Restaurant Review -- Le Bistrot du Maquis

69 Rue Caulaincourt, 75018
Tel:  01 46 06 06 64
Metro: Lamarck-Caulincourt (line 12)
Closed Tuesday and Wednesday lunch.

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+)

 4 - Star......................................................€€......................................................... 2 - Bell

We were invited to have lunch with one of our favorite couple who lives in the 18eme where this restaurant is located. In fact, it's our old neighborhood of Montmartre.  Walking to the restaurant around the Lamarck-Caulaincourt brought back a lot of good memories.

We were told by our friend J that the chef and owner, Andre Le Letty has quite the pedigree, having worked at some of the notable restaurants such as Anacreon, L'Agassin, Ledoyen, Prunier and the Tour d'Argent to name a few.

As we entered, it's not a large restaurant but very, very cozy. Our friends were already there and was greeted by the Chef himself. He greeted us and poured us some of the wines that our friends ordered. The Chef's wife, who runs the front of the house provided us with 3-menus. Their standard menu, a chalk-board of their standard fare, which you can mix and match, and finally a menu listing the special of the day.

Two of us ordered the "Menu of the Day", and J and I ordered a la carte.

ENTREES:

Two ordered the "Salade de gésiers" (gizzard salad).  The greens were very good and it was tossed in a nice vinaigrette dressing. But we all agreed that the gésiers were a bit well done.

I had the "Cassolette d'escargots a la creme de carottes et gingembre" (snail casserole with cream of carrot and ginger). I absolutely loved this dish. First of all, it was a colorful dish. The Chef must've added a touch of turmeric to add the brilliant color of the soup, but the spice was very subtle.  The light creamy sauce/soup that surrounded the perfectly cooked snails was delicious. And, what's a cassollette without the beans. He had perfectly cooked white beans which complimented the dish. No one flavor was overwhelming. It was a well composed dish and I could see eating a larger portion of that dish as a main course.

PLATS:

J had the "Poitrine de veau braisé a l'ail des ours, legumes printaniers" (Breast of veal braised with garlic, spring vegetables).   Although all the dishes were beautifully presented, this won the prize for the prettiest of all our dishes. I tasted the poitrine, and I must say the meat was so tender and juicy. Veal doesn't have a strong flavor, but the subtle infusion of the garlic made it perfect. J wanted it a little saltier, so asked for salt, whereas I thought it was perfectly seasoned.

I find that most vegetables cooked in France are way over-cooked for my liking. But the vegetables accompanying this dish were perfect, they were al-dente.

JJ had the "Croustillant de boudin noir avec pommes" (Blood sausage with an apple encased in a crispy pastry). I liked the juxtaposition of crispy from the pastry, sweet from the apples, and savory from the blood sausage. The Chef only used the filling of the blood sausage, so it made sense to encase it, since blood sausage not in its casing can be pretty ugly and unappealing. I thought it was a very good dish.  JJ especially liked the potatoes. It appeared the Chef baked it and molded into a round, since they were not mashed, but extremely moist and tender. And, the accompanying jus was a nice cohesive element to this dish. In it's simplicity came some wonderful textures and flavors.

C. ordered the "Fricassee de cuisse de poulet à l'estragon" (Chicken leg fricassee with tarragon). She absolutely loved this dish. I had a taste of it and thought it was very good. It reminded me a of a de-constructed "chicken-pot-pie" but without the pastry crust.  The flavors were all very subtle and unlike a a traditional chicken-pot-pie the sauce/soup was light and not thickened with corn starch but thickened more with cream and butter. And, the chicken was very tasty with the tarragon seasoning.  

I had the "Poitrine de porc rôti au thym" (Roast belly pork with thyme). There seems to be a theme in the Chef's dishes, in its simplicity comes flavor.  I loved this dish. Some may not like it because pork belly does have the characteristic fat that should be eaten. The pork had a nice crispy exterior and a very succulent tender interior. It was accompanied with carrot and pearl onions with a fabulous mold of potato slices and charred on top to give a nice crunchy element. And, the jus was a perfect accompaniment. I loved this dish.


DESSERTS:

JJ, ordered the "Nage de Rhubarbe aux épices douces, glace yaourt" (Poached Rhubarb with sweet spices, yoghurt ice).  It was a very, very simple dessert. Although JJ can eat very, very tart rhubarb or for that matter anything citrus, he said the rhubarb was neither overly tart nor overly sweet. The poaching mellowed out the tartness, which I prefer and the nice cooled yoghurt was refreshing. Overall, it was a good dessert.

C. was looking forward to the the "Ile Flotant" (Floating Island) that they had as a special offering at the beginning of the meal; unfortunately, they no longer had any. So C. ordered the "Citron meringue" (lemon meringue). The pudding was layered with a cake. She said it was very good.

With the meals we had two very good bottles of wines. One of each, a red and a white from Château Larchère!















SUMMARY:

There seems to be a theme with the Chef's meals, "SIMPLE but SOLID".  The Chef's pedigree shows. My favorite dish was the entrée of the "Cassolette d'escargots", which I would go back for in a nano-second. My least favorite was the gesiérs salad, only because I thought the gesiérs were over-cooked, but I can overlook that considering everything else was either very good or just plain excellent.  Their "Plat-du-jour" (daily specials) is extremely reasonably priced, with 2-courses for 16€ or all 3-courses for 20€. With 3-entrées, 4-plats, 2-desserts, 2-bottles of wine, and 1 coffee, which as "comped" because they ran out of the "Ile Flotant",  our meal came to 142€. So would I come back? ABSOLUTELY,  I'd come back in a heart beat. Chapeau Chef!

Restaurant Review -- François Felix

9 rue Boissy d'Anglais
75008 Paris
Tele: 01 73 20 23 28
Métro: Concorde (lignes 1, 8 et 12)
website: http://francoisfelix.1001menus.com/

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+)

 2.80 - Star......................................................€€(€)*......................................................... 2 - Bell

*Note: Hamburgers start at €20. A typical 3-course meal and wine, can easily reach over 50€ a person.

We had an appointment at the U.S. Embassy and needed a place close by for lunch. Our friends recommended this restaurant since it's literally around the corner from the U.S. Embassy and across the street from the famed "Buddha Bar."  We were four for lunch. Don't let it freak you out, but there are armed guards as you enter the tiny street on both ends, for obvious reasons.

The restaurant is located in the Rue Saint-Honoré 8eme section of Paris which is known for its high end designer shops, boutiques and some of the famed hotels.

There is a large outdoor eating area, but today was particularly cold, so we opted to sit indoors. Indoors was quite lovely with mirrors and what looked to be a full bar. The wait staff wore kilts, which I found interesting. I asked our wait-person if they were Scottish, and she said no it was just their "uniform."

Their menu was quite extensive, it was in French with a translation below. It was simple and uncomplicated. Food you can easily find in the U.S. such as hamburgers, fish and chips and even fish burgers, along with some French staples such as "magret de canard." They had a nice selections of salads as well. They did have a lunch special, but opted for the regular menu.

We decided to order just a main dish and forgo any entrées.

One person had the "fish and chips"; he liked his fish and chips and I have to say their fries are excellent, very crunchy and nicely salted. The whole dish was good, and it was accompanied with a nice tartar sauce as well as mashed peas. Overall good, but nothing out of the ordinary.

JJ had the "Thai style salad", which was composed of thin slices of raw marinated beef served with bamboo sprouts, soy sprouts, baby corn, carrots, sesame seeds, red onions and cilantro all tossed with a lime soy vinaigrette. Although the combinations sounded fabulous and for the most part the ingredients were excellent and fresh, it lacked any real kick of the typical Thai beef salad that is known as "Yam Neua." But then again we are in a French bistrot, so it had to be "frenchified" and toned down.  Fortunately, they had some tabasco, which JJ gladly used.

Another friend had the "Hot goat cheese salad." It was quite a substantial salad. It had quite a mix of wonderful ingredients. There were dried apricots, chicory and walnut kernels. The goat cheese sat atop a honey toasted glazed slice of baguette. It was tasty, but difficult to eat, since the honey made the toasted baguette chewy. Regardless it was overall a good delicious salad.

I had the "calamari salsa verde".  This dish was definitely misnamed.  I think of salsa as being fresh ingredients such as a red tomato salsa we typically eat with chips in the U.S.  Instead, the salsa actually was a pesto oil, almost reminiscent of what you have with your escargot. The overall concept of the dish was great, but lacked technical delivery. The calamari was woefully under-seasoned and was over-cooked, which made it very rubbery. However, the accompanying fries were delicious.

We passed on dessert but got a cappuccino. The cappuccino was delicious and quite substantial, since it was served in a tall glass. None of us were able to finish it, because of its richness.












SUMMARY:

I was expecting this bistrot to be filled with tourist, but in fact, for lunch it appeared that most of the patrons were French who worked around the area, or came to the area for business. There were some good dishes, nothing out of the ordinary, and there were a few technical errors such as the over-cooked calamari and the honey soaked toast that made it difficult to chew. The service was excellent. But overall, if I have an appointment at the U.S. Embassy and needed a quick good meal I would go back. But I would not go out of my way to have a meal there. With that said, be forewarned, for a bistrot it was quite expensive.  For 4-plats, 2-glasses of wine, 2-bottles of sparkling water, 1-tea, and 3-cappucinos are bill came to 150.50€ for 4-people, but then again you are in the posh area of Rue Saint Honoré (8eme).  Just imagine if we had our typical entrées and/or dessert and  a bottle of wine, our bill could've easily been over 250€.