Down by Paris's Riverside, dining along the Seine?

[t14072]

Thanks everyone for all your help. In the NY Times this Sunday is an article Down By Paris's Riverside. Are there any barges with restaurants that you can recommend to eat at? Perhaps it is not the finest of dining but it could be a delightful evening combining food, drink, lights, and atmosphere. What do you think?

[ChefJune]

As many times as I have been in Paris, I have never considered dining (if one could call it that!) aboard a boat. I have never heard of anyone enjoying an excellent meal on one of those river boats. Yes they serve food, but.....

Here's a great idea for a cruise without dinner. How about a Champagne cruise? Olivier Magny of O Chateau offers this, and it sounds lovely. http://www.o-chateau.com/paris-champa...

[fitzwater]

This site is hilarious! Does anyone know of someone who has done an O-Chateau event? The wine & cheese looks fun, as does the wine tasting + champagne cruise package. So, from those in the know, is this a tacky tourist trap or legitimate fun experience?

[ChefJune]

I've done a tasting with them. it's not a "ttt."

[fitzwater]

The site cracks me up, but I wasn't sure how to interpret it. Thanks for the feedback!

[Parigi]

June, tu as échappé bel. The cruise dinners are so awful, - and I kept getting invited by clients, - that the last couple of times I had to eat before going.
Once a friend chartered a boat and we just had drinks and that was enchanting.
In fact that would be my advice: Do take a boat ride. It is a wonderful way of seeing the Seine. Then have a real meal afterwards…

[mangeur]

Or combine the two! Take the Voguéo "navette fluviale" (3€ per direction) on the river at Gare de Austerlitz to quai de la Gare stop, then pick one of the barge restaurants for lunch or dinner. . Or get to the q.d.l.g. by metro and take the Voguéo after your meal to its eastern terminal and back to Austerlitz.

Also, there are many quai side "lounges" on the Quai de la Gare, places to enjoy the sun, a few drinks of your choice and some light food. Great "lizarding". You really feel like you are out of town.

[monchique]

Not really for the food, but for the cruise and the views: http://www.bateauxdeparis.com/index_e...

[fitzwater]

I read the NYT article as well and it made me think of doing some sort of Seine tour. So a question for those in Paris - is it worth it to do a lunch/dinner cruise on the Seine if my husband has never been to Paris and it's been 10+ years for me? Or is there such a thing as a cocktail tour? Then we could disembark for a good dinner on land? Just curious if folks find it a tourist trap or truly a fun thing to do...?

[souphie]

There are plenty of boat tours, on which there are drinks, and after which you can always go for dinner.

[John Talbott]

I will be going to the Batofar but not until late August; when are you coming over?

[mangeur]

FWIW, Emanuel Rubin recommended Le Batofar (13e, Port de la Gare, Quai François-Mauriac ) in the June 10 Figaroscope.
http://restaurant.batofar.org/les-pho...

[Parigi]

Seems to prove that one can't unite good food and good view…

[souphie]

The nice ones are outside of town, in Issy-les-Moulineaux (eg River Café) and Neuilly (mostly on the Ile de la Jatte). Indeed the food is not wonderful but it's OK. In town, the riverside is, like in Manhattan, mostly a highway.

[mangeur]

There are several options on the Quai de Conti in the 6th. Again, it would be the river scene rather than the food.

[souphie]

If that counts as "by the river", then la Rotisserie du Beaujolais is definitely my favorite option. But I thought by "by the river" actually meant you can see some water.

[Parigi]

OP said he wanted to eat at a barge.

[t14072]

It is one of my favorite options as well. The mister and I had gone there, on your advise, and loved the duck, the staff, and the view. Will definitely put it on the list(otl). This might be as close as I get to dining on the river, but that is okay by me!

[John Talbott]

With the change in rules, then, I vote for Le Reminet, one cannot "barge" in however.

[mangeur]

I was referring to actual barges, such as La Balle au Bond, which I misplaced on Quai Conti rather than Malaquais. Especially hot on weekend nights when they have a doorman who checks to see if you're hip enough.
http://alaballeaubond.com/location-peniche-paris.php
http://alaballeaubond.com/location-pe...

Also, the plage at Batafor, mentioned above. We did a walk-by but didn't eat there, waiting for JT's upcoming August report.

[John Talbott]

"JT's upcoming August report." Soon, soon.

[John Talbott]

Ah, here's the scoop on Batofar, where I ate today. It's a fun place, in a beautiful spot, with a new chef who was apparently brought in to move it (according to Figaroscope) from a jazz and wine joint to a real resto. Inside the boat that's docked are lovely bars, tables and real stainless steel "heads" where the music, dinner and cold weather dining occur, outside in good weather and I guess mainly at lunch are 6 20-person picnic tables like you had at that camp you hated, covered with a giant umbrella, where fairly well-provisioned food is served using a real plancha, rotisserie etc not just a microwave and frigo. It is not a place to trek 45 minutes to eat at, even on the nifty-swifty #14 Metro, but I think if 18 of my pals wanted to waste an evening with music, wine, OK food, wine, music and wine and the weather were perfect, I'd go. But for romance and/or with Colette, I don't think so. But I reiterate; I had fun and do not regret going. There are some pix at JT's Paris.

[John Talbott]

I forgot to add: next door (East) was a boat and similar looking dockside resto called the Charleston aka Peniche Charleston where a young/hip couple I asked directions of/from were headed. Whereas the Batofar had 5 customers in its 120 places, they were chockablock full and it looked like a much more happening place (the carte did not look more exciting, but who knows.) It's time for Mangeur or Soup to sacrifice their bodies for the Chow Team and find out.