This is not the end

I have a personal philosophy that goodbyes do not mean the end.  In fact, I try not to say "goodbye" but I prefer rather, "see ya later".  The future is uncertain and therefore we shouldn't limit ourselves to a definitive closure. And so, with this post, I say "Thank you and see you later Paris" on the basis that one day I might come back.  No promises, no timetables, no guarantees, just an open mind and an open slate onto where I go next.

As for this blog, it has been a joy to write and update it during my one month stay in Paris.  The success and the reception to which I have received to this blog was quite unexpected to say the least.  I usually write for myself if anything, but for once, I believe I had a steady and receptive audience.  I want to say thank you for your attention and time, whether you were regulars here or just dropped by here and there.  It was my earnest hope that I was able to share a little bit of Paris with you, directly or indirectly, through this blog.

People have been asking whether I will continue to post or update on food once I return to the states and to be honest, I'm not quite sure.  It has crossed my mind several times and it seems like it would be a great joy to do.  I have always been and will continue to be a food junkie.  Since this blog specifically was meant to chronicle my food expeditions in Paris, I might leave it as is and open a new blog.  But again, no promises, timetables, and guarantees.  Only time will tell, but if there is one thing I can end with, it is that this is not the end.

Merci Beaucoup!

Burgers for Breakfast

With the days left in France winding down, and more importantly, the number of meals I have to try different foods, I decided to not waste a lazy sunday but instead try something I haven't even attempted in my burger escapades back home; eat a burger for breakfast.  Well technically you could call it lunch, or brunch since I ate it at 1pm, but I consider it breakfast because it was the first thing I ate when I woke up, which was no more than 30 minutes prior.

I found PDG via google (how I find most of my places to eat if it's not by word of mouth for those who are curious) while searching for something that's open on Sundays (Since many many many many places are closed on Sundays here in Paris).  The burger joint is a small cozy shop located about a 5 minutes walk the other direction from Le Bon Marche off Sevres-Babylone.  The shop opens at noon on Sundays and by the time I got there by 12:30pm, there was already a small wait.  But since I was by myself this time, I was able to get a seat fairly quickly (note: this place isn't meant to accommodate large crowds).  I scanned the menu fairly quickly and settled on the Royal Burger which came with a fried egg, guacamole, bacon, onion, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and of course the meat patty and bun.

The burger itself was quite massive, even in American burger standards, and had all the makings of a good burger (bacon, egg, and guac, three of my top five burger ingredients, with alfalfa sprouts and sauteed onions rounding off that list).  But as I was sizing up the burger (literally) I took a quick look around and realized everybody was eating their burgers using forks and knives.  To be honest, I was quite tempted to just pick up the burger with my hands and start chowing down but as soon as I pressed the bun down onto the burger, the perfectly cooked egg popped and the gooey yolk starting dripping down the sides of the burger.  That's when I realized that if I was going to use my hands for this burger, it would've been a messy ordeal and although I have no qualms with a messy burger, I felt like the situation was not proper to be asking for mounds of napkins and while everyone else was properly cutting their burger into bite sized squares.  So I manned up picked up my fork and knife and began the rather painful process of delicately eating my monstrous burger.

Individually, the burger ingredients were delicious.  The bacon was meaty with a slight crisp, the egg was gooey and perfectly fried, and the guac was creamy.  However, something about these three together with the meat patty and bun just didn't taste right.  Like I said earlier, the Royal Burger had all the makings of what should have been an extremely delicious burger but from the first bite to the very last bite (yes I finished it all), something didn't taste right and I just couldn't put my tongue to it.

I think part of it was the severely under performing, rather tasteless bun.  The other part might have been the whole fork and knife experience.  I was thinking, and I came to an unsupported conclusion when you eat a burger with a fork and knife, the first thing that hits your tongue is the bun.  However, when you bite into a burger with your hands, the teeth usually cut straight through the bun and your tongue usually gets a full blast of flavor on what is inside the burger.  By using the fork and knife and getting bun first, I believe your mouth is saturated by the taste of the plain bun that dampens the flavors of everything else.

Or silly unscientific hypothesis aside, maybe you're just not supposed to eat a burger for breakfast.  Regardless, the Royal Burger at PDG was a learning experience with a hefty fine: 20.40 for my burger and another 4 for a large glass of Orangina.  If you just can't seem to prolong a burger craving in Paris, I would say Chez Prosper first (but their burger is seasonal so sometimes it might not be there) and then PDG as a backup.  But either way, don't be French and use your fork and knife.

PDG Rive Gauche

View Larger Map
5 Rue Dragon, 75006 Paris, France
Metro: St. Germain de Pres, Saint Sulpice, Mabillon, Sevres Babylone

Best of Both Worlds

I have no qualms forking over good money for good food.  But there's something all too satisfying when you're able to find good food for an excellent price.  At Creperie Josselin, eating from the 10 lunch prefix menu almost feels like a crime.  For 10, they provide their traditional jambon (ham), fromage (cheese), and oeuf (egg) crepe, an option of a simple dessert crepe or sorbet, and a boisson (drink).  And with the drink, you can get their famous cider, a glass of wine, or if you're boring (like me), a bottle of apple juice.  And while everybody around me was getting a specialty crepe off the traditional menu (which were priced more appropriately at about 6-9 for just a meal crepe), the temptation of satisfying myself on just 10 was too great an opportunity to pass up.

At first glance, the savory crepe makes you do a double take because it's not what you expect from a savory crepe.  its a thick buckwheat crepe batter that is slightly crisped and stuffed with all the savory ingredients (in this case cheese, egg, and ham).  There is no sauce glazed over the crepe nor do any fancy decorations adorn the top, but none of that is needed as simple and to the point seem to be the theme of this creperie.  And this no frills crepe was actually quite delicious.  The buckwheat crepe batter is not as smooth as a traditional batter, but provides a little more grainy taste.  It is soft at the heart of the crepe where all the ingredients are and crispy on the edges, even until the very last bite.  The combination of cheese, egg, and ham within the crepe is gooey and flavorful, but not too greasy as sometimes this combination is.  I was able to scarf down the entire crepe and not feel heavy or bloated at the end.

Which was definitely a good thing because I still had dessert coming up.  In the mood for something citrusy, I went with the lemon crepe.  The dessert crepe came on the more traditional egg based batter and was stuffed with a lemon glaze and sprinkled with sugar.  The batter itself was fluffy and could be peeled in layers, almost reminding me of an omelet where the egg is rolled in thin layers over and over.  The lemon glazing was sweet and citrusy and the sugar added some crunch.  The dessert was also light and delectable as the whole thing disappeared in no time.

The end of a good meal is usually when the smiling ends as the waiter brings the l'addition (check/bill) and the penalties of a delicious meal, but not at Creperie Josselin where great, authentic French crepes and friendly service can all be bought for a bargain 10 during lunchtime.

Creperie Josselin

View Larger Map

67 Rue du Montparnasse, 75014 Paris, France

Metro: Edgar Quinet, Vavin, or Montparnasse Bievenue

Making mountains out of molehills

My momma always to tell me to eat early so that my body doesn't have to work on digesting food while I'm sleeping (which apparently is a reason for weight gain and tiredness in the morning).  I guess Paris never had a momma like mine to tell them what's up.  The running theme here is to eat dinner in the wee hours of the night and go to sleep extremely full.  And so, in our further attempts to be Parisian (sorry momma), I had a dining experience at the Chez Prosper from 10pm-12:30pm.

Ok so maybe 10pm is a little late even by Parisian standards (I heard standard dinner time starts anywhere from 8:30-9:30pm) but to be fair we had to wait an hour to be seated.  And to be honest, the one hour wait plus the raving reviews from fellow classmates, TA's, and professors really put me in a defensive skepticism about the place (Over-hype scares me and I have a bad habit of downgrading expectancy in response to it).  Plus, the hype was about burgers...

And those who know me back home know I have two food passions; ramen and burgers.  I've paid my dues and have had my fair share of gourmet burgers back home in L.A. with my favorites being places like The Foundry on Melrose (which serves a giant burger with homemade sauces and seasonal vegetables on a grilled 4-pack Hawaiian roll) and The Counter (a build-it-yourself burger bar where I can make my wildest burger fantasies come true).  This all to say the Chez Prosper was building itself a mountain of expectations that only grew with my growing hunger during the wait.

And so, how did the 14.50€ Parisian Cheeseburger at Chez Prosper fair? Surprisingly well. The burger itself was simple enough: bun, meat, cheese, tomato, onion, and mayo on the side. The bun was a standard toasted sesame burger bun, nothing special that didn't enhance or detract from the burger in any manner. The tomato and onions were well...tomatoes and onions, and the mayo tasted like....well, what mayo should taste like. 

But here's where it gets good. I wasn't sure exactly what type of cheese was on the burger (and I'll probably never guess since France has a million kinds of cheeses) but whatever it was, it was delicious. Not strong and overpowering like Gouda or Bleu cheese, but not invisible in taste like American or some Provolones do in a burger. It complimented the meat perfectly. And oh the meat! The meat patty was a fine blend of ground chuck beef that broke off in crumbles when I squeezed the burger too hard yet held it's own when I delicately (or my version of delicate when I'm voraciously starved) took a bite.  It wasn't the juiciest meat patty I've eaten in a burger (those props go appropriately to Juicy Burger in Hollywood) nor the most flavorful (props to the Golden State for that category) but the meat patty at the Chez Prosper most definitely held it's own among good meat patty's.  

I don't remember too much about the fries except for the fact that I finished them (which is probably a good thing) but the burger plate at Chez Prosper, while not the most exciting burger plate of condiments and fries, excelled in the one area that mattered the most in a burger plate, the meat patty.  


And as much as I'd like the end this post here and not further bore you, I have to mention a little bit about a tiramisu that was quite frankly, the most delicious tiramisu I've ever eaten (IN MY LIFE).  It was a classic tiramisu served in a glass jar that was priced at a hefty 6.90€, but trust me on this one, this tiramisu is worth every euro cent (I made the unfortunate mistake of sharing it with a friend to cut the price in half and I was left licking my spoon and staring longingly at the empty jar afterward).

It's hard to describe perfection in words, but I feel obliged to at least give it a try.  The creme was light in both taste and texture and tasted like what you imagine clouds would taste like if you ever dreamed of eating a cloud while staring into the sky.  The cake beneath the creme was moist and flavorful, complimenting the light creme well and also came in the right proportion to the amount of creme served.  


And so amidst all the hype and delusions from waiting to eat such a late meal, Chez Prosper gets a resoundingly positive review for a great burger, a friendly waiting staff, and the most delicious tiramisu (IN THE WORLD).  Not only do I recommend going back, but I'm making a note here that I myself have to go back to try the even more hyped nutella tiramisu that was out of stock by the time I was ready to order dessert.  


Chez Prosper

View Larger Map
7 Avenue Trône, 75011 Paris, France
Metro: Nation