We took a nice trip to Paris for the bank holiday weekend with tons of food and sightseeing in mind. Not everyone takes to the city, however its important to spend more than a day there to really grasp what the city is about. There are many things to do in Paris, so see below for a few pictures of what we got up to, including the restaurants we visited during our weekend of food and sightseeing in Paris.
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| A dash to Kings Cross for the speedy Eurostar to Gare Du Nord Station |
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| A view of the Eiffel Tower a few steps from the door of our Hotel: |
We ate and bought food at a few places during our Parisian weekend.The first bakery we stumbled upon was a few minutes walk from our Hotel. This lovely place was called Les Gourmandises D’Eiffel. The first thing that attracted us to the bakery was the beautiful array of colourful and delightful looking cakes. When you do visit you will get the urge to buy everything on display.
Les Gourmandises D’Eiffel
★★★★☆
We visited this restaurant in the Heart of the Rue Cler, food district. A few minutes walk from our hotel, this restaurant had a good atmosphere and served good dishes as well. The waiters were also friendly. We ordered 2 dishes.
Poulet Fermier Roti Puree Maison
(Free-range roasted chicken with home made Puree)
★★★☆☆
The soft and tender chicken went well with the home made gravy. This gravy was the star of the dish. It almost reminded me of something I had in a UK restaurant called The Tramshed . The mash was fairly buttery and creamy. This was quite a good dish.
Confit De Canard Forestier Puree Maison
(Duck confit with mushrooms and Mashed Potato)
★★★☆☆
The duck was delicious and the Mash was decent as well. Personally I think this is one of the best dishes on their menu.
La Balancoire
We visited this restaurant after spending some time admiring a panoramic view of Paris from Sacre-coeur Basilica in the Montmartre area.
Ranked 273rd out of almost 13,000 restaurants in Paris according to Tripadvisor, La Balancoire was quite easy to find once we made our way to Abess station. Customer service wise this is one of the most friendliest restaurants I have visited in Paris. Our waiter was superb and explained each item on the menu changes every month in relation to the seasons, with the exception of their signature dish. I opted for the 3 course + coffee/chocolate for the fixed price of 35 euros. (May 2020 Update : Restaurant closed and now replaced by HAHA Asian Street food)
Pour les indicis entrée
★★★★☆
The entrée I chose was a combination of an exquisite foie gras ( I had a really bad one in the Notre Dame area, so this came as a blessing),’velute de laitue’ – a lettuce salad, basil and yoghurt mixture sprinkled with chorizo and a fresh tasting salmon tartare. I really enjoyed this entrée and I really hope that the ‘velute de laitue’ stays on their ever changing menu.
Onglet de boeuf and Pommes grenailles
★★★☆☆
The beef main course I ordered was medium rare,matched with some slow roasted potatoes and a sundried tomato, spring onion and cheese mixture. An accomplished dish indeed.
I opted for the Pour les indices again, which was a combination of 3 different deserts on their menu. The Brownie Tiramisu was the best I’ve have ever had and its definitely worthy of a mention. The other 2 deserts, a chocolate mousse and fresh fruit in a grenadine syrup was also ok.
If you ever get to visit the Montmartre area, make sure you visit this restaurant.
If your anywhere in Paris, maybe taking a trip to the large department stores in the Opera area, do yourself a massive favour and visit this restaurant. My biggest regret was discovering this restaurant on our last day in Paris. The restaurant is run by a husband-wife team who care a lot about their food and customers. The ambiance was intimate, with space upstairs for various functions such as romantic dinners, private parties etc. The food was absolutely delicious. No wonder the restaurant’s ranked 347 out of almost 15,242 on Tripadvisor.
The menu, written on a chalkboard, had a great selection of all types of foods in French. Anne ( The co owner) went through the menu in English patiently describing every dish. This was a very nice touch as my French is quite limited to Bonjour. I didn’t listen in French class am afraid.
Croustillants de gambas
Prawns with Coriander and butter in Filo Pastry
★★★★☆
Absolutely delightful entrée. I actually regret sharing this starter. It reminds me of a prawn filo pastry I reviewed when I visited Seville. It’s well deserving of 4 starts.
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| Nice crunchy texture of the filo pastry balanced with buttery prawns. Delightful entrée |
Confit de Canard
★★★★★
This duck was absolutely delicious and rich, possibly one of the best duck canards have had in a while. The crispy duck skin and tender meat fell apart in my mouth like a dream. The potatoes were perfect. I honestly had no issues with this dish. I loved it soo much I decided to post 2 pictures from different angles.
Chocolate fondant
★★★☆☆
Delicious chocolate fondant, with some chocolate oozing from the middle paired with ice cream was quite nice as well.
I will definitely visit this restaurant again when am back in Paris. This time for dinner.
Le Quinze Vins
This wine bar with an extensive wine list is definitely worth a visit if your in the Notre Dame area. The staff are quite nice and they remembered that we visited 6 months previous. It’s my secret little wine bar … well not so secret anymore
I really enjoyed my weekend of food and sightseeing in Paris and am looking forward to jumping on the Eurostar again in a few months to check out more places. I am off to Barcelona in a few days, so make sure you check out my new up coming posts. For now I will leave you with a few holiday pictures.
** Just a little bit of advice. Paris is not like London. Be very careful when choosing your restaurant, as majority of them are only open a few random days a week and some are even closed when they say they’ll be open. To avoid disappointment make sure you call ahead.
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| Nice cakes at Gateaux Thoumieux. Had a few of these. |
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| Lemoine : These Macaroons were delicious. Quite decent prices as well |
Great post.. thanks
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