April in Paris. Restaurant faves?

My wife and I will be in Paris for a few days in April.

I have some restaurants in mind but am happy to entertain faves from other people.

We have in mind more the bistro type places. The top end find dining will likely be lunch events, since the quality of the food is just as good, but the prices are lowe, and you can still walk it off after lunch. Plus you can afford to spend the money saved on food at lunch on wine at lunch!

So far I'm considering some of the following:

L'Angle du Faubourg (Taillevent's other place)

Le Repaire du Cartouche

Le Bistro Paul Bert

Chez les Anges

Fish La Boissonnerie

Atelier Maitre Albert

Allard (for the tradtional fix)

and Lavinia, for to pick out a bottle and have it at lunch at what I'm told is a pretty good restaurant.

Oh, doesn't mean much since the Metro is superb, but we'll be staying right next to St. Germain des Pres.

[James Roscoe]

Hoke, aren't there restaurants in Paris you're not allowed to visit?

Hoke, aren't there restaurants in Paris you're not allowed to visit?

I use a fake name and wear a beard. That works for most of them. If they object to my behavior, I just tell them I'm British.

[James Roscoe]

Hoke, aren't there restaurants in Paris you're not allowed to visit?

I use a fake name and wear a beard. That works for most of them. If they object to my behavior, I just tell them I'm British.

I always figure you could actually pretend to be polite and pass for a Canadian, eh. Of course, as a Brit, you can still be rude.

True story:

We were in Bofinger's (just off the Place de la Bastille) with another couple from New York.

As the evening progressed and we were having a good time, we started conversing with some folks from the large party next to us. We ended up sharing wine back and forth and having an even better time. Turned out they were a bunch of Scots on holiday and bent on having a good time.

At the end of the evening one of the men leaned over and confided to me, "We would have spoken to you earlier, and we wish we had, but you see, we thought you were British. Then we saw you were enjoying yourselves."

We tend to frequent bistros while in Paris. Three favorites are:

Le Petit Troquet
28, rue de l'Exposition
7th arrondissement
01 47 05 80 39

Le Temps au Temps
13, rue Paul Bert
11th arrondissement
01 43 79 63 40

La Maison du Jardin
27, rue de Vaugirard
6th arrondissement
01 45 48 22 31

All of these are popular with the local set, so reservations are a must. All three have excellent food at very fair prices.

At the end of the evening one of the men leaned over and confided to me, "We would have spoken to you earlier, and we wish we had, but you see, we thought you were British. Then we saw you were enjoying yourselves."

Great story!!

Hi Hoke - i believe i almost ran into you at meadow brook wine and food thing last sept.

just got back from there and found a place i like. La Table du Perigord at 13 r. mezieres. the foie gras is very good there. the cassoulet is OK only IMO and the sweetbreads a really good - the most tender and juicy i have ever had.

i was also to Allard; and probably will not go back - nothing special IMO except that the house pour red graves was really delicious.

i assume you've found pierre herme for croissants, etc.? they have the oddity of not opening until 10 am; but then there is still a line out the door at closing, so....... r. bonaparte in sight from st. sulpice.

have fun!

Hoke, I really enjoyed Chez Dumonet (aka Josephine) at the lower end of r. de Cherche Midi near Montparnasse. A really rousing traditional Paris bistro and you'll enjoy the wine list. Populated by locals primarily. You could walk there from St. Germain des Pres in about 15 minutes.

For lunch splurge, Hotel Bristol is superb, and great value for 2* venue with 3* cooking.

My thanks to all who responded, and I have copied your reccos and suggestions.

Bernard: I do believe I have frequented that very same bistro in times past. I once stayed on the Cherche-Midi and the day we arrived we wanted to stay close to our hotel and not get lost in the maze of streets (I've found that walking in Paris is so seductive that one can end up---well, one often ends up---walking and walking and walking.), and lo and behold, we came upon that very bistro and said, "Looks good; let's do this one." And it was lovely. Just the thing for our first night there.