Scallops risotto is something SAvoy does really well... especially with white truffles, in season. For the rest, why are not talking about l'Ambroisie already? I mean, in terms of "good tasting" and "no avantgarde", they pretty much rock. And talk about three restaurants with different spirits...

[fanoffrance]

Thanks soup, you took the words right out of my mouth! I last visited l'Ambroisie a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed a heavenly pigeon with little closed vegetable packets, upon opening which I was treated to a perfectly-gauged explosion of Maghreb-inspired spices (no overkill, unlike Ledoyen). To wash it down I simply asked for wine by the glass, which led to finishing off a bottle of superb 2000 Chambolle-Musigny from Magnin. Lovely pineapple dessert, too. My respect for l'Ambroisie just keeps growing; no other restaurant consistently "hits the spot" for me the way they do.