Le Bistrot de Paris

On my better half’s first night in Paris this year, I thought we should go to a traditional French bistrot… and with the apt name ‘Le Bistrot de Paris’, and boasting famous clients like Serge Gainsbourg, this seemed like the right choice.
And indeed, everything felt so perfectly Parisian, so French, that it was a wonderful night. The menu is in orange ink on yellow paper with the smallest of letters. Neither of our aging eyes could read it without the flashlights from our iPhones! And the menu was so French that it was a little difficult to figure out… classics that we didn’t know were classics!
S. opted for the special of the day, lamb cutlets, and they were absolutely perfectly done in a rich glaze with crisp, small potatoes and baked garlic.
I had the skate (raie in French), which I find an interesting fish, with the extremely long flat bones, the perfectly long strips of dense white flesh. With capers and cubes of citrus (grapefruit) on top of a bed of spinach, this was very nice, but what made it nicer was a whole container of beurre noisette, which I could ladle on top of the fish.
We skipped appetizers in favour of desserts, and while I was expecting slightly boring traditional desserts, these ones were elevated. Both cream and ice cream in the middle of these profiteroles, pretty enough on their own (which I expected) and then suddenly the waiter swoops over and pours warm chocolate sauce over the trio.
I’d also had sickly sweet Rhum Baba before, round balls of it in a sauce, so didn’t expect that S’s would come as a big cake, sliced in half in front of us, with rum poured on top of the cake (and the bottle left, momentarily on the table, in case we wanted more) with whipped cream. It was damn good.
A final word is that both host and waiter were perfectly French, charming and efficient, in a slightly comical manner. I thought we were in a French theme park rather than a restaurant, it seemed both stereotypical to fulfil any expectations I had of a traditional, formal bistrot, but also a discovery to learn, to get the feel that this is how things are done in Paris. Bookings are easy to make online, via La Fourchette (The Fork).

Good food, service and friendly atmosphere. Definitely get the mashed potatoes. All fish was fresh and perfectly prepared. Next trip to Paris this is a go to restaurant.

Oh Boy! Bambie & I ate a fabulous meal here. Quantities huge, flavors hugher (is that a real word?), service extremely professional, and it all happens in a classic French bistro dining room.
I ain’t no Paris virgin (this vacation is visit #20) I speak French very well and I don’t rave about a restaurant meal if it’s just middling. After 4 courses, 4 glasses of wine and an extravaganza night of people watching, this meal made me happy that at least this living remnant of old Paris still exists.
Our crusty old waiter was the model of professional efficiency. His English proficiency was nil. His patience level wasn’t much higher, while my faithful partner, Bambie, dithered over the large menu (French only — that I was translating line by line) he split to take care of 4 other pressing tasks. I gave him the come hither look when we were ready to order, he was gracious and helpful. When I asked him which glasses of wine are best to accompany the meals, he suggested the lesser priced perfect matches.
And for the next 2 hours we ate and ate and ate… We did converse some, mostly about the other diners and what they were eating. The room is a perfect observational laboratory of human behavior. The room was full to bursting, a LOT of folks are jammed into 400 square feet. It’s a well dressed crowd of middle class /​age locals, a good portion of English speaking tourists, and a smattering of other Europeans. The hub-​bub in the room is electric but blessedly not too loud. Europeans have such better manners in public than crass Americans.
The food? Better than 90% of other bistros I’ve eaten in over the past 45 years, even those far away from the tourist zones. All ingredients are French grown which means by law: Biologique — organic. (Did you know that Monsanto products have been banned in France & Italy?) Food style is grandma mixed with tough neighborhood guy who finished cooking school despite his bad attitude. The food is not finicky and precious. It’s big, bold and filling.
If you’re a timid first time Paris visitor with no French skills and suffering from a small case of culture shock should you venture to eat here? That depends.
Yes: if you’re a foodie and can tolerate probable language confusion and will let chance be your hand-​maiden — that is be willing to eat anything on the menu.
No: if you’re staying in a fancy pants American style hotel where every service person speaks perfect English and jumps to fulfill your smallest request. If you think steak tartare and snails are yucky, go somewhere else.
Great meal with plenty of wine for two = $ 100. Steal of a deal. I live in the wine country, Sonoma Valley of California, a haven of high priced gourmet restaurant cuisine. There you can’t eat this well at this price.
Bistro de Paris grade: A.
Recommended.

Went for breakfast with wife and 3 children. They could not have been nicer !! My daughter speaks pretty good French, and they were having a ball talking with her and our family. Ordered amazing omelettes and salad??? Sounds weird but actually very good. Quality food and lots of locals who wanted to know about Texas. We tried to speak French and they loved that.
What a great tribute to the French. If you try you will be rewarded with warmth. Great food and service and the owner had their kids come out and talk with us.
So fun ! Wish we could go back soon.

This restaurant was on the street where we stayed and recommended to us. This was a wonderful dining experience that was a bit nicer than the regular cafés. The waiter was pleasant, spoke English, and made us laugh. Reasonably priced for excellent food!

Buddy and I were wandering Paris following a conference. I chose this based on Unilocal recommendations. Food was great — I had lamb and Jim had duck. The wine selection perfect. Price was in line with the quality. I liked the seating, we talked with the people sitting immediately (like right next) to us, very friendly. The waiter was really friendly and helpful — we tried asking for an English menu and he said not to worry I’ll interpret for you. His recommendations were spot on. My first time in Paris — Le Bistrot de Paris made it a great. I’d highly recommend it.

We read reviews of Le Bistrot de Paris that indicated it would not likely be very friendly to an American family of 5, but we’re pretty experienced travelers and thought we could manage our way around limited english on the menu or with the server. We went because the food was supposed to be great French bistrot cuisine. Well, the service lived up to our limited expectations — the maitre d’ and waiter were both appropriately rude. Problem was the food was below average. My wife had a cold, relatively flavorless foie gras terrine. My magret de canard was tough and covered in a brown sauce that belonged at a bad Thanksgiving dinner. My girls had salmon and mashed potatoes, and while the potatoes were great, the salmon was boring and undercooked. I can tolerate rude Parisian service in the pursuit of a good meal. Enduring jerks to eat bad food, not so much. I’d recommend skipping Le Bistrot de Paris.

I’ve fond memories of dining at Le Bistrot de Paris because it was just my aunt and I who traveled together to Paris in Feb. 2004. It was her first visit to Paris and my third. We were staying at the nearby Hotel Verneuil which booked the restaurant on our behalf as we didn’t want to dine too far from the hotel.
Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by such warm, friendly staff who whisked our coats upstairs. We were assisted with the menu offerings and ordered traditional meals including, of course, desserts. In fact, the restaurant is so old world charming as it looks like the typical Parisian bistrot of photos. Lovely mirrors are on the wall, and the locals as well as tourists all seem to be in such great moods making for a very warm atmosphere.
Highly recommended if you’re staying in this part of the 7^th.

Le meilleur rapport qualité/​prix et service/​prix du quartier.
A midi le plat est à 15 euros ce qui n’est pas forcément économique mais le plat est d’une qualité largement supérieure aux restaurants dans les 12 – 20 euros.
Le cadre est parfait le soir pour un dîner bien parisien: romantiques et/​ou touristes vous serez charmés.

We enjoyed our dinner. Not pretentious. The skate was delicious. My wife enjoyed her duck which was a different style than she was used to. Brits and French-​we were the only Americans. Good service. I would definitely go back.

The atmosphere was nice and cozy. There were a lot of Americans and foreigners there. The food was good and very French and the menu is in French. The waiter was nice, but lied about the tip being included at the end. It looked like there was comfortable seating there, but we were stuck in a corner at a very uncomfortable table. No one offered to take our coats, or pull out our table, yet other guests seemed to get more attentive service – maybe because we were two women. It was very expensive for the poor service there.

We ate and drank our way through Paris using a friend’s list as an occasional reference. Le Bistrot de Paris was one of the highlights. The interior is cozy without being cramped; and be sure to take a peek at the bar in the back! The waiters were charming, entertaining, and patient with our faltering franglais. We may have been the entertainment as there were only 2 other Americans (regulars) in the place.
Our waiter made excellent suggestions from the full wine list to compliment our meals. The food — so French –was delicious. This is an excellent spot before or after a trip to Musee D’Orsay.

What a gem! This is a very traditional French Bistrot, I would not advise going in here unless you are comfortable with your French or have friends in Paris. It is very much a local place, not a place for tourists. The food is very traditional French, the tartar is to die for!!! Our service was spectacular, very friendly and I look forward to going back!

Dîner à deux ou entre copains — pour amoureux de l’ancien Thoumieux et pas le nouveau
Bistrot d’antan, avec un accueil chaleureux, une carte classique et soigée — un chouillat cher mais une des dernières top-​adresses à Paris !

On passé pres de la Seine, devant le musee d Orsay: deja les yeux sont servis !
et puis, un dejeuner au calme, avec un service impeccable: foie de veau parfait, et un millefeuilles extra !
On né demande rien de plus, on en sort heureux !
On reviendra…

Incontournable
Pour moi la référence de cette partie du 7eme. Les patrons et serveurs sont adorables et aux petits soins, la cuisine est delicieuse, la deco parfaite et l’ambiance et clientele tres agréables. On y dine pas leger mais on y dine bien.

Bön «petit» bistrot
C’est près de chez moi et cela mérite d’être connu. J’ai rarement été décu. Le staff est adorable. La cuisine excellente, les prix un peu élevés mais bon vive l’euro… Dommage que le patron n’ai pas le geste d’offrir au moins une fois un petit café ou… un digestif. Dans l’ensemble je vous le recommande. Au fait pour moi les meilleurs profiteroles de Paris

Vive les touristes…
Si vous êtes américain, que vous avez plus de 60 ans et que votre porte-​feuille est plein de dollars, ce restaurant est fait pour vous… A éviter pour tous les autres, sauf si vous aimez vous faire arnaquer comme un touriste…

Le charme d’antan
Une grande salle où l’on déguste des plats traditionnels et raffinés. Le service rappelle une époque passée et la cuisine a de quoi vous faire saliver. Tout ici nous fait oublier que nous sommes au XXI° siècle.

Un coin très sympa
Vous êtes bien accueilli, dans un lieux truffé de charme, une ambiance année 20. Grâce à la verrière, on se croirait presque sur une terrasse au fond du restaurant. La nourriture y est délicieuse… c’est la bonne adresse !