Assorted Afflatuses
Woe, Waiters and Water, Part I
Rather than begin the account of my latest Parisian adventure with the often comical, but entirely unpleasant, experience of flying on US Airways, I will instead begin with the food, which was mostly wonderful. Some of the eateries, mostly those chosen for their convenient locations rather than the quality of their food, did not serve up the kind of delicacies that I expected. Others, however, surprised me with their delightful blend of value, charm and good cooking.
Read on for the itemized account.
Day 1: Le Bisto Romain
Briefly: Overpriced, generic Italian food
My meal at le Bistro Romain was born out of convenience. And based upon my experience, its convenience was its only positive attribute. They served me an extremely peculiar salad with baby spinach, overcooked microscopic shrimp and grapefruit sections, all coated in an extremely viscous (and positively disgusting) mayonnaise-based dressing. The chicken risotto that followed the strange salad improved their record, though it still could not justify its high price. Rather than serve the rice slightly wet and perfectly al dente, le Bistro Romain presented me a dry, thick and goopy mélange of Arborio and peas topped with the driest chicken I have ever had the displeasure of ingesting.
Day 2: La Cave de Borgogne
Briefly: Quantity over quality
Tucked away at the end of Rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter, la Cave improved slightly on the altogether terrible experience I had at le Bistro Romain. As far as the food-to-Euro ratio goes, la Cave offered an excellent value. My salad could easily have served as an entire meal and my plat principal came with a side salad, making it too a meal in and of itself. The quality, however, left something to be desired. My salad contained enough goat cheese to give an Olympic sprinter a cholesterol problem and the entrecôte de boeuf served to me by La cave could have stopped a bullet.
Day 3: Le Cafée du Marché
Briefly: Extraordinary café fare at unbelievable prices
After eating at one terrible and one mediocre restaurant, le Cafée du Marché provided a much needed breath of fresh air. My roast chicken came with perfectly browned skin and contained delectably tender meat. I found the accompanying sauce equally pleasing and I could easily have eaten my weight in their velvety cheese-infused mashed potatoes. The almond tart I ordered for dessert was equally pleasing: not too sweet with a somewhat enigmatic tang. But the coup de grâce of this small neighborhood café was its price. I would willingly have paid twice what they charged, especially given the outstanding quality of their simple, well-prepared French bistro fare.
Day 4: Les Deux Magots
Briefly: Reasonable food at slightly unreasonable prices
Just across the street from the over-celebrated Cafée de Flore sits the almost as over-celebrated restaurant, les Deux Magots. Once the home to many of Paris' thinkers and intellectuals, the prices have now risen to a level that no struggling artist could afford. That said, the food was reasonably good. I made the mistake of ordering salmon, which, while not awful, simply could not compare to the fresh Pacific variety I consume so often at home in the Pacific Northwest. The accompanying mashed potatoes, though, were marvelous and the side salad does not deserve any malediction.
Day 5: La Terrasse
Briefly: Pricier and tastier
Far from inexpensive, though not stratospheric, la Terrasse offered well-prepared bistro fare. My onion soup was divine: a thick layer of delicious cheese-covered croutons atop a piping hot bowl of gorgeously caramelized onions and broth. My grilled chicken was tender, juicy and accompanied by a delicious sauce, and the side of basmati rice was perfectly seasoned. Strangely, though, la Terrasse did not offer Vittel, my preferred mineral water, so I had to settle with the slightly funky flavor of Evian instead.
Day 6: An Italian Restaurant on Rue La Fayette
Briefly: Well-priced, well-prepared Italian
For one reason or another, I have completely lost the name of this outstanding Italian restaurant. At half the price of the horrible Bistro Romain, this small neighborhood restaurant offered food at least ten times better. Their basic green salad was pleasant: far from horrible, but not mind-numbingly delicious either. My plat principal, however, was superb. The restaurant cooked the beef, served with a fantastic cream sauce and mushrooms, and stuffed with fresh mozzarella, perfectly. A side of al dente tagliatelle (and lots of French bread) made perfect use of the extra sauce.
Day 7: Jardin de Notre Dame
Briefly: Inexpensive, somewhat imperfect French food with a great view
Jardin de Notre Dame, the only Parisian restaurant where I have dined more than once, had a wide selection of classic French fare and a charming view of Notre Dame de Paris. The vegetable soup I ordered was adequate, though the waiter's veiled refusal to explain exactly which vegetables went into the soup was slightly unsettling. The lovely steak au poivre that followed the soup could have left the grill a few seconds sooner; its sauce, however, attained a perfect balance between creaminess and viscousness. My dessert, a crème caramel, resembled rubber more than dessert in some respects, but other restaurants stateside have served me much, much worse. All in all, pleasant experience.
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