View from Paris

Have recently been on a short trip to Paris with Laura and feel the dining there was worthy of the second in an infrequent series of views from abroad.

Leaving aside from the brasseries and cafes, I'm going to concentrate on our evening meals.

Thursday night - Le Bosquet
A smart little restaurant near our hotel in the 7th Arrondissement. It was quiet when we arrived but filled up a little more later (including an odd table near us full of americans and indians). We both had an awesome duck filet with dauphinoise potatoes. One of the best bits of duck I've had - it was cooked perfectly with just the right level of crispy bits. We even ate the salad. For desert Laura had a chocolate fondant and I had some ice-cream (including pistachio which actually tasted like pistachio).

Friday night - Le Relais de Venise
A London branch has opened in recent months and there's one in Barcelona too. The concept is simple. Forget about this "menu" bollocks. The only questions they ask are, "What would you like to drink?" and "How do you want your steak cooked?". You can't book but it's clearly a popular place we had to queue outside in the freezing cold for 20 minutes before getting in. Inside it's small, close, busy, loud, bustling, brilliant. The waitresses (didn't see any waiters) are all dressed in black uniform with the matriarch and table-giver was definitely Edith Piaf. They bring you a plate of bread, a green salad with walnuts and then two plates of steak and fries covered with their special sauce. Absolute quality. Even the house wine was good. I'll definitely be checking out the London one soon so I can act snobby by saying "The Parisian original is far better you know".

Saturday night - the amusingly named Vagenende
We spotted this place during the day while wandering around St. Germain. Inside it looks like the kind of place you'd see in a 1940s French film. Dark wood panelling, mirrors and dimmed soft lighting. We were squeezed in quickly even though it was very busy. It took a while to get our drinks but I never got the impression that we'd been forgotten. We ordered soft drinks and wine but they didn't bring the wine out until our main courses were ready and soft drinks finished. I had a big old portion of beef bourguignon and fresh pasts (interesting) while Lau had chicken breast with mashed potatoes. Both great.