Chez Taéko, Paris, France

It was a Japanese week-end. After Kura on Saturday, we went to Taéko's in the Marché des Enfants Rouges. Taéko is more a food stall than a restaurant, as hardly twenty people can seat under the tiny tent. And you need to arrive early, as past 12h30, the queue quickly starts to stretch outside the tent. And the quality of Taéko's bento deserves well this popularity.

Bento with cuttlefish and prawn cakes

Cost: ~ EUR 10

Kura, Paris, France

I took a friend for lunch at Kura in the chic 16ieme arrondissement, and as we were starving we were looking forward to ordering the largest tasting menu. Unfortunately for us, there was no tasting menu at that time (in March, it seems that now there is a spring tasting menu) but only menus with 1 main (sushi OR sashimi OR grilled fish OR chicken OR beef). We asked to a surprisingly rude and not helpful waitress if it was possible to have one menu each and order a la carte sashimi, but she was inflexible. Since we had decided to have fish AND meat we asked another waitress, who got approval from the chef. Despite this rough start we had a lovely lunch with ultra fresh ingredients. The highlights were the grilled entrecôte perfumed with a delicious miso sauce, the scallop sashimi which was the freshest I have ever had, and the light mango dessert.

Raw tuna with Japanese mayonnaise

Miso soup with mussels

Vegetables in light broth

Grilled rib eye with Saikyou miso

Sashimi

Mango jelly and ginger ice cream

Cost: EUR 22-28 per menu

Terminus Nord, Paris, France

Last Sunday, a British couple arrived at the Eurostar termainal in Paris Gare du Nord, with a live artillery shell. Obviously, the incident caused severe Eurostar delays and we were advised to come and check-in one hour later. This left us enough time to seek comfort in food and we went to Terminus Nord, a typical French brasserie opposite the station.

Terminus Nord is for sure among the best place to have a quick meal around Gare du Nord . As usual, I made the lightest choice and went for a choucroute garnie while vegan Mister Sardine ordered a Steak tartare. In order to reduce my average calorie intake I had some oysters for starter (I know, it does not work this way...)

Riesling choucroute

Steak tartare

Cost: 2-course for 23.50 EUR, 3 courses for 29 EUR

A sample of the menu:

Fogón, Paris, France

Restaurant Fogón is the only Spanish Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, located on the left-bank in 6ème Arrondissement. Chef Alberto Herráiz moved from La Mancha in Spain to Paris in 1997 and has specialised since then in what he does best: rice.

We went for the rice menu, which includes two appetizers, three tapas, one large rice dish to share and dessert. For those who do not like rice there is a tapas menu (twelve tapas), but I have to say rice should be the main reason to go to Fogón.

Surprise from the chef: cutlery is hidden in the table's drawer.

Cockle gratin in the shell

Do you remember having fish gratin in scallop shell in your school canteen? These cockles are exactly like that, but a thousand times better and with a Spanish twist.

Beef pastrami with rocket and horseradish

It's a classic combination and these ingredients usually go well together. The dish we had was served as a pretty pincho but had nothing particularly exciting. It reminded us more of Britain than of Spain.

Deep-fried calamari and artichoke salad

Mackerel pincho with pepper

Crispy sea bream on roasted vegetables

This tapas selection was excellent and made of fresh ingredients. The mackerel was particularly tender and perfectly seasoned. After this sample we wanted more! Unfortunately there was no more, but we have now a serious reason to go back to Fogón and have the tapas menu. These little dishes should really be served by dozens.

Arroz a banda sin banda
(rice cooked in fish stock)

with saffron and calamari

Delicious, gorgeous, fragrant, firm, tender, to die-for rice. I have never had such a good rice before, even though I have eaten tons of rice in my life. I could kill for the recipe of the fish stock used to cook this one but as I doubt I would have large enough a pan to prepare my paella in prison, I ordered Alberto Herráiz' s book: Le riz en paëlla : Dix façons de le préparer.

Before

After

Catalan cream with pineapple

This Spanish crème brulée was good, with a nice crispy caramel. It was still pretty classic I have to say.

Bloody Mary sorbet

This summer sorbet was the most original dish we had at Fogón. It was a tomato sorbet with vodka jelly cubes. It had all the tastes of a Bloody Mary, but in a sorbet . Fresh and innovative, but I am not sure this dessert would suit the taste of everyone.

I will receive Alberto Herráiz's cookbook tomorrow and I am dying to try my own paella. As I doubt the Master of Rice could be matched, I will have no other choice than to go to Fogón again and again until I have tried all their rices.

Cost: 44 EUR for the Rice Menu, 48 EUR for the Tapas Menu

Rice dish: 22EUR to 30 EUR

A sample of the menu:

Chef Alberto Herráiz at work

Yam'Tcha, Paris, France

I was quite happy to secure a table for lunch at Yam'Tcha, since I had been longing to go and eat at this small French/Chinese eatery for one year. Yam'Tcha was, along with Passage 53, on my to-eat-in-Paris list, and my patience was seriously tested as I could find every other day a new article on the fine cooking of Adeline Grattard.

Therefore, on a sunny Sunday, we adventured in the Halles area towards rue Sauval to discover this culinary temple.

Yamtcha is a charming place, and the best table to book is probably the one on the bar counter where two lucky diners can literally eat in the semi-open kitchen.

Surprisingly there was no A la Carte menu, or maybe we had to specifically ask for it? We went anyway for the surprise 6-course tasting menu and ordered the pairing teas, meticulously prepared by Adeline Grattard's Chinese husband Chiwah Chan.

Sweet potato noodles and crunchy vegetables

Flat beans salad with ventrèche

 

Prawn wontons

 Steamed mackerel with black rice and girolles

 Roasted Challans duck and sautéed aubergines 

with Sichuan pepper and coriander

 

 A little bit of tea to wash down the food...(I obviously do not

remember the names of the six different teas)

Gorgonzola cheese with soy sauce and honey

 More tea to get ready for dessert

 

 Raspberry and white peach pavlova with ginger ice cream

Contrary to what I had read, the service at Yam'Tcha was not that slow, even if the tea serving was not always perfectly timed.

We liked every dish, with a special mention going to the roasted duck with sautéed aubergines which were  nicely peppery and melting in the mouth. The sweet potato noodles appetizer and the flat beans salad were reminiscent of the local Chinese flavours. I was slightly disappointed by the wontons as I prefer them with less filling. The mackerel was light and perfectly cooked, but we were not excited by the black rice it was served with. 

When we were served with a simple piece of Gorgonzola, we were not enthusiastic at first, but we must admit that the combination with honey and soy sauce is excellent. And to finish, the dessert was brillant: a deconstructed pavlova, made of a crispy and melting light meringue, served with fragrant white peaches and a delicious ginger ice-cream.

Yam'Tcha is clearly at the top end of the Chinese food offer in Paris (which is rather poor) but I would not say the food was mind-blowing. Apart from the Chinese/French "fusion" twist, the cooking was not particularly innovative. But maybe Adeline Grattard is not seeking originality but simply wants to offer to the Parisian dining scene some very well-done Chinese food, in which she indeed excels.

Cost: 6-course tasting menu: 65 EUR

Pairing teas and/or wines: 20-40 EUR

Le Gabin, Paris, France

Le Gabin is a small local restaurant located  in the 18ème arrondissement, serving traditional French bistro dishes.

More than the food, we enjoyed the pleasant terrace where we could seat a party of 15 people. The waiters were not particularly nice (Paris sera toujours Paris) but still, we stayed until 2am drinking affordable beers on the slopes of the butte Montmartre.

 Sea bream and avocado tartare

Le Touquet new potatoes and pan-fried Foie Gras

 Sirloin steak

 Slow-cooked lamb shank with eggplants and green beans

The Sea bream tartare was lacking seasoning, and the sirloin steak was less than average. Apparently, the new potato salad and the lamb shank were excellent. For once, Mister Sardine made a better choice.

Overall, Le Gabin was a good venue for al fresco dining in a quiet street of Montmartre, even if standards were miles behind Chez Bruno's, an amateur trattoria next door.

Cost: 2 courses for 20 EUR, 3 courses for 25 EUR

Affordable wines

 

The menu:

Some pictures from Chez Bruno:

Paris mushrooms teriyaki

Melon and duck breast salad

 Cheese platter

Redcurrant meringue tarte

The sommelier's choice

The Chef at work