The Paris Review

I got back from Paris two weeks ago. Here is my review of the some places I went to in France & Belgium. I spent the first week traveling with my sister, then met up with friends for the rest of the trip. I pretty much ate and drank my way though the whole trip. These are some of the notable dining experiences I had in those places.

The first night in France, we had dinner at the Hotel de Crillon, but not at Les Ambassadeurs (their one Michelin star restaurant). Nevertheless, the meal was quite wonderful. The dinner began with several glasses of Taittinger champagne—always a nice way to start a meal. The first course was a légumes pot au feu, which was boiled vegetables in truffled broth. The vegetables weren’t anything spectacular, but it was served with a wonderful white wine, a Menetou-Salon. The main course was lamb and potato stuffed piment d’Espelette. This was probably the best lamb dish I had—rich and tender, but not gamey. Dessert was blancmange with apples and salted butter caramel sauce.

One reason why I went to France was to celebrate my birthday. I went to Chez Pauline on my birthday. My first course was baby artichokes stuffed with tomato concasse in a light tomato broth. The main course was boeuf bourguignon with gnocchi. I’ve tried to make this dish many times, but it had never made it that well. The meat was falling apart tender, although it was quite salty. Dessert was a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Good, but I’ve had better versions. Overall, the food was well done and the waiters were very attentive, but it was not an extraordinary experience. Additionally, the night I went, all the diners were other American tourists. It’s a minor issue, but I usually take it as good sign when locals eat at a restaurant. Another issue I had was that the service charge wasn’t included in the meal, which is very odd. Service is normally included in the cost of the meal in France. I never saw this at any other restaurant I went to in France. The meal was about 120 euros for two.

I love falafels in Paris. I don’t think the ones in San Francisco are nearly as good. Chez Marianne is a deli on rue des Rosiers in the Marais. I had the falafel special, which consisted of falafels, fried eggplant, cabbage and lots of tahini all tucked into a pita. The meal with a glass of wine was around 6 euros. The restaurant also has the narrowest staircase I’ve ever seen. No wonder the French are so thin, otherwise they wouldn't be able to go upstairs.

After Paris, we went to Provence for a few days. We visited Arles, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.

I had dinner at La Taverne du Forum, located next to the famed Night Café (painted by Van Gogh) in Arles. Everyone had bad service, even if they were French. The food though, was quite lovely. I had the soupe de poisson (fish soup) and paella camarguaise. The soup was thick, dark and earthy and served with cheese, aioli and croutons. The paella had mussels, shrimp and chicken. The flavor wasn’t too different from Spanish paella, but the texture was much soupier. Also, the rice they used was different, short grain and round. The Camargue region is known for growing rice.

The Saturday morning market in the tiny provincial town of Arles puts San Francisco's Ferry Plaza farmer’s market to shame. The amount of fresh produce was incredible, lots of fruit, olives, honey, sausage, etc. I went to the market for breakfast and had melon, figs, paella, baguette with fresh chevre, St. Nectare cheese and tapenade (then followed by Rolaids). I also picked up some fleur de sel, lavender and rosemary honeys and herbes de Provence. There were also lots of people who sold local pottery, shoes, clothes and that beautiful, colorful cloth decorated with olive or lavender patterns.

After Provence, my sister went home and I went to Belgium. I thought Belgium was rather boring, but the food I had was good. The waffles were very good. I especially liked the dense Gaufes de Liège. It seemed like they sprinkled sugar on the dough before cooking the waffle, so it ends up with a crispy caramel layer on the outside of a warm, chewy waffle.

I met some friends for dinner on my first night in Brussels. Dinner actually started with beer. I had the Bellevue Kriek—a cherry flavored beer. Then we went to Falstaff for dinner, near the Grand Place. I started with the Maatje salad. It was fresh herring and onion salad. The herring was salty, but not fishy or oily. Then I had the Waterzooi. It’s a braised chicken with potatoes and carrots. I thought it tasted like a very good chicken & dumplings (but without the dumplings). The weather was cold and rainy. Perfect weather for having Waterzooi, even though it was the middle of July.

My favorite part of the trip was being in Paris for Bastille Day. There’s nothing comparable to having a picnic on the Champs du Mars while watching fireworks over the Eiffel Tower.