Jeanne B -- Restaurant Review

Address:  61, Rue Lepic

Tel: 01 42 51 17 53

Metro: Line 12 Abbess ) 

Open:  (9:30 am to 10:30 pm)

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  3.5 - Star...............................................................€.............................................................3 - Bell

This restaurant is located in the heart of the tourist area we know as Montmartre.  It's located on Rue Lepic, in fact not too far from where we used to live.  As you enter the restaurant you'll notice a traiteur (take-out) section and chicken roasting. The smells are intoxicating.

They also have a wonderful selections of desserts. So, if you're not in the mood to cook, here's a great alternative for take out.

There are tables at the front of the restaurant with a large window if you want to people watch.  They also had a wonderfully fabulous room in the back that had a large sun-roof which allowed alot of natural light in.  I loved the back room until it filled up and it became almost impossible to hear anyone.













For the entrée + Plat it was 19 Euro, for the entrée, plat and dessert it was 23 Euros. Very, very reasonable prices.  They also had a cute wine list right on the bottle which we found very amusing.

I had the artichoke, only because I really love artichokes. You can't really mess up an artichoke that's been steamed. It was what I expected and what I wanted.  The accompanying sauce was a mayonnaise type of sauce. Simple but good.

One ordered the hummus.  It was interesting since it was topped with chicken and mushrooms. I liked it, but then I'm a sucker for anything hummus. Whereas our friend thought it was just OK.

Another friend order the lobster bisque, wow this was the best of all three.  It was delicious.  I could've just had that alone. Lots of flavor and just plain delicious without being too rich, the balance was just right.

Now onto our plats (main dishes). One friend ordered the lamb, pink. The lamb was perfectly cooked. It was pink, but not raw and it was delicious and it was accompanied with a small salad and a potato gratin.  We all loved this dish.

One ordered the vegetable pie. Actually, it was just "so-so", nothing extraordinary. It fact very plain. Also accompanied with a salad. Our friend had to ask for tobasco because it was very, very bland.

I had the lobster over a toasted bread with cheese on it. I thought the lobster was good. There wasn't a whole lot of it, but it was good none-the-less and the accompanying salad was a nice accompaniment. I did not like the bread though, it tasted too much like a gateau or a brioche. For me I think that kind of bread should be reserved for French toast, oh well.

For dessert we shared a "cafe gourmand."  It was interesting, cause I've never had a cafe gourmand that was basically 3-different types of chocolate candies: white, dark, and a milk chocolate with some nuts it








Summary:  A great find in the 18eme for a good meal or for take-out. The quality of food was excellent, and the prices unbelievably good. Here's my biggest fear. It's only been open for a month, already tourists are starting to pour in. There's nothing wrong with that, but I find once tourists take over, these types of places become complacent. I just hope they remain true to their charter of having good food at affordable prices.

The other problem I had, once it got crowded in the back, it was unbearably loud. I couldn't wait to leave cause the noise level was intolerable. Our friend had a decibel reader and it reached as high as 75 db.  So, if you go ask to be seated up front.

So, for the 3 of us our bill came to 112 Euros with a bottle of wine, an half a bottle of sparkling water and coffee. If you're in the neighborhood and looking for good simple food, this is the place. And, believe it or not they are open EVERY day, yes, including Sundays and Mondays. 

Les Prolongations -- Restaurant Review

Address:  76, Boulevard de Grenelle

Tel: 01 45 75 62 05

Metro: Line 6 Dupleix) 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  2.75 - Star...............................................................€€.............................................................*1 - Bell

*(Note: we were in a private booth)

This is a restaurant just down the street from "Dernier Metro", and in fact they are the same owners.  Although it's better known for a "Happy Hour" place or for apéros, we decided to try it out for lunch.  It is a Basque style restaurant. It's a very long restaurant with a bar running along its side and 2-tall tables just in front of the bar.  The main dining area was a shared dining area of maybe 14-people, very tight and you get to know your neighbors pretty quickly.  Surprisingly, there were only 3 of us but we got the private round room in the back, which I absolutely adored.  It can easily sit 4 comfortably and 6 snuggly.  So ask for that room if you should want to venture in.

We perused the menu and they have daily lunch specials on a board.  The entrées and the Plats were very reasonably priced  They also had a regular menu which you could order from, so we did both, we ordered from the board as well as the regular menu, to mix it up!  Warning- the formule (prix fixe) only applies to the items on the board... if you mix and match or order from the regular menu you pay a la carte.

For our entrées, I got the pigs ears. I actually liked it a lot. The meat was tender and the cartilage had the nice characteristic chewy crunch.  It was a lot like a Filipino dish called "sigsig" typically made with pig's head. Personally, I would liked it better if it had been served with a slice of lime and chilis.  Instead, I sprinkled "espelette" a typical Basque season that has a little bite to it.

One had the vegetable soup. It was very watery, lacked any real flavor even though the stock was clearly chicken. He had to put a lot of pepper and espelette to give it some taste. I had tasted it, and I have one word to describe this soup, bland.

The other entree was the duck livers.  I had a taste of this, and I really liked it. It was very good, not mealy or overdone. And, adding espelette made it even tastier, so I would highly recommend this dish as an entree.

Two of us had the tripe, which is typically very Basque. It was very good. It was cooked in what I think is a lot of vinegar probably to counteract the fat as well as the smell.  It did not have that typical tripe smell, but it was a tad bit on the greasy side, which is characteristic of the dish.  It was served with potatoes. I liked this dish, but it's not for everyone.

Our companion had the veau (veal) that was cooked in a very thick sauce.  He really enjoyed it, whereas I thought it was tasty, but the texture was off-putting.  It was too, too glutinous.  Way too much flour as a thickening agent.  It's almost as if they took a slurry and just poured it in the stew. And, the sides of mash potatoes was enormous!

For dessert, I had a plate of cheese. Nondescript, but very good.  One person had the apple crumble. It had to have been more then 2-days old. I had a tiny taste of it, it just tasted like it had been baked a few days earlier. It was very dry and I did not like it all.

And, our companion had the creme caramel.  I didn't taste it, but he enjoyed it and thought it was very good.








Overall, I can see how this place would be popular among the young for aperos or "happy hour."  It's not fine dining, there were hits and misses. The service though, was excellent, but as my companion stated, he would opt to go to the "Dernier Metro" in the future.

And, for me, although it was a fun experience, I would prefer trying something else.

Total bill for 3 of us came to 130 Euros that included a bottle of red wine "Domain Abotia" Irouléguy, a carafe of rose, and an additional 2-glasses of wine and coffee.

Le Gagnage -- Restaurant Review

Address:  46, Rue Falguiere 15eme

Tel: 01 43 22 54 48

Open:  Monday - Closed Sundays and Mondays
Metro: Line 12 Pasteur) 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  3.75 - Star...............................................................€€.................................................................1 - Bell

A friend invited us to join him for lunch, and it turned out it was in the 15eme, cool, in our neighborhood.  We're always looking for new restaurants in our "hood."  It's called "Le Gagnage" meaning to forage.  It's a really cute restaurant maybe 24-tables at the most. As we walked in, I noticed our wait person looked really familiar, so I asked her if she had worked at "Le Gran Pan", also in the 15eme, and sure enough she did, and recognized us.  Her name is Aurélie Michel, she left Le Gran Pan in June and opened up Le Gagnage with Jérôme Michel from Garnier in September.  It's a very cute restaurant and Aurélie, from what I recall, was always so nice and pleasant at Le Gran Pan and carried that cordiality over to her new restaurant.

As we perused the menu, they had some really interesting choices. They had a formule, so for an entrée and plat  it was 27 euros.  They also had the special of the day, entrée and plat, or plat and dessert for 22 eruros. I thought the prices were very reasonable.

Two of us had the Gambas entrée, while one of us had the velouté de chou fleur (cauliflower).  Loved the gambas, seasoned perfectly, but the accompanying greens I found a bit strange. Almost as if it had been sitting around awhile so it lost some of its luster and crispness, but the gambas were EXCELLENT. They were seasoned with espelette, and they were pretty a pretty good size!

As for the soup, wow, that was our favorite entree of the meal. It was creamy, but not too heavy and  you didn't have to guess what it was, definitely cauliflower, and it had a nice slice of bacon on top, how can you go wrong with bacon n'est-ce pas?

For our plat.  One of us at the magret de canard. It was cooked "bleue" rare.  I'm not big on rare duck cause I find it very rubbery. But the person who had it loved it.

As for the sword fish, I found it extremely dry, but the accompanying saucy foam was nice. And the vegetables were good too. I hope this is not a trend that they like to overcook their fish.

Their signature dish is the Andouillette, a tripe sausage. This is the dish that they're known for, it's also hand-made. As many of us know you can get some really bad andouillette.  This was incredibly delicious. The tripe was nice and tender, and although it had the typical smell of tripe, it wasn't overwhelming; definitely a winner.

For dessert Two shared a fondant au chocolat  cake or what we know in the US as lava cake.  They both claimed it was delicious.

I had the cheese plate, and I have to say, the choices were wonderful, but there was one particular cheese that I totally fell in love with, "le Plaisir au chablis".  It was creamy, albeit a little on the smelly size, but I just adored it.





We all agreed that the swordfish was a bit overcooked; however, the few misses were more attributable to individual taste than anything else, example I do not like duck "rare".  We would definitely go back. In fact, next friends who want to go, we'll be happy to accompany you.

With 2 bottles of  Coiffy Pinot Noir and a half a bottle of Regnard, and a coffee, our bill came to about 150 euros for 3-people.