Glad to hear that Mulot is still good! It’s been about 10 years. Of course they’ve been around since at least the fifties, if not much longer.
Just had lunch at David Toutaine. Best meal of the entire trip. Hands down.
Great to hear this Rich. My lunch there was also outstanding and a highlight.
Ditto here - solid lunch for my wife and I as well.
Just made a reservation at david toutain for our honeymoon in september! can’t wait!!
David Toutain rocked. Went to Passage 53 tonight and was unfortunately disappointed. A few outright misses and just overall unimpressed for the price. Of the 8-9 courses presented, I would say 2 savory courses and 1 dessert were memorable and outright delicious. Otherwise, not impressed. Sad considering it was our last meal in Paris and our most expensive at that… 
I would not bother with Passage 53 personally. So many great restaurants in Paris. This one missed the mark for me.
Sorry to hear about Passage 53, Rich, bummer! But we had a similar experience there not very long ago. Wonder if something is going on with the place.
Dining in Paris can be spendy. We typically spent much more for lunch in Paris than we did in Lyon for dinner. On our last trip we visited 3 different John Talbott highly rated restaurants for lunch. Many restaurants are closed on Sunday & Monday. We were thrilled that AG Halles was open on Monday for Lunch.
We did the lunch pre fixe 3 course and wine at each. All three were excellent values and we recommend highly for anyone looking for a great lunch (or dinner).
chez Papillon
8 Rue Meissonier, 75017
Anicia Bistro
97 rue du Cherche-Midi, 75006
AG Les Halles (open Mondays)
14 Rue Mondétour, 75001
Chez Papillion is great. Those are the types of places that I enjoy dining at most and should have stuck to my guns and went somewhere like that or Chez Marcel for our last meal. Instead we decided to shoot for the “stars” and left disappointed with a €500+ tab.
amazing, amazing meal there last week.
so excited.
how much fish was on the menu?
the only issue my wife and i have dining out (especially at tasting menus) is that she is allergic to fish. She can eat shellfish (lobster, crab, shrimp) but not actual fish. I actually had trouble explaining this to them on the phone last week.
Does this change anyone’s opinion on going to david toutain? i assume no, but thought i’d ask.
Any other “can’t miss” places? We aren’t quite the ballers that some are on this board, so Toutain will likely be our “splurge” meal in paris.
We’ve followed John Talbott for years. He spots future Michelin starred restaurants while they are still wallet friendly - particularly for lunch.
Mmmmmm. There was a good amount of fish in the tasting if I recall and we did lunch, not dinner, so presumably we had fewer courses overall than someone going for dinner. I think if you explain it to them in advance, you should be fine. I would probably try and do this via email (or have your hotel concierge speak to them directly) so they can prepare accordingly. I think if they have to make up multiple dishes on the fly, it might prove challenging and your wife may end up with some subpar dishes. I think our 3 course lunch involved 8-9 total items when you factored in all of the amuse bouche and extras and of those, maybe 3 included some sort of fish as a protein or in a stock or something.
I wouldn’t cancel the reservation to avoid the issue. The food and experience was too good. Hopefully they make it work for you.
And as far as other “can’t miss” options, there are so many good local restaurants in Paris that you should be fine as long as you do some research or take recommendations from others. Avoid touristy places (English menus are generally an avoid at all costs type prospect) and eat where the locals eat.
A bunch of great local spots have already been mentioned but I will second my vote for Chez Marcel. We had another killer meal there this trip. Les Papilles is also fantastic but they have a set menu for the night so your fish allergy would likely be an issue.
Enjoy!!!
Lunch at David Toutain today:
A sort of broccoli chip
Egg yolk and creamed corn
White asparagus with linguine and trout roe
Smoked eel in a black sesame pudding
Cod with zucchini, lemon
Pre-dessert ‘surprise’ “2 sweet flavors a and a vegetable” (I neglected to inquire after the fact, believe this was almond milk vanilla ice cream with a custard of cauliflower)
Marachino Cherries, can’t describe this, included sugar chips, some foam, got a mix of textures there (not just foam for the sake of foam), very good
Biegnet + Rosemary macaroon
Of note - they mentioned that the menu was intended as carte Blanche, but also asked if there was anything we couldn’t eat or didn’t like. I mentioned my mild lactase issue, and I believe they improvised a soy alternative for the linguine and the surprise, as my husband didn’t have an ice cream element to his.
I’m definitely a red meat fan; as a dinner menu I might have been disappointed, but this menu fit the bill for a wonderful first meal in France. We secured the reservation only a few days ago. I’d ask about a blanket no fish rule at lunch when booking, however, as that seems to a point of emphasis.
Thanks berserkers for another winning recommendation. Gorgeous presentations, friendly service, and a good value all things considered.
Awesome. We also had the broccoli chip, smoked eel in black sesame pudding and the cod with zucchini and lemon but the rest of our courses were different. We did get a duo of duck as one of our courses though.
No doubt one of he top tables in Paris.
that was white asparagus w calamari made to look like linguini, we were told. Great inventive meal.
A few days in Paris at the end of May - all comments were at dinner:
Louis (9e) - Chef Stephane Pitre (formerly with Alain Senderens) - small restaurant (8-10 tables), fixed carte (choice of 6 or 8 choices, cheese option). We had 6 courses paired with wines. Nice vibe, tastefully decorated in black, white, and teal. I think we were the only non-French table. Amuse bouche (three tastings including one with a good slice of truffle on top), Slightly seared tuna slice served on a stone, a green asparagus dish (paired with a 2014 Soave from Tedeschi), an amazing lobster dish with a lacey holey toile (paired with the 2015 bergerie l’Hortus Val de Montferrand), a chicken dish with calamari and mustard sauce, risotto nero, and chorizo with peas (paired with a white Cotes du Rhone 2015 Les Arbousiers Domaine la Reme Jeanne, a palate cleanser avocado sorbet with cream , dessert of raspberry sorbet, raspberries, and lavender meringue paired with the 2013 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Calcaire, and gourmandises and espresso with a takeaway bag of mini cakes. Everything was well prepared and the flavors were on point and well balanced - the only exception was the chicken dish (although I’m not a chicken fan and it was good but the flavors could have been picked up a bit). Excellent overall for under $200 for two. http://www.louis.paris/
Goust (2e) - return trip as the first was outstanding. The restaurant matches each course like many do, but they do not reveal what the wine is until you have a chance to play a guessing game with the sommelier. That is always interesting and fun. But this has slipped a bit in my opinion and there was a lack of creativity in most of the dishes. Lots of Americans in the dining rooms. The amuse was very interesting with a black sesame macaroon, a foie gras one, and a moshi, but another small amuse of pea mousse that was chalky and it declined after that - bland courses of crispy white asparagus, lamb confit, and pork chop, etc. The wine pairings left a lot to be desired - it was very disappointing a Victoria Shiraz from Terlato/Chapoutier! Hoping for a repeat but now taking it off our list. Enrico Bernardo
Restaurant AG St Germain (2e) - Run to this place. Amazingly now open on Sundays and we were there for Fete des Mamans. It was pouring rain and we arrived right on time. The restaurant was completely packed. We had made our reservations on La Fourchette and they didn’t have us down. The host worked with us and found the email from La Fourchette on their system so they moved tables to make room for us. They obviously had a reservation glitch and minimal staff (just 2 when we arrived). They handled it with such grace and humility that it ended up a big whole restaurant party. They popped champagne (that showered some diners who laughed it off) and gave everyone a glass on the house. They took what could have been a disaster night and made it into a fun, jovial dinner. They had one girl called in and the chef, Alan Geaam arrived on his motorcycle in the rain and started joking with everyone and serving. The amuse was an incredibly light basil mousse with chives and nuts and a fried arancini. Divine. We ordered a 2014 Chinon Blanc from Baudry. They served my favorite Beillevaire Beurre Cru a la Baratte Boi Demi-sel Croquant (this butter is AMAZING). Appetizer was the egg parfait (Oeuf parfait bio) with mushrooms and tuile (description doesn’t do it justice) - the egg yolk mixed with the other ingredients when broken. The main course was cod with risotto, crispy white asparagus (successful compared to the ones from Goust), a crustacean broth and pickled onions. And we got two different desserts that were both served in two courses ( a chocolate, banana, vanilla, pecan concoction - and may favorite was a yuzu, meringue, sable, and sorbet one.) Espresso was served with amazing chocolate madeleines and homemade marshmallows. Dinner was under $150 for two.
http://ag-restaurant.fr/
And a brief note on a non-Paris restaurant - Le Dix Septieme in AngersI loved this place - menu is creative, risky, and exciting - a purple Maserati screaming through an quiet upscale neighborhood. Literally purple - all purple accents and lights. Fun, W-like trendy vibe. Another fixed carte with wine pairings - so much fun. Here the all French wine pairings were fun - including a vouvray petillant paired with a yuzu dessert (perfect). A foie gras course with whipped cream OMG. The room is very small (6-8 tables) and there is a glass wall so you can watch them cook on a Green Egg in the kitchen. Two young ladies were the wait staff and they were kept hopping, but the service was nicely paced. Again we were the only non-French in the restaurant. So yummy - one of those restaurants that you say “OMG this is so good” after you taste each new dish. Highly recommend. (They also have a bistro at the same location).
We had lunch at AG Les Halles a few weeks before. Was a terrific value and open on Monday. Sunday’s & Monday’s are typically closed days in France.
Glad you enjoyed the AG-St. Germain! We found it by chance, but also had a very good meal. The night we went (mid-week, end of March) it wasn’t full at all.