While in France for the 2019 Christmas holidays, I enjoyed a few days in Paris where I use to live for about 5 years. Paris really is a feast: the amount of food option is countless, from small bistros to huge brasserie, dozens of Michelin starred, amazing bakeries and exceptional food groceries store. We continue this food journey with 3 restaurants that, to me, worth the visit for their food quality and setting.
You can find all these places, and many more, now on Monsieur Baozi Map !

1-La poule au pot by JF.Piège

“Upscale Traditional French cuisine”

La Poule au Pot is an 80 years old Parisian restaurant, of which Jean-Francois Piège is the third purchaser. Nestled a stone’s throw from Les Halles on a discreet street of the 1st district, the restaurant enjoys an ideal location for tourists: close to the Louvre museum and the rue Saint-Honoré, not far from the Opera Garnier… Once past its front door, we enter inside an authentic piece of history, beautifully renewed: large red sofa, big mirrors on the walls, flowered wallpaper and retro chandeliers. Chef Piège takes us to the Paris of “La Belle Epoque”, at a time when show-business artists succeeded each other at this now mythical address.

Inside the plate, eating at La Poule au Pot means enjoying the experience and talent of a great French contemporary chef (ex-Chef of the Hotel de Crillon, owner of 5 restaurants including one 2 starred and two 1 starred, jury of the TV-show “Top Chef”), in an authentic and warming atmosphere.

Galantine de canard, 25€: a coarse pistachio-studded fowl forcemeat surrounding a lobe of foie gras and garnished with radishes and a gorgeous gelee of deeply flavoured duck stock.

Hachis Parmentier, 30€: The XXL version of this family kitchen classic is highly addictive. The chef chose beef cheek and tail for his stew, topped with a maxi-buttered potato purée! As if that wasn’t enough, the huge dish is served with a large bowl of young winter salad leaves (classic with this dish) and, more surprising, a gigantic basin of crispy homemade “allumettes” french fries!

Veal sweetbreads, 48€: This is the real favourite. I rarely eat sweetbreads for several reasons: 1 they are difficult to find, 2 the quality must be impeccable because it is supposedly eaten “pink” at heart, 3 it is difficult to prepare and easy to miss (although all good cooks will tell you the opposite). I only have this dish in good restaurants that inspire my trust, and this was the case here! I can tell you that I was not disappointed: The sweetbreads are well seized, cooked to perfection, topped with a creamy sauce with morels and a crispy puff pastry bringing a balance of texture.

For these three dishes and two coffees, you have to count 100€ which may seem expensive, but given the uniqueness of the setting and the quality of the dishes, is quite fair for a 1 Michelin-starred restaurant in the centre of Paris.

Where:
9 rue Vauvilliers, 75001 Paris
Ⓜ️ Palais Royal Musée du Louvre
💵 50€/Pers, without wine

2: Pink Mamma

“Italian restaurant & Parisian soul”

This restaurant belongs to the successful “Big Mamma” restaurants group, from which it holds all the DNA: a careful decoration in every detail, an Italian staff at 80%, and a very enticing menu with competitive prices. With all these attributes, it’s hard to avoid the waiting line to access this particularly popular address, even for a lunch on a week-day.

This is what makes this Pink Mamma a must-see address during your next stay in Paris: a superb design, a different atmosphere on each of the 4 floors, a giant barbecue to grill high-quality steaks, an electric atmosphere and even a cocktail bar hidden under a beautiful glass-roof. With its trattoria-influenced menu (small, unpretentious simple restaurants with friendly service), Pink mamma is an ideal stop on the way back from the Montmartre Basilica.

What I tried:

T-Bone steak Fiorentina 800G, 48€: The speciality of Pink Mamma is the Fiorentina, a big and juicy T-bone steak, cooked on the grill, to be shared for two peoples. The restaurant has a 3-meter long barbecue on which the cooks grills all the steaks, using a mix of Cherrywood and quebracho to infuse the meat with wood-flavour and smocky notes.

“Dancing Regina” pizza, 14€: Pizzas are part of the good reason to visit Pink Mamma and experience the quality of “Parisian style Italian food”. The crust is well cooked (see the black dots), and the premium ingredients, especially their Italian cold cuts, makes it a hit.

Creamy Burrata, 11€: It is one of the highlights of the place. Like all of their Italian ingredient, they claim to import it by themselves which supposedly guarantees top quality and a relatively low price. Taste also is creamy, nutty and so rich. I wish I could have this quality available where I live.

Where:
20 rue de Douai, 75009 Paris
Ⓜ️ Pigalle
💵 35€/Pers, with drinks

3: Les Cocottes by C.Constant

“French classics in a modern atmosphere, two minutes away from Eiffel Tower”

When we chose the 7th district for the last dinner in Paris, I must admit that I was not very confident as it is not an area that inspires me. It is an upscale residential area, very touristic around Champ de Mars and the Eiffel Tower, which is full of restaurant that are either of very high quality, but out of budget for this dinner with friends, or “tourist-catcher brasserie” which I dreaded that it leave me a bitter memory of this Parisian stay. Christian Constant’s Cocottes ended up to be a very good choice and proved to me that this area also is furnished with good addresses if you know where to look.

Christian Constant has set his sights on St Dominic’s Street, 100 Meters away from the Champ de Mars, by setting up two different addresses to satisfy every appetite: 

-Café Constant, a “Parisian bistro with Southwestern accents”: friendly cuisine from France South-West ( cassoulet, duck confit, snails with parsley butter, …), warm and friendly atmosphere, extensive french wine list.

–Les Cocottes: A modern design, a huge counter as I love them, high-end furniture and a concept of service in Cocottes, these cast-iron dishes (from Staub famous brand) emblematic of french family cooking, which reassure and warm-up in this freezing end of January evening.

Make sure to book a table as the restaurant was packed with even people waiting outside. Above everything positive I have to say about this place, the restaurant staff was particularly welcoming and friendly, which is rare enough in Paris to be highlighted, and especially in this part of the city.

What I tried:

As we were a table of several friends, we tested many of the dishes. All were plentiful, tasty and relatively good value for money considering the neighbourhood ( count between 15 to 30 euros per dish).

Homemade countryside pâté, pickled chillis, 12€:  Nothing is more French than a good country paté shared among friends with a nice bottle of sharped red wine. At Les Cocottes, we went for a Crozes-Hermitage (Côtes du Rhône) following Sommeliers’ recommendation, and the association was ideal.

Beef cheeks stew (“Daube”) with potatoes, carrots and spring onion, 22€:  The chosen meat, beef cheek, is a piece for stews that after several hours of cooking becomes melting, stringy and very tasty.

French toast, chocolate mousse & cheesecake as dessert, not to forget a fantastic “Baba au Rhum” that will last in my memory for a long long time.

Baba au Rhum, 15€ getting generously showered at the table by Maitre D with Diplomatico rum.

As Christian Constant would say: “I prefer above all the originel (first of its kind) to the original (something innovative) “. At Les Cocottes, we enjoyed discovering the original taste in its original context. Thank you, Chef Constant!

Where:
135 rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris
Ⓜ️ École militaire
💵 50€/pers with wine

---

Monsieur Baozi is a personal Food Blog where I write about my culinary adventures, my discoveries and my favorites places in China where I live, and during my travels mainly in Europe and Asia. If you liked this post, feel free to comment it, to share it and follow me on Instagram and WeChat !