Where We Ate: Paris

Work picked up, so my blogging slowed down, but I haven't stopped. You didn't think I would forget to post about the food in Paris, did you?!

First, I want to mention a couple of general items I discovered that you can probably find in many places:

1. Schweppes Agrum' Citrus blend:

This soda/pop that is a blend of 4 citrus flavors. We discovered this at the Galleries Lafayette cafeteria when we were looking for air-conditioning and cold drinks. If you're a fan of Fanta Limón, you'll probably like this as well.

2. Danone Gervita Fraise Melba:

While DH was perusing the several yogurt aisles at the Carrefour, he found this and picked it up, thinking it was yogurt. He doesn't read French, but I do: I figured out that it wasn't yogurt, but rather a "sweetened dairy specialty" flavored with strawberries. The first ingredient was "frommage blanc," which I understood as the vague term "white cheese," but it turns out this term is for cottage cheese. That was followed by cream, strawberries and sugar. I gave a try, and it was pretty good! To me, it didn't taste like standard yogurt or cottage cheese. I thought it was more like eating marscapone cheese with strawberries.

Now for the specific restaurants...

Café Six
The Rick Steves Paris guidebook recommended a street near Saint Sulpice--Rue des Canettes--for restaurants. We checked it out, and found that several were closed because it was not yet 7 PM. Café Six was open, though. The website says that they specialize in Basque food, but we didn't pick up on that detail when we were there. There was no kid menu, so the girls split an order of pasta carbonara. DH had a steak, and I had turkey tagliatelle. Everyone enjoyed their food.

Website: https://lecafesix.fr.gd

Ambassade d'Auvergne
DH had heard about this place and their aligot, a kind of cheesy mashed potato that is a regional specialty of Auvergne. In fact, this whole restaurant focuses on dishes local to that region. For the most part, I appreciated this approach with its focus on ingredients from the area; however, it was a bit annoying that this focus meant that they do not serve any sodas/pops. This was a disappointment to my girls, who looked for every opportunity to drink Fanta Limon (as I often did myself). Instead, they each tried a local organic fruit juice at 6 euro apiece (the same price as my glass of wine, yikes!).

There was no kiddie menu here, so we had the girls share an adult dish: the country sausage and aligot. The kitchen was accommodating with this, bringing the dish divided on two plates instead of leaving us to do it. DH and I each ordered the roasted duck breast and aligot.

Before the food arrived, one of the kitchen staff visited our table with a pot of aligot and a wooden spoon to do some stirring and show the dish in its cheesy, stringy glory; when he would move the spoon up and out of the pot, the potato would form strings much like the way the cheese on a pizza gets stringy when you pull out a slice. It was fun for everyone to see. The aligot tasted good, too, although DH was somehow expecting it to be more transcendent than it actually was. That's not to say that any of us were disappointed. Our duck was really good, as were the girls' sausages. They needed a little bit of coaxing to try the food, but seemed to like it once they did.

In all, it was an interesting experience and was our fanciest night out, but if you have kids, beware the juices and the 7 PM opening time for dinner.

Website: http://ambassade-auvergne.fr/en/

Hippopotamus Grill

This is a chain restaurant. We visited the location in the mall (Centre Commercial Les Arcades) in Noisy Le Grand near our apartment. We didn't necessarily plan on eating here, but we knew that wandering in the sweltering heat on a Sunday night near the Galleries Lafayette in search of a restaurant was a bad idea. We headed back towards the apartment knowing that there should be something open and air-conditioned at the mall.

Not counting the quick dinner we had at a McDonald's, Hippopotamus was probably the most Americanized (American-esque?) place where we ate on our trip. It's sort of like an Outback Steakhouse with a French twist--no Aussie theme here. There's an extensive drink menu and a focus on grilled meats. I forgot to write down what DH had, but I remember it was a meat dish. I had a large salad with crunchy (breaded) chèvre. We both liked our food fine.

This was also one of the most kid-friendly restaurants we visited. The server brought out kiddie cocktails (similar to a Shirley Temple) for the girls as soon as they sat down. The kiddie menus had activities and came in a little box with a colored pencil and a hard candy. The meals themselves included a drink and a dessert and included entrees that you'd find on a kid menu in the US. The girls enjoyed mac and cheese, chicken fingers, and fruit-and-candy kabobs.

Maybe this is not the quintessential French food experience, but you could certainly do worse, especially if you have young kids.

Website: https://restaurant.hippopotamus.fr/fr/ile-de-france/seine-saint-denis/93051/noisy-le-grand

Café du Metro

We were once again near Saint Sulpice, looking for a place to eat. Even though we had liked Cafe Six, we wanted to try something new. Unfortunately, we were hungry for dinner before 7 PM, so many of the nearby restaurants were closed. We walked towards the metro, vowing to stop at the first open place where the menu looked like it had choices for everybody.

This place looks like it will give you that quintessential French experience, with its awning and outdoor seating. The reality is much less glamorous. Those streetside tables were cramped, smoky, and noisy. There were customers smoking at nearby tables, and you had to talk over the busy street traffic. The server didn't wedge his way back into our corner very often, so we went a long time without drinks. I don't remember much about the food, other than the girls and me eating fries. I wouldn't go back.

http://www.cafedumetro.com

Eric Kayser

This is a local bakery chain. DH read that it was one of the best places to get lunch for under 10 euro. The food was good and affordable. I had a quiche with spinach and cheese, while the rest of the group ordered sandwiches. We also had macarons for dessert.

We grabbed breakfast at their location near our gate at Orly, so we can also vouch for their tasty pastries (we tried the pain au chocolate and an apple-filled one).

Website: https://www.maison-kayser.com/boulangeries

Le Studio Café

I wasn't expecting much from this place because of its super-touristy location at the bottom of the hill from Sacre-Coeur. It's the type of place I would ordinarily avoid for that reason, but we were all so hungry after visiting the church that we agreed to eat at the first acceptable place we could find. I'm glad we visited because this was my favorite lunch in Paris, with the best croque monsieur I had on the trip.

Le Studio also offers a good selection of savory and sweet crepes. The girls shared a ham and cheese one for their main course, and then we ordered two sweet ones (Nutella and lemon-and-sugar) for dessert. Everything was great. If they had a website, I'd share it with you!

Café Beaubourg

This was where we ate our last dinner in Paris. It is on the Stravinsky plaza/fountain near the Pompidou Center. Because there is no car traffic, the outdoor seating is peaceful. There was no kid menu here, so the girls ordered grown-up stuff. Café Beaubourg may have changed their offerings though, because the online menu doesn't show the pizza DD2 had or DH's duck.

DD1 had a croque monsieur, and I had a croque madame.

I thought that the food was fine, but a bit pricey for what it was, even by Paris standards.

Website: https://cafebeaubourg.com/en/

I still have notes on food in Madrid, so I will get to those as well. Thanks for reading!