Sometimes, taste isn't everything

With the metro system firmly under our belts now, a group of 9 decided to venture further out into Paris looking for a new place to try some food as well as some fun entertainment.  With the help of a handy iPhone app and website with recommendations, we decided to try out La Cantine de Belleville.

About a 2 minute walk from the Belleville metro station, La Cantine de Belleville is definitely not your warm, fancy French restaurant.  Instead, it's more of a grungy bar with an outdoor patio and a basement where live music is played.  Unfortunately there wasn't live music when we ventured into the Cantine around 8pm on a Wednesday night (they said come back on Friday).  But with a €14 appetizer, main dish, and dessert pre-fix menu and a happy hour for alcohol, we decided to stick around.  


To be honest, the menu was quite a challenge to decipher as it was just a large chalkboard with French doodles (normal printed French on a menu is hard enough to decipher).  Luckily we had a very helpful waitress who was willing to help our French-challenged group semi-decipher the menu and get some food in our bellies.  I'm not quite sure of the exact names of everything I ordered but I ended up with a three course meal consisting of a duck salad, salmon tartar, and tiramisu.


The duck salad was extremely rich and gamey.  Personally, once the salad greens ran out, I wasn't able to finish the rest of my duck pieces.  Around the table, other appetizers ordered were an avocado dish, a pickled-fish, and and egg dish.  The consensus was that the egg was the best (more of a boiled egg with salad aka egg salad) while the avocado dish was good for those whose avocados were ripe and terrible for those whose avocados weren't.  The fish dish that also came with potatoes, carrots, and salad was suggested by the waiter because it was a typical French appetizer dish but it was extremely salty and had a half-raw texture that I didn't prefer.

As for the main dish, once again, I have to say I ordered poorly.  The salmon tartar was extremely tasteless.  The salmon had no flavor whatsoever and was just cold texture to go along with the salad.  Three of us ordered the salmon tartar and all of us were pretty much dissatisfied.  However, I was able to scrounge off some delicious potatoes and jambon from one dish as well as a piece of a cheeseburger from another that was pretty decent.  Other's who got the beef steak dish and the cooked salmon were thoroughly pleased though I didn't get to try it myself.  

As for dessert, the original plan was to get creme brulee but it had run out by the time we were ready for dessert.  I "settled" for the tiramisu which was quite delicious.  The cake part on the bottom was not as fluffy as it could have been, but the creme on top had a good texture that wasn't too sweet and too bland.  Other dessert options included cheesecake, chocolate mousse, and creme caramel.  

Overall, my personal meal wasn't too delicious but I believe that there definitely were more viable options around (I would suggest the egg salad and steak or cooked salmon).  And even with this miss, coupled with the fact that we missed the live music performances, the Cantine de Belleville was quite surprisingly a very enjoyable dining experience.  We had an extremely friendly and helpful waitress who really tried her best to accommodate us in the midst of an extremely busy crowd (the place was packed by 9:30pm, which also must mean that other people are definitely enjoying something on the menu).  She also noticed our displeasure at certain dishes and compensated us through a free dessert and free shots of alcohol all around the table.  

Our party of 9 left the Cantine 2.5 hours after we entered, some more satisfied than others with our meal, but all happy to have enjoyed a meal with friendly service and good company.  And €14 is a cheap price to pay for a good time and a friendly reminder that sometimes, taste isn't everything.

La Cantine de Belleville

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108, Boulevard Belleville
Metro: Belleville

Falalalalalalalafel

No frills this time, just straight to the fallafel.

The first thing that stands out about the fallafel at L'as du Fallafel is that they give you an entire pita rather than a half size.  How they accomplish stuffing a full size pita rather than a half semi-circle pita is by making a lit about 1/4 from the top of the pita, and stuffing everything in from there.  The extra pita also gives extra room for more delicious stuffing.

My mind is starting to fail me from food coma but I asked for everything except for sauteed eggplant and I think my fallafel ended up being stuffed with cucumbers, red cabbage, hummus, tzatziki sauce, hot sauce, and of course, fallafel (I also witnessed other fallafels with french fries on top).  What's great about La's du Fallafel is that they put each ingredient into the pita twice at different times so that not all the fallafel is found at the bottom of the pita and the cucumbers and cabbage at the top.  The usual fallafel places back home seem to unknowingly do this making for a very disproportional eating experience with the first bites usually resulting in only vegetables and the last bites being pure fallafel.  As for the actual taste, the pita was a deliciously plump and not scantily thin, the vegetables were fresh, the sauces blended well with each other, and the fallafel itself was piping hot and nicely fried.

At €5 for the fallafel special, L'as du Fallafel is not only delicious but it's also a bargain, albeit a slightly messy one.  Also, FYI, there is a separate charge for eating inside so to maximize your fallfel to Euro experience, except to eat these standing outside or on the go, just ask for extra napkins first.

Update:
Just had the shwarma (sheared lamb meat) and it was as equally delicious.  Cost: 7€50.

L'as du Fallafel

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34 Rue des Rosiers, 75004 PARIS 04, France
Metro: Saint-Paul

Professor knows best

So after a week of wandering the streets of Paris in search of good food on my own, I finally had the chance to share a sit-down meal with my professor and a few friends (a few being 14).  We were taken to a cozy restaurant called Atelier Aubrac not too far from our hotel in Grenelle.

We were ushered in kindly and quickly tallied our choices from the €18 pre-fix menu that included an appetizer, main dish, and dessert (€15 for just appetizer and main dish).  I ended up choosing poelee de 6 escargots de bourgogne au bleu d'auvergne, cuisse de canard confite gratinee au miel pommes sautees a l'ail, and moelleaux au choclat creme anglaise, or escargot with blue cheese sauce, duck confit with honeyed potatoes, and chocalte cake with creme.

I was excited to try the escargot as my appetizer (first time trying it) and to be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of taste.  The escargot here was already pre-shelled and hiding within a pool of melted bleu cheese.  The escargot itself didn't seem to have too much flavor on its own (I've heard it usually doesn't) but the richness of the bleu cheese sauce more than made up for it.  The texture was chewy, almost like a clam but meatier.  Overall the escargot was a plus that didn't provoke the gag reflexes that little kids usually make when thinking that they're eating snails and I'm glad I tried it.  However, if I were to go back (which I most likely will) I think I would order (and recommend to everybody) the eufs poches au Romarin or a poached egg in creamy rosemary sauce.  I was able to steal a bite of my neighbors after bartering one of my own escargots and the softened, almost raw yoke mixed with the milky sauce was a small bite of heaven that definitely made me compare the 5 pieces of escargot I had left in my dish.

As for the main dish (which I will no longer call entrees because entrees actually mean entry plates and are used to correctly describe appetizers here), the duck confit was for a lack of a better word, stunning.  I haven't had duck confit before so I guess I don't really have a base to compare it to, but I have tried duck prepared in other ways and this was by far the best duck dish that I've had so far.  The duck meat was tender and the skin covering the duck meat was a nice fatty compliment.  The ratio between the two was just right and the honey sauce (along with whatever else was mixed with it) gave it a slight sweet flavor that was delicious.  The thinly cut potato rounds were as equally amazing with a good balance of small crispy rounds and thicker, heartier ones.  They went well with the duck too.  Also, through further bartering process I was able to steal a bite of the beef tartar as well as the beef steak and this time around, the sampling process made me even more content with my dish as I elatedly felt like it was the best one on the menu (there's a certain pride to be found when you feel like you ordered the best dish you possibly could at a restaurant).

And while our meal was also served with a side of dessert, I was so completely satisfied with my duck confit that I was tempted to just skip dessert and continue to smack my lips and enjoy the lingering taste of the prior dish in my mouth.  But since I have this sometimes negative (mostly positive) habit of eating all this is placed in front of me, I obliged to the to chocolate cake in front of me that was sitting in a pool of custard-like cream.  It was a simple dessert that tasted just fine and can be accurately summed up through its picture.

At the end of the day, I left Atelier Aubrac not only with an appreciation for its bargain-priced (and absolutely delicious) pre-fix menu, but also a craving for more duck confit.  You may notice a spike in duck confit posts in the following weeks if the restaurants I go to have the same option, or I may just end up going to Atelier Aubrac again sometime in the near future.  Either way, finding a new go-to dish (steak frites just never cut it) can only be summed up best as how Charlie Sheen says it:  Winning.

Atelier Aubrac

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51 Boulevard Garibaldi, 75015 Paris, France
Metro: Segur or Sevres - Lecourbe

Would you like some fries with that steak?

So much for the Bouillon Racine being the one exception to my "do no pay for expensive steak" policy (see post on Bouillon Racine for more info).  When the word started circulating around our program that there was this place that served amazing steak and fries, I just couldn't resist.  After confirming with many many people, a few of us headed off on the #6 metro to find le Relais de l'Entrecote (the Montparnasse branch).

We were pleasantly surprised to find no wait line for this heavily hyped up dinner at 8:30pm on a monday evening.  We were quickly sat down and explained that there is no menu option, just the pre-fixe salad and steak and fries.  Our only options of the night were drinks and whether we wanted our steak medium or well done (no medium rare or rare options...).  Once again, in my attempt to find the ever elusive free tap water at a restaurant, this time I asked for a carafe of tap water (which is what I was tipped to say) but it seems to have been to no avail.  We ended the night paying an extra €10 for two bottles of "non-gassed" water.  I also ended up ordering a 4€50 bottle of Orangina.

As for the actual food, the salad was very light with sides of walnuts and radish.  A simple starter for the real meal to come.  I had no complaints here.

I did have some complaints with the "steak" though.  While the portions were fine (they actually came by with a second round of steak after the plate), the quality and cut of the meat seemed very run of the mill.  It was more like a flat-iron steak or a skirt steak than a fattier rib-eye or even basic sirloin.  The steak was missing a lot of tenderness even cooked for a medium and had no layers of marble or fat.  The fries were excellent and the sauce on the steak was decent but for a €24.50 steak, I was actually quite disappointed (salad is included in that price).  

And at the end of the meal, after totaling my orangina, the split between two "carafes of tap water", my steak and fries, and a €1 tip, I ended up shelling out a "modest" €32.50 for a quite average meal.  If there's one thing I learned besides to stop trying to order water from these French restaurants, is that I need to stick my my policy of eating delicious steaks at home and dishing out money for foods that are harder to cook or find outside of the kitchen.  I apologize to those who really enjoyed their meal here but if you had to ask my for a steak frites recommendation in Paris, I would point you towards the direction of the Bouillon Racine rather than le Relais de l'Entrecote on Montparnasse.  It may be that the main branch of this restaurant on the Rue Marbeuf is much better, but it is not something I will be finding out on this trip.

le Relais de l'Entrecote (Montparnasse branch)

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101 Boulevard du Montparnasse, Paris
Metro: Valvin or Montparnasse - Bienvenue or Edgar Quinet

When in Paris, eat crepes

So I've already reviewed a local crepe stand, but this time, we go deep into the Latin Quarters to eat some authentic sit-down restaurant type crepes at La Petite Tour.  The sit-down restaurant has an extremely friendly (and English speaking) staff who will kindly escort you to a great upstairs seated area that has open windows and a view into the rest of the Latin Quarters.

We started off our meal with a bottle of supposedly famous alcoholic apple cider.  Since I'm not used to the flavor of alcohol too much we got a the DOUX or a light smooth version of the bottle with only 2.5% alcohol as opposed to the darker, raw version with an unknown percentage of alcohol.  (I only know the percentage because the waiter kept assuring us that this bottle was a light version with only 2.5%...constantly).  The 75cL bottle that was good for 2 cupfuls for each of the three people present set us back only €11 and was actually pretty good.  After getting by the initial sip and shock of alcoholic after taste, I resumed to almost chugging the rest of my cup down thinking I could quench my thirst with this apple cider.  

As for the main entree, there is a wide selection of crepes ranging from the simple ham and cheese to more unique combinations under the house specialties list.  I have a tendency to try the house specials when I go to a new place and I wasn't about to leave La Petit Tour without trying their specialty crepes. So out of the four they had, I went with the recommendation of a friend and useful Paris blog and chose the “Forrestière” which had ground steak, lots of mushrooms, goat and emmental cheese, dairy cream, and garlic. I've had savory crepes before but as usual, the French surprised me once more with a crepe that came out looking more like a casserole:

Interestingly enough,I found the crepe under that mound of cheese.  The taste was definitely beefy and rich with the steak, and cheese overpowering much of the garlic and  mushroom.  The crepe batter itself didn't have too much flavor (or was again overpowered) and had a more grainy texture and dark color that made me wonder if it was wheat-based.  The crepe was solid in taste overall but is definitely not for those with a light palette.  I had a taste of my friends specialty crepe that had ham and I think I might have preferred the lighter ham flavor over the heavy steak.  


But on to dessert! I chose again a specialty crepe as opposed to a standard nutella and banana crepe that came with apples, walnuts, vanilla ice cream, and flaming glaze.  The flaming glaze was another surprise where our waiter brought out our crepe, doused it with alcohol and lit the entire thing on fire.  Pretty confusing and amazing at the same time.  The fire was too sudden and short to capture on picture or video.  The crepe did look something like this before we demolished it though:

The texture of the crepe was excellent with the right amount of fluffy layers.  Ice cream was ice cream and the apples and walnuts tasted like well...apples and walnuts.  Everything about this dessert crepe would have been great if it weren't for the darned flaming glaze.  You see, the alcohol (I'm gonna guess rum) that was doused over the entirety of our crepe to set it on fire for a fleeting 2 seconds definitely overpowered the delicate taste of everything else and since again, I'm not a big proponent of an alcoholic flavor, this dessert crepe was definitely a miss.  


However, overall, La Petite Tour is a gem of a crepe place that offers a huge selection of crepes where I just happened to order the wrong one.  I would definitely go back though to try their other selections of crepes, one without a flaming glaze.  


La Petite Tour

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6 Rue Grégoire de Tours, 75006 Paris, Île-de-France, France
Metro: Mabillon or Odeon

Happy Noodles

Ok I know you're wondering how I'm gonna justify Chinese food right after posting about Japanese ramen which I've hopefully justified the context to.  But have no fear, a short history lesson's here!

So a long time ago, the French people colonized Southeast Asia including Vietnam (which had many Chinese influences).  So as a result there's a lot of Vietnamese food and Chinese food in Paris.  Plus, Paris is very diverse.  End history lessons (thanks Professor Robinson).

So now I've justified Chinese food in France as well as Vietnamese food (because there will be a post on Pho later, don't hate) which brings us to Happy Nouilles.  It was actually recommended to us by our teaching assistants who have been living in France when we asked for Pho recommendations (have i lost you yet?  basically we got a Chinese recommendation for a Vietnamese request but all is well because the end [food] will justify the means).

So at Happy Nouilles (or literally Happy Noodles) the first sign of greatness you'll notice is someone hand making noodles in the front window.  The second sign is this:

It's not the normal recognizable sriacha (really spicy Asian hot sauce) bottle with the rooster on the front but I'm not complaining; sriacha is sriacha.

Now onto what we ordered.  By recommendation, I had an appetizer of Raviolis grillés, which is a fancy way of saying gyoza or dumplings. These dumplings (5 pieces for 4€50) had a very thick, chewy skin all around with a slight fry on the bottom. The insides were a wonderful blend of pork and...pork. A meat lovers dumpling dream that left out the usual cheap fillers of tofu and noodles.

As for the actual noodle dish, I got the regular dish with ground pork but substituted the noodles for the extra thick noodles (filament du blu  not sure on the spelling here).  The soup was a very warming blend of spicy and pork base and the ground pork and the bok choy added some nice variety as toppings.  But the best part of the dish was the substituted thick noodles.  These were hand made and crudely hand cut that almost just looked like pieces of dough floating in your soup.  Reminded me of one of my favorite home cooked Korean dishes, suh-jae-bee.

Blame it on an Asian bias but Happy Nouilles definitely served one of the more stomach satisfying dishes in Paris so far.  An all around plus from the noodles, soup, and gyoza appetizer make Happy Nouilles a happy winner in this blog.

Happy Nouilles

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95 Rue Beaubourg, 75003 Paris, France
Metro: Arts et Metiers

A little bit of Tokyo in Paris

So ever since coming back from my study abroad trip in Japan, I've had this un-satiable void in my stomach for Japanese ramen.  I'm not gonna go into the specifics of what I consider Japanese ramen because that is an entire book in itself (the simple version is that ramen is very diverse and everyone has a different definition).  But the bottom line is that I wasn't able to fill that void in Los Angeles (Mottainai came close and I'm hoping that Tsujita will do the trick when it finally opens) and I had a crazy idea that maybe I'll be able to fill it in France.  So I did some homework (had google chrome translate some french yelp reviews) and took a few friends out to Sapporo Ramen near the Louvre.  

My expectations were low despite the occasional temptation to think this might somehow finally be the one.  The menu had a variety or ramen including Shoyu, Miso, and Tonkotsu (usually not a good sign when a shop has more than one kind of broth) as well as some other Japanese dishes like curry, katsudon, and oyakodon, but since my ramen cravings are of the tonkotsu kind, naturally I went with the tonkotsu ramen bowl.

Did the bowl exceed my expectations?  Yes.  Did the bowl fulfill my endless expedition to fill my ever so elusive Japanese ramen craving?  No.  

But let's focus on the positives first.  The chashu (sliced pork) was actually very tender and had a good flavor, the noodles were on the thicker, chewier side (which is the style I like.  Most places use a stock medium thickness noodle that honestly has no texture), and the broth actually had a mild pork flavor.  

As for the negatives; as usual the egg was completely hardboiled as opposed to the delicate soft-boiled hanjuku tamago, there was way too much ginger (which is usually an optional topping on the side anyway), there was no garlic on the side to add to the broth (pre-crushed or fresh), the noodles and broth were just a cut above average, and the kicker, the waitress didn't speak Japanese (I'm kidding about this being a negative...kind of...).  

Anyway, overall Sapporo Ramen gets a decent review for a decent ramen but the quest for the satisfying Japanese ramen outside of Japen still continues.  But I promise I won't spend the entirety of my Paris trip huting for it...

Sapporo Ramen

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276 Rue Saint-Honoré, 75001 Paris
Metro: Pyramides or Metro Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre

Fine Dining in France

Ok so I forgot exactly what a Bouillon meant in conjunction with the specifics of French cuisine or restaraunting (yes I just made that word up) but this specific Bouillon (Bouillon Racine) is pretty famous and has some pretty amazing interior decor.  Their website has a lot more information about their history (since 1906) and the type of food style they're trying to achieve.  

You can say this was my first official French cuisine in Paris so I wanted to go all out.  They had a set lunch menu (see the the heading Menu-Daily Market-) that included a starter and small entree, or small entree and dessert for €15.  But since the set came with a "small" entree I decided that it wasn't for me because I wanted to do it BIG.  I also decided against the other set menus that were €30 and €41 and just went with ordering
a la carte off the other side of the menu. I ended up with this:

I wanted to experience authentic French cuisine so I went with a dish that was supposedly really popular in France, a.k.a. Steak Frites.  The steak and fries were both very good as was the sauce that came on the side, but at the end of the day...it was just steak and french fries and I was wishing I kind of tried something even more unique like Tartar Steak or even foie gras (which I had already tried once in America).  My rule of thumb with expensive beef back home is that I'll pay good money for hard to cook/rare items like Prime Rib or Tartar Steak but just regular steak is something I prefer to buy from costco and fire up on the grill outside (because it usually tastes just as good as a Ruth Chris $40 filet mignon).  So all this to say that the steak frites was good, but next time I would try something else on the menu because this particular item tastes exactly how you would think it tastes like (like good steak with french fries).  

But no meal is complete without a dessert.  I myself am a huge proponent of creme brulee so when I saw creme brulee with waffle on the dessert side of the menu, there was no question that that was what I was ordering.  I was expecting creme brulee with a waffle on the side.  One thing I've learned about ordering food in France though is to expect the unexpected because what I got with this dessert was a waffle fused with creme brulee ON TOP:

Ingenious in thought but the execution needed some work.  My favorite part of creme brulee is the hot, crispy shell protectively covering the custard beneath.  This particular waffle creme brulee was missing both the hot and the crispy.  That's not to say it wasn't bad.  The dessert was quite delicious, but again, it just wasn't what I expected, especially with creme brulee.  I think a side of vanilla ice cream would have gone extremely well with this by the way.

This meal along with an unexpected bottle of water (can't seem to get how to order just plain tap water at a restaurant yet) put me back €27, a modest price for a fine dining experience that included a giant steak .  (remember this was lunch). Overall I have to say the Bouillon Racine was a positive dining experience with good food. I would go back to order something different off the menu once I figure out how to order some regular tap water rather than €5 glass bottles of filtered water.

Bouillon Racine
http://www.bouillon-racine.com/en/home/index.html

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3 Rue Racine, 75006 Paris, France
Metro: Cluny - La Sorbonne

Gelato-off

This is gonna be a double post.  I'll call it Amorino vs. Berthillon.  Both are gelato shops in Paris.  Amorino is a chain that my professor claims as the 2nd best gelato in Paris.  The first best claiming to be Berthillon.  I decided to put the professors claims to the test.

But I'll start with Amorino first since I had it today.  The first thing you'll notice about Amorino is the long lines.  But it actually moves extremely quickly so do not feel daunted but rather take the brief time you have in line to decide on multiple flavors from the flavor board.

And since i'm a rather poor decision maker and a proponent of systems, I decided that with 22 flavors on the board, I will try 3 at a time starting from the top and make 8 trips total, that way i'll hit all the flavors.  I may skip a couple like banana and cherry though if i feel like I can't end up making 8 trips.  Or i may end up combining more flavors with each trip.  How Amorino's works is that you pay for a set size (cup or cone) and from that size you can squeeze as many flavors as you want into it.  The more flavors you pick, the less scoops of each you get.  Pretty ingenious concept if you ask me;  paying for the size and not the amount of flavors that is.  (Btw I got the medium size on a cone which was €4.50).  Also, don't feel inferior for picking a cup to hold the fast-melting gelato as all cup-wielding customers do get a complimentary mini-cone on top of their gelato!

But anywho, for this first round of Amorino's, I ended up with chocolate amorino (must be their special), vanilla, and speculoos which according to wikipedia is a Dutch shortcrust biscuit.  I have to say this round was definitely a plus.  All three creamy flavors blended well with each other with the chocolate being the strongest, the sepculoos being a medium flavor, and the vanilla being light.  Oh and also, did I mention that the end result of the scoops of gelato on your cone comes out as a beautiful flower shaped design?

As for Berthillon, there is no special cup privileges so the cone was a must.  The flavor selection at Berthillon is actually much larger than the one at Amorino's with the board being divided into two sections, the left side being creamy, rich gelatos and the right side being icy, fruity gelatos.  The flavors also seems to rotate on a daily basis which makes for more of a surprise.

With a large crowd attempting to decipher the flavor board, I decided to just be bold and pick one flavor from each side and run with it.  So I boldly made my way to the counter and asked for Chocolat Mendiant and Fruit de la Passion.  I figured fruit de la passion was passion fruit (which i was right) but I had not idea what choclat mendiant was besides the obvious chocolate allusion.  Turns out mendiant is a historical french chocolate flavor that is composed of nuts and dried fruit.  (Hit the link for more details and some interesting French history).  This was the product I was given:

So as weird as the combination looks and sounds, it was actually pretty good as a combo.  The rich chocolate balanced out the tart, fruity passion fruit.  The chocolate mendiant had a good deal of nuts and dried fruits that added good texture (except i'm not a big fan of dried fruits so buyer beware).  And since the chocolate was mostly at the top, it was natural that I finished it all first and was left with just passion fruit.  big mistake.  The passion fruit without the aid of the choclat mendiant was EXTREMELY sour.  Like sour to the point that I couldn't finish it and had to scoop some out into the nearest trash can.  It's odd because I usually love passion fruit flavor and never once has it been unbearably sour.  The remaining empty cone after scooping out the sour-to-the-point-of-death passion fruit was very delicious though, crispy and flavorful!

I ended up paying €4.50 for two scoops at Berthillon, the same price as Amarino's, but at Berthillon's you pay by the scoop (with each scoop being only one flavor).

So with these two reviews up and posted now, I'm gonna have to disagree with my professor and say I enjoyed Amarino's more than Berthillon's.  It may have been that I got the wrong flavors at Berthillon's (PASSION FRUIT) and I'm fair that if the opportunity presents itself, I will give Berthillon's a second try.  However, Amarino's solid selection of flavors with the ability to mix and match as many flavors as you want for a set size prize coupled with the beautiful delivery of the gelato definitely gives it a one-up on Berthillon's in my book.

But I'm not one to decide for other's, so let's hear your opinion once you try them:

Amorino's next to the Luxembourg Gardens

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4 Rue Vavin, 75006 Paris, France
Metro: Valvin or Notre Dames des Champs


Berthillon's

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31 Rue St Louis en l'ile, 75004 Paris, France
Metro: Pont Marie

Starting Local

Before even coming to Paris, the one thing our professor would always talk about is the local crepe shop right across the street from our hotel.   The shop is nestled right between Le Pierrot and Le 15 Cafe and is easy to miss except for the sweet and savory smells that waft out of this small stall once the occasional crepe order has been placed.  Without a real name to define the stall, this shop is definitely a local attraction.

As for the actual crepes, they offer a variety of sweet as well as savory crepes.  On the savory crepes, you can get anything from cheese, mushroom, tomatoes, basil, chicken, turkey, chorizo, bacon, ham, and fried egg.  Salt and pepper is optional but the "special" hot sauce is a must that adds a great flavor to the crepe.  The savory crepes here can range anywhere between €3-5 depending on the number of toppings.

The sweet crepes are a little more limited compared (surprisingly) with bananas usually being the only fresh fruit available.  There are however options of heaping mounds of nutella as well as coconut shavings, strawberry/blueberry/orange jam, almond shavings, and even drops of alcohol.

Overall, this local crepe shop is a plus.  While the crepe batter may not always be fresh (there's usually a stack of pre-made crepes that are quickly heated up) and the selection of fresh fruits is marginal (seems to be like that with all crepe shops in Paris though as fresh fruit is definitely an expensive delicacy), the proximity of the shop to the hotel as well as its accessible hours (10am-2am) make it a place i frequent often to satisfy midnight (or 1am) cravings of hunger (usually with a savory crepe).  But I think Ryo-san back home at Harajuku Crepes would be pleased to know that his dessert crepes are still my favorite.

So far i have tried the following combinations:
-nutella/banana
-ham, cheese, tomato, mushroom
-chicken, cheese, egg, tomato
-bacon, mozzarella, tomato 



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On Boulevard de Grenelle between Le Pierrot and Le 15 Cafe
Open 10am - 2am
Metro:  La Motte-Picquet Grenelle