Another very good boulangerie we found in Marais, Au Levain du Marais.
Around 4-ish there’d be lines at popular bakeries. During the trip I got seriously addicted to Canelé.
It seems like their most popular pear tart was sold out everytime we went. We tried many of them, all good~
This is probably the most famous gastronomic restaurant Potatomato will ever cover (hopefully there’ll be more in the future ^_^). Taillevent is considered one of top restaurants in the world. It has held Michellin 3 stars for 34 years, though recently it got demoted to 2 stars. That does not stop me from going there, esp. since they offer one of the most affordable lunch set menu among all the 3 stars biggies. 70 euro per person, yes it’s still expensive, but compare to all the other gastronomic restaurants in Paris it’s already consider affordable. I made reservation through the internet couple weeks prior. They have formal dressing code. I just wore a simple black one piece dress with boot…guess that’s ok for lunch, though probably not formal enough for dinner.
Very delicious bread and amuse busch (crab gelatin)
1st course: Foie gras parfait with fig Amazing amazing foie gras! So smooth and silky, the right degree of richness and saltiness. The portion is big too, filling my stomach pretty quickly.
Meat course: Duck of Challans, turnip with cremona mustard. I don’t think I ever had such perfectly cooked medium rare duck before. So precise. The meat is so soft and flavorful, love the sauce. Again, big portion, I’m full by the end of the meal already.
cheese plate: Chevre frais, tapenade et mesclun
Goat frais (creamy yogurt texture fresh cheese), tapenade (a Provençal dish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, and olive oil) and mesclun (a salad mix of assorted small, young salad leaves). Even though I’m full already but this cheese plate is soooo good that I just have to keep eating. The frais cheese is so soft and creamy, the tapenade flavor totally mixed in with the cheese. Again the portion is very generous.
dessert: Imagination of Exotic fruit, mango acidulee. Very refreshing, rich mango flavor. Assorted sweets The plate of sweet are a pleasant surprise (didn’t say on the menu). Beside the macaron which is just ok (too mushy), the rests are incredible, particularly the top right one.
The service is top notch. At first I felt a little intimidated due to the fancy interior, but the servers were very friendly and easy going so they made me felt at ease right away. The house red wine was excellent as well. I was burstingly full by the end of it and did not have dinner that day. This should cast away the common misconception of gourmet French food being tiny portion (little piece of food in a big plate), it’s the exact opposite! In the end I felt the 70 euro is worth the price. Like the sign at the entrance door says, Taillevent offer excellent traditional French classics cooking. Hopefully I have chance to go to another 3 stars restaurants again in near future.
Taillevent
15, rue Lamennanis, 75008 Paris.
Metro: George V
Tags: Cake, Cheese, Duck, Foie Gras, French, Haute Cuisine, Prix fixe
Besides bistro and restaurants, boulangerie are our must check in Paris. We went to this charming bakery called Poilane in St. Germain in the morning before moving onto another intense day of sight-seeing.
I ate their Tarte aux pommes (middle in the photo), soft and melty~ yum~
Punitions, Poil
Tags: Bakery
After the amazing dinner on our first night, the bar was set high. So perhaps that made our 2nd night dinner a tad bit disappointing. I read about this place La Ferrandaise on magazine Madame Figaro Japan and it’s cited as a a “special favorite” on Pudlo Paris (a Parisienne food guide that’s translated into English recently). It sounds promising in the reviews. It’s located near the Luxembourg garden in the 6th Arrondissement on a quiet street.
Like most restaurants in Paris, they offer a set menu. In their case it was 32 euro for an appetizer + main course + dessert. It’s a system I like a lot and is often end up cheaper than a lot of places in LA, especially since service charge is added in already.
They have English menu (St. Germain has too many tourists).
Forgot what the amuse busch but it had very strong onion flavor.
Freda’s choice:
Appetizer: Chicken Liver Salad with a Poached Egg. This doesn’t really qualify as a “salad” as there’re very few pieces of vegetable. The chicken livers are quite dry and bland tasting, not to mention incredibly heavy. Definitely not a good choice as an appetizer. Dessert: Red Wine-Poached Pear with a Biscuit and Licorice Ice cream. Can’t really taste the licorice in the ice cream.
Freda’s main course: Roasted Guinea Fowl with Swiss Chard Gratin. It’s another very very heavy dish. The guinea fowl has a nice wildness smell but the meat turns out a bit dry and bland tasting, like chicken almost. The chard gratin was good (very oily though).
My (Joan)’s choice:
appetizer: Crispy veal foot. Looks generic but it’s actually quite good. Beneath the deep fried surface there’re pieces of chopped veal foot. I didn’t care much for the deep fried skin at all and wish to just eat the chopped veal foot pieces by themselves.
My main course is a special of the night: Grouse d’Ecosse, cook with the foie gras, puree of Panais and mushroom. I picked it because I’ve never had grouse (a type of bird) nor panais (a type of root) before. The grouse meat has an acquire taste. It’s quite tough and has a bitter after taste. I’m not sure I like it, it’s definitely very different tasting. I was too full after the main course so I didn’t order dessert.
Our friend’s choices:
Dill marinated salmon with sweet mustard sauce. Main course: sauteed sea bass with cabbage and lemon. Dessert: dark chocolate fingers with gentian ice cream. All safe choices but good in a predictable way.
Perhaps we would enjoy our meal more if we didn’t have the amazing dinner at Au fil des Saison the night before. Unfortunately, Freda fell very ill after this meal. Perhaps the food was too rich for her stomach, we weren’t sure.
La Ferrandaise (01 43 26 36 36)
8, rue de Vaugirard, 75006 PARIS
Tags: Bistronomy, French, Prix fixe
Back to LA! Now we can speed up our Paris Food report.
Since we tried to get our touristy things done, it was difficult to plan every lunch from our lists of to-try restaurants. A lot of our lunches ended up in museum cafeterias or crepe stand for convenience. There’re some pleasant surprise such as this cafeteria inside the beautiful garden of Musee Rodin.
Every item in the deli display are beautifully plated. Good Prosciutto Salad and Fig Puffs (also got a bottle of Rose). They also have a lot of gelatos. It’s a beautiful place to spend a quiet afternoon. If weren’t for our tight touristy schedule, I’d love to hang out here as long as I can.
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