A friend and I are just beginning to plan our 7th trip to Paris for 04/09. Naturally we talked about the many restaurants and cafes that we like and what we had there, and how much we are looking forward to re-visiting them. But half the fun for us is wandering around and looking at new places to have lunch or dinner, and even with planning on 10 days, we could use up every night just going back to restaurants from previous trips.
For people who go to Paris often or once every year and who have many favorite dinner places, what do you do? Miss one and take a chance on a new restaurant?
Thanks
Pjk
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Pjk,
In terms of restaurants, variety is the spice of life, for me.
I always go back to old favorites and I keep my ear to the ground to listen for something new. The New York Times has some nice tips (see Mark Bittman%26#39;s articles) and I have a few people in Paris who have turned me on to places like Chez Michel (which is now in the guide books), les Cocottes, and le Beurre Noisette.
Take a look at Zagat%26#39;s guide and better yet, try %26quot;Eating and Drinking in Paris%26quot; by Herbach and Dillon. You can scour the NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and some of the UK papers for some timely tips too.
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After many trips to Paris we tend to just eat around where we are at the time, if it looks a nice place.
We may eat in an old favourite but it is not always as good as it has been before.
Sometimes in the back of my mind I remember a recommendation but with a abundance of bistro restaurants and cafes its nice to experiment, you really are spoiled for choice.
My personal opinion is that there is a lot of unnecessary hype about the food in Paris. Yes, on average the food is good but I sometimes wonder what sort of food is available to people at home when they wax lyrical about food from this place or that.
On my last trip we ate at L%26#39;Insulaire in the 6th arrondisement which had been recommended on TA. I had the BEST Chateaubriand steak I have ever had in my life but my husbands meal of veal was distinctly average. Furthermore he was very uncomfortable crushed in the chair in a crowded restaurant. So we had very different experiences of the same restaurant at the same meal. I would recommend it, he would not.
Having said all that food is not the main attraction of Paris for me, neither are museums and art galleries, they are just part of the whole package.
Denise
love from England
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We tend to do a bit of both - revisit old favourites as well as chance a few new places. The choice of new place is sometimes made by recommendation (in Trip Advisor, guide books, restaurant guides) or sometimes just by instinct.
Of course, while the quality and value of the food is important, so is the ambience and service. I tend to prefer small, traditional, relaxed places rather than stiff-shirt temples of gastronomy.
Also, I think there is something nice about feeling like %26quot;un habitué%26quot; by dining in the same restaurant a few times and so being recognised as a regular by the staff.
Bon appetit!
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We%26#39;re also in the %26quot;bit of both%26quot; category – though we make the trip more like once every 18 months than every 12 months.
This time, for example, we have Spring on our list which we%26#39;ve never tried before but will definitely have to at least have lunch at Le Pre Verre.
I also agree with the poster - was it Denise?- who said that sometimes former favourites don%26#39;t live up to expectations.
Last trip, one of our former favourites – Le Pamphlet in the 3rd – fell off the list. The food it still OK – it%26#39;s just not what it once was (which was inspired). With the beige makeover, the fire seems to have gone out of the belly of the place.
Prices had also gone up a lot, too....
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Ella.....we really enjoyed lunch at Le Pre Verre.
One of the best meals of our last trip. and good value. I couln%26#39;t resist the pear with caramelised ginger and olive ice creamm....MMMMMMMMM
Lots of love
Denise
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We began a tradition of having our first night%26#39;s dinner at L%26#39;Insulaire a few years ago and it would be a shame not to do this. The food is good and not very expensive and we like the atmosphere.
We%26#39;ve become friends with the owner and waiters at the Brasserie D%26#39;Ile St Louis so have to stop there for drinks in the afternoon and dinner one night.
I%26#39;d hate to miss Robert %26amp; Loiuse, the Cafe Mazzerin, Le Temps Perdu, but I suppose that would leave room for a new place around the rue Moufftard and up in Montmarte. Curiously, we%26#39;ve walked by Fish several times and have not gone in for some reason, even though it%26#39;s mentioned here alot.
Pjk
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If you don%26#39;t take a chance on some new restaurants, you%26#39;ll miss out on having any future new favorites.
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Can highly recommend Les Boquinistes, a Guy Savoy enterprise but at a very reasonable cost for the quality of the food and service. Quai des Augustines.
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I tend toward sticking with old faves, but not sure that%26#39;s the best way to go you limit your possibilities -- I%26#39;d go 50/50. My worry is that I%26#39;ll waste a precious dinner on a meal I don%26#39;t love, but most times I try something newly recommended, I like it.
You also have to consider how varied peoples%26#39; preferences are -- some like fancy, some like down home, some prefer foreign, others only want traditional French.
Try some new, visit the old and post a trip report so we can steal some ideas for our next trip!
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