John Talbott's Paris

Reviews of reviews - The week of February 19th, 2018

Monday/Tuesday, A Nous Paris had no reviews by Philippe Toinard or Jerome Berger but summarized places around Oberkampf.

Tuesday in Le Fooding, they reviewed Echizen Soba Togo in the 1st.

Wednesday the 10th, in the Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed 5 new restaurants giving 3 hearts each to the old style truck stop like Aux Bons Crus, 54, rue Godefroy-Cavaignac in the 11th, closed Sundays, 01.45.67.21/13, costing 16 E for a lunch formula or 25-40 E a la carte for items such as beet salad, andouillette and floating island and the Crillon’s Brasserie d’Aumont, 10 place de la Concorde in the 8th, 01.44.71.15.15, open 7/7 costing 30-70 E for items such as oysters, roast poulpe and a fig millefeuille.  He gave two hearts each to the champagne-oriented Bubble Suite in the Hotel Hilton Opera, 108 rue St-Lazare in the 8th, 01.40.08.44.08, open evenings from Wednesday to Friday costing 35 E and up for cocktails, bubbly and foie gras a well as the previously mentioned and tested Darock in the 20th and the Italian Faggio Osteria with a Japanese chef in the 9th.  His Hache Menu concerned Les Comediens (the one in the 9th not the 14th).

The Dossier by Alice Bosio and Hugo de Saint Phalle talked about places that stay open late that included: Au Pied de Cochon, Ippudo, La Rotonde, Armani Caffe, Mercello, Le Drugstore, La Maison de l’Aubrac, the Grand Amour Hotel, La Fidelite and the Bouillon Pigalle.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in her Paris Update liked the previously mentioned Automne in the 11th and the Israeli Sabatin in the 2nd.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, they reviewed the Sri Lankan Kanna Tanna in the 2nd, the Korean-fusion Cam in the 3rd and the above mentioned Aux Bons Crus in the 11th.

The week of February 12th, 2018, 2018

Monday/Tuesday, in A Nous Paris, Philippe Toinard reviewed rated as 3 dots Pouledeluxe, 117, ave Mozart in the 16th, 01.40.71.13.11, closed Sunday evenings running one 25-45 E for all sorts of meat in addition to Red Label chicken, that includes a famous secret Sosauce, and Jerome Berger gave the same score to the previously mentioned Mexican Oxte.

Tuesday in Le Fooding, Matthieu Jauniau-Dallier reviewed the second Japanese-influenced restaurant of the Neige d’Ete group, this called Restaurant Pilgrim in the 15th.

Wednesday the 10th, in the Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed 5 new restaurants giving 2 hearts each to the Asian rice-oriented Riz Riz in the 3rd and the second version of the country saloon Melt in the Batignolles in the 17th.  Garnering one heart each were Homer (All about Lobster) in the 4th, the “old Paris” bistro Au Coup de Torchon in the 6th, and the Quebecoise Maison de la Poutine in the 2nd.

The Dossier by Alice Bosio, Colette Monsat and Hugo de Saint Phalle talked about good hotel restaurants, including: the Ristorante National, Maison Breguet, Rivie, Les Passerelles, Balagan, Bien Venue, Tosca and L’Hotel des Grands Boulevards.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in her Paris Update liked the previously mentioned GAG in the 2nd.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, Francois Regis Gaudry reviewed Empreinte in Lille.

Grive in the 11th: Wow, zow, zooie, an astonishing meal to end an astonishing series of places in the 11th"

Background.  For almost two decades I’ve been lunching with a guy I call the RFC, aka a real food critic, and while he says that he’s no longer plugged into the hot restaurant line, now that he runs his own hot place, today's meal shows he’s not lost his ability to sniff good places out.

7.5 Grive, 18, rue Breguet in the 11th, 01.43.55.53.93, closed weekends (Metro: Breguet Sabin) is another new “find” in the 11th where I wouldn’t be surprised if the Messiah suddenly set it shop.

I looked at the window and saw they had oysters from St Vaast to eat in or take out and knew next year would be great because my great Chinese-American-French told me oysters were predictive of good fortune on this day, the Lunar New Year.  We’ll forget that 50 years ago, Tet did not lead to a better life.

Anyway I entered and I ordered the oysters and he the Bayeux ham and wild garlic, ho hum, you think.  Unh unh.  The oysters from Yvan Dernis in Lestre were crisp and clean and his ham was beautifully cured and the garlic a great offset.  Not to mention fine bread and butter.

Then he had chicken with carrots two ways (one pickled raw) and I had an Aubrac faux filet cooked blue with an updated chimichurri sauce and a lot of potatoes.  At some point we looked at each other and realized we had stumbled on a real winner.

For dessert I ordered farm creme fraiche topped with slices of Moro oranges and mint - delish!

Our bill with no bottled water but a bottle and 50 cl of wines and two coffees, was €123.50?

Go?  My run of good new places in the 11th only equals that in the 18th.  If you are visiting either this spring, you’ve got great opportunities ahead.

BTW:  The name grive.  Well now that you ask, its a thrush, a tiny bird eaten whole like its predecessors, the ortolan and becasse of French Presidential culinary lore.

Monsieur in the Lancaster in the 8th: Beautiful women, suited men and good chow, so....

6.9 Monsieur restaurant in the Hotel Lancaster, 7, rue de Berri in the 8th, 01.40.76.40.76, closed weekends, (Metro: FDR) is named after Marlene Dietrich’s ummmm friend called Monsieur and the restaurant has gone though a lot of chefs and stars given and taken away and since New Year's has been changing its menu each month, proposing a different regional cuisine.  I came in a bit after my friend, having been blocked in traffic and was stunned by the decor, nappery, fellow diners and service.

The €39 2 course lunch menu was where we were headed and its inclusion of bottled water, superb butter and bread and coffee, made it terrifically appealing. My friend chose for firsts, the gnocchi stuffed with beets and I had the warm bits of mackerel, both of which were ok but not over the top.

 

 

 Then for mains, he had the sandre and I had 7 hour lamb/mutton, again both were ok.

We decided to skip dessert and just have coffees and mignardises of chocolate.

Our bill, with one of the cheapest wines on the carte, was €114? No noise.

Go?  At this point, I cannot think of trying to convince Colette to join me here.  It has superb service, is in a wonderful setting and has very decent food but it does lack soul, gotta say.

Da rock in the 20th: as advertised, the place rocks.

6.2 Da rock, 17 rue de Bagnolet in the 20th, 01.56.06.97.85, closed Sundays and Monday, (Metro: Alexandre Dumas) is a place that caught my eye, quite frankly, because of its name.  We asked the peppy Italian front room guy about it and while rock n roll was part, it was also based on its rhyming with Rocco and Barocco.  The carte is brief (3-4-4) but reasonable, €22 for 3 courses with wines starting at €19.

My friend who lives but a 30 minutes walk away opted for the terrine of four gras and I had a modern (that is cusinarted) not gratineed, onion soup.  Both quite good.

Then we both liked the sound of the apple of sweetbreads, the apple being a part closer to the neck than shoulder.  I thought the chef laid a little too heavy on the rosemany but it was beautifully cooked.

For dessert we shared a poached pear with warm caramel sauce and a cappuccino that was augmented by cream and coffee jelly.

Our bill, with a bottle of wine, no bottled water and 2 “Italian” espressos, was €69.  Noise lol was so sensible I didn’t even record it.

Go?  If I lived over in this part of town, I think so, but it’s a long schlep for me.  But not for my friend who is already planning to return with its new carte next week.

Le Mermoz in the 8th: Should one penalize a restaurant for its choice of offerings?

Pre: Le Mermoz has been getting rave reviews from everyone around and seemed like a great choice, (and as we were leaving the Telerama photog was setting up), but....

5.6 Le Mermoz, 16, rue Jean Mermoz in the 8th, 01.45.63.65.26, closed weekends (Metro: FDR) has a chef who trained at l’Astrance and Semilla and has gotten rave reviews - so what could possibly go wrong?  Well, first and first, as my Serbian friend used to say, the choices on the menu are not really mind-blowing: firsts of leeks, endives or chinchard and mains of lieu jaune, Chou and poitrine and desserts of cheese, lemon moelleux and something else fruity forgettable.  

My friend and I both chose what we thought were the most interesting possibilities, the leeks with egg yolk followed by the poitrine with carrots but were not willing to do dessert.  Both were honorable but not memorable.

Our bill, with a bottle and glass of wine and one coffee, was €86.

Go back?  There must be something I’m missing here, because I just don't get what the big boys and girls are excited about. Sorry.

14 Paradis in the 10th: No one over 35 here.

14 Paradis, 14, rue de Paradis in the 10th, 01.45.23.57.98 (Metro: Cadet), open weekdays and Saturday night, is a place you might pass up on this street of restaurants in an obviously hopping neighborhood.

My intended dining partner had GI problems today so I went through this internal debate: as a single taster, do I order dishes that stretch the chef's talents or what I really want on a cold day?  I split it down the middle.  First I had a superb gratinee of onions which was sort of like the best onion soup in the city but without the soup.  Then I had pork cheeks with parcooked veggies that were quite good but too much for my poor stomach's size.  I got ready to order the dessert, a brioche, not perdu, but retrouvees (now what could that be?) but alas, they were out of it and my amiable waitguy insisted to have the yogurt with apple bits and that was a big mistake, it brought the meal down from interesting to ordinary.

The bill for a couple with a bottle of wine, no bottled water, but 3 courses and 2 coffees would come to 104 E (PS they had 2-2-2 formulas at 17 E and 3-3-3 menus at 38 E).  db"s 80.9

Return?  Hummm, with so many great places opening, it'll be diown on the list, but for my grand-kids, sure.

The week of February 5th, 2018

Tuesday in Le Fooding, they reviewed the previously mentioned restaurant in the Hotel des Grands Boulevards.

Wednesday the 10th, in the Figaroscope, Emmanuel Rubin reviewed 5 new restaurants giving 3 hearts to “l’avant garde Mexicaine” Oxte in the 17th.  He also gave 2 hearts to Maison Maison, face au 16 quai du Louvre in the 1st, 09.67.82.07.32, closed Sunday dinner and Mondays (Metro: Pont Neuf) where for about 30 E one can have items such as white bean soup, cod and poached pears.  Garnering 1 heart only were: the LA/California Echo in the 2nd; Sarra in the 2nd and the Italian Ricette in the 5th. Rubin’s Hache menu featured L’Ecluse in the 8th, where he prefers the theater to the food.

The Dossier by Alice Bosio and Colette Monsat rated babas au rhum, deeming those at the Pain du Sucre in the 3rd, best.

Also on Wednesday, Heidi Ellison in her Paris Update liked the previously mentioned Coup d’oeil in the 11th.

Thursday in L’Express Styles, Francois Regis Gaudry reviewed the well-known Holybelly in the 10th and Charles Patin O’Coohoon covered the Fontaine de Belleville also in the 10th as well as Origins 14, 49 ave Jean-Moulin in the 14th, 01.45.45.68.58, closed weekends and Monday lunch, which has on its 37 E menu-carte items such as biche, poitrine de porc and rice pudding.

Sunday in the jdd, Aurelie Chaigneau reviewed three places already mentioned here – Le Mermoz (8/10) in the 8th, 21 G Dumpling (7.5) in the 11th and Vava (8) in the 18th; while ED in the version femina featured the already mentioned Vins des Pyrenees, Westin Paris-Vendome's patio open in winter at 3, rue de Castiglione serving formulas from 39 E up, and what they call, neo-classiques - Buffet, Le Cadoret and l’Oseille in the 2nd., 3, rue St-Augustin, 01.45.08.13.76, lunch formulas from 23-29 and dinners at 36-43E featuring items such as chicken liver terrines, beef daube and ile flottantes.

Homard et Chips in the 6th: “What on earth were you thinking, John.”

Pre:  since age 5 I’ve had lobster in Maine almost every year, most famously at the Black Point Inn in Prout’s Neck which served lobster 3 times a day.  Nothing is better than Maine lobster fresh out of the water, boiled and served with melted butter.  So why on earth did I drag a friend to this Montparnasse branch of a Dinan lobster pound?  I really don’t have an excuse.  I did read that its decor brought you back to Cape Cod, that it served North American rather than Breton lobsters, and that they were really cheap, la Fourchette offering -30% off the carte.

1.0 Homard et Chips, 165, boulevard Montparnasse in the 6th, 01.42.49.29.86, open 7/7 (Metro: Port Royal) looks nothing like Cape Cod, and its lobsters, as my friend pointed out, looked nothing like those from the east coast of North America.  But the welcome was very warm and I was delighted to see oysters available today.

My co-diner started off with accras of lobster, which turned out to be 99% batter and 1% lobster, I swear, and my oysters were the smallest number 3’s ever and the pipettes of vinegar a sad example of such.

Then we charged onto the main course.  She had the boiled version but I had a first in all my years, a deep fried half which tasted like it had been burnt over a wood fire.  The saving grace were the condiments, pickled carrots, tartare and mayo.  The Chips, aka fries, supposedly house made, were pathetic even in France where one doesn’t expect much.

The bill, with a bottle of wine and Chateldon, €10 and 2 coffees at €2.50 each, was €110.90.

Go back?  Not even if Cape Cod Airlines were still in service.

Buffet in the 11th: Buffet is the owner not the style, John!

5.7 Buffet, 8, rue de la Main d’Or in the 11th, 01.83.89.63.82, closed Sundays and Mondays (Metro: Ledru/Rollin) is a hit in the neighborhood where it’s hard to believe there can be one more restaurant, packed with locals, cheffed by an ex-Au Passage guy (an Aussie Christopher Edwards) who serves farm to table food with brio.

The lunch menu is €19 for 3 courses and bottles of wine start at €22 and crates of vegetables line the corridor.

I was eating with two friends and one of us started with fleur de chou and the others had a bisque of crabs with intense bay berries, delish!

Then one of my friends had the farm-labeled chicken and the other two of us had beef a la ficelle with a Bernaise sauce.  The beef came out, without asking, almost blue, as I love it, but was tough as leather, I’d prefer half as much of a higher-priced cut but the leeks, parboiled potatoes and carrots were perfect.

Aside from two cheeses, we could choose desserts and two of us had superb apple beignets and one, the chocolate mousse.

Our bill, with a bottle of fuzzy water, a bottle and 2 glasses of wine and a nifty array of coffees, was €100 or €66.66 a couple.  

Go back?  Why not?  But reserve because they were turning tables like mad.  One warning, it got really noisy, 80.2 db’s.