Pre: As we were paying up and leaving I asked the organizer of our meal how I would sell this hole-in-the-wall joint in a marketplace in the 10th to my readers: “Context, John, put it in context.” Ok.
7.0 Pardi, in the Marche St-Quentin, 85 bis boulevard de Magenta in the 10th, (Metros: Gare du Nord & de l’Est), 01.42.46.55.16, open 9-20h except 15h on Sundays and closed on Mondays, is a place my friend recommended for another friend arriving in Paris at 7 AM and leaving at noon, that serves good food at reasonable prices.
One enters from the rue Chabrol side passing flower shops, butchers, bakers, bio veggies, seafood, prepared Moroccan, etc, etc, to chance upon this unassuming food counter with stools, a couple of high tables and a shared food court. Et voila! My friends brought cushions for my skinny butt and sore back and I was all set.
The ardoise and carte are divided into about a dozen tapas (the chef Jean-Sebastien Trombino is Basque but has served his time with Eric Frechon), 3 mains and 3 desserts and the tapas are really so generous one can feast only on these if so desired. Thus we started with 3 bowls of spreadable caviar d’aubergines, hummus-like lentils with sesame & artichoke and nuts, Padron peppers and sautéed cepes with spicy scallion slices and arugula as well as outstanding bread (they co-own an adjacent boulangerie).
One of us then had the unrubbery, unsandy, razor clams (available only on some weekends) cooked in very good oil while two of us had the perfectly cooked confited beef on polenta. We ended up sharing a chocolate cake with caramel sauce and figs.
Our bill with one bottle of water and three glasses of wine plus 2 coffees was 118.20 or 78.80€ a couple.
Go? “Context John.” When this guy moves to a real restaurant, he’ll be flooded and I’ll be back. Until then, I'll recommend it to folks changing trains who want really good food.
Recent Comments