Tag: bistros

Three good lists to help you dine well in Paris (plus some other good sources)


It can be overwhelming trying to decide where to eat in Paris. You need a guide. Here’s some I recently used for a trip to Paris that I found were very helpful.

First up, I highly recommend David Lebovitz’s list of favorite Paris restaurants, not just for the list itself, but for the many tips to dining out in Paris at the end of the list. (He also has this older link, but it’s very old.)

We also took advantage Alison Roman’s list of places she hit up in Paris, although you may need to be a subscriber to see it. She is a big fan of the many great wine bars in Paris, as well as places like Les Enfants du Marché.

If you have to choose one source, then of course you want to go with Michelin, which obviously is a great guide for dining in Paris.  There are literally hundreds of restaurants you can choose from at all price points. There’s really no excuse to dine poorly with so many options.

To all those I would add Laura Calder, who is living in Paris now. Check out her substack to see where she has been in Paris. Years ago I asked her for advice on dining in that city and she pointed me to David Lebovitz. Now I do the same for you.

Before I forget, consider checking out the New York Times: do a search for “Paris”. I heard about Parcelles through this piece on Paris bistros and I knew I had to go.

As for the places we ate on our last trip, here’s my list of places we had good dinners:

The first three were three different sort of bistros, which I love. And the last two were bars with more casual fare.

For lunch we had lovely avocado toast sandwich with egg and watercress at Used Book Cafe in the Marais: highly recommend that spot. Another day we grabbed a jambon beurre from Caractère de Cochon and ate in while sitting in a park. Lovely.

Restaurants loved and living: Côte de Boeuf


I love casual French restaurants. And my favourite thing to order in causal French restaurants is steak frites. That’s why  Côte De Boeuf is one of my Loved and Living restaurants. Ever since I left the sidewalks of Ossington Street to step inside, I’ve been a huge fan. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve been there since that first time many years ago.

It’s a perfect little restaurant/grocer. You can stop and just purchase some of the beautiful meats they have in the window. During the pandemic, I would at least do that. But my preference is to go and grab one of their tiny tables along the wall with barely enough room for a plate and a glass and a single votive.

And what good plates and glasses of wines they have! While they do many things well, from oyster to charc’ to dessert,  I cannot resist ordering their steak frites. The fries are wonderfully prepared, and their steak is top notch.  Even when their steak prices leapt up, I still kept going, it was that good and worth the trip. Their wines? French, of course, and a perfect accompaniment for any thing you order.

If I lived nearby I’d go once a week. Alas, in recent years I have not  gone at all, due to it being overwhelmed with guests. Even in summer when they have a patio, it can take a long time to get in, if you can get in at all. And no they don’t have reservations. There’s nothing causal about that, I am sad to say.

This week my sadness turned to delight when I heard that they are creating a sister restaurant in my favorite neighbourhood in Toronto, the Annex. Even better, they’ll be taking over the space left by the closing of the By the Way cafe. That means more seating and more chances for me to go. I don’t think it will be once a week, but it will be with some frequency, that’s for sure.

Here’s hoping the new sister restaurant will be open come December. I can’t wait to go, no matter how big or small their table tops are. All I need is enough room from a plate, a glass, and a single votive.

"Steak

Restaurants loved and living: L’Express

L’Express restaurant: just the thought of being there again makes me happy. I’ve gone countless times in the last few decades. Whenever I am in Montreal, even if just for a day, I dine there. Everything about it is great: the bistro food, the great value French wine, the superb waiters, the classic decor, and especially the big jars of cornichons. I love the ravioli and the hanger steak, followed by one scoop of ice cream (preferably maple),  but I have never been disappointed with whatever is served.

I was worried about it during the pandemic, but they seem to have muscled through those lean times. No doubt because of its many fans who have been there since 1980, and who no doubt will still be going in 2080.

I suspect they will have even more fans now that Michelin has arrived in Quebec and awarded it a Bib Gourmand. While I am agree with Leslie Chesterman that Michelin got things wrong on their first swing at Quebec, the tire people did right awarding a Bib to L’Express. It truly is “good quality, good value cooking”.

So the next time you are in Montreal strolling the great street of St. Denis, pop in to L’Express, either to have some wine (it’s also a great wine bar) or better yet find a table, scan the wonderfully printed menu, and settle into a plate of savoury bistro food. You won’t be sorry.

For more on L’Express and it’s history, check out this piece in the New York Times.

(Photos here from the Times piece. For more restaurants loved and living, see here.)