Restaurant Allard, Paris

I was meeting up with a friend for lunch that was staying in the Saint Germain district. We decided on Restaurant Allard which came recommended.

The restaurant is in the Luxemburg district on a narrow, quaint alleyway. It's been around for over 70 years and the walls are lined with photos of famous patrons throughout the years. Allard has a very comfortable, homey yet classic feel. It seemed like the patrons at lunch were regulars who had been dining here for years. In fact, the gentleman sitting beside us told us that he has been dining at Allard for 20 years, since his schooling days.

The dining room was small and the tables were cramped together. I'm not joking, the tables were literally lined side by side and the waiter had to move the tables around whenever a diner got up from their seat. So beware, because your neighbors can hear every scandalous detail of your romp from the night before.

There were two lunch prix fixe options; either three course or two course for €29.50 and €22 respectively. The menu featured traditional French fare with heavy winter meats.

We started with a half bottle of wine, a light Bourgogne good for everyday drinking. The half bottle is such a good idea because sometimes, it's a bit of an overkill to share a bottle for lunch if you have plans afterwards.

Escargot
They actually provided a pair of pliers and a fork to consume the snails; something that I rarely see at restaurants these days. It obviously takes a bit of skill to use both tools simultaneously.

Terrine de canard, sizeable lunch portion served with crusty bread.

Duck confit with potatoes
Delicious and well prepared, the confit of duck leg had a perfectly crispy skin and tender meat. It was also seasoned appropriately and not too salty.

Cassoulet Toulousain, one of their specialities and was served in a ceramic pot. I just had to get this since I was unable to order the goose cassoulet at Restaurant Julien the other day.

The cassoulet contained beans and a variety of stewed meat including what seemed to be goose, lamb and ham hock. This was hearty and flavorful. The meat was stewed tender and lent a richness to the cassoulet. It was a rather heavy meal for lunch but when consumed in moderation, was just right for a winters day.

Some reviewers online were complaining that the food was no longer up to the same standards of its glory days. Personally, I was quite pleased with lunch. It won't be the cheapest lunch you'll have but I thought Allard offered good French bistro fare and the restaurant had a nice neighborhood feel to it.

Hits: cassoulet, duck
Misses: not the cheapest meal especially if at dinner, tables are really close
Rating: ***

Restaurant Allard
41 Rue Saint-André-des-Arts
75006 Paris

01 43 26 48 23

Paris (seafood) Market to Table

The French like to hit the market on a daily basis, unlike us Americans who make that one painful trip to Costco every other week to stock up on massive amounts of frozen meats and canned goods. In Paris, they'll also bring their *green* recyclable bags with them (if not, the stores will charge you a couple cents for a plastic bag) and buy just enough goods for a day or two. As such, they always seem to have the freshest groceries on hand.

We went walking on Rue Montorgueil over the weekend to check out the market lined with meat and produce vendors. The seafood at the fish market was fresh and reasonably priced. After purchasing some items, we went home to prepare a seafood feast.

Fresh Escargot/Snails a là bourguignon
Euros 10 for a dozen at the market. I loved how it was already filled with parsley and butter which made the whole food preparation much more convenient. Just pop it in the oven and you're ready to go.

It tasted just as good as at a restaurant. Nice sized, soaked in butter, parsely and garlic. Of course you have to sop the sauce up with some fresh baguette.

We got another batch of bulot, which was boiled and seasoned with pepper.

This time, I got a closeup. Chewy taste of the sea.

Uni/Sea urchin in its natural form; you can't get any fresher than this.

Even in the same batch, the uni differed. There were bright orange and lighter yellow ones in the batch. I liked the lighter ones better which had that distinct fishy flavor but not too pungent.
The uni differed within the batch, there were one or two brighter ones that I thought gave off a very soapy aftertaste.

Three kilos of fresh mussels for six of us. Ample.

Moules a là creme
Cooked with thyme, onions and butter then topped with wine and cream.

The sauce was so flavorful that I could drink it all day, or soak bread in it.

We opened by a couple bottles of Sancerre while my brother in law and his mom gave us some lessons on wine tasting. Specifically, they explained to us that one of the bottles from the same case tasted corkier.

Excellent seafood and you really can't get fresher than from the market a couple hours earlier. Californian chefs like to peg their menu as farm to table or market to table. In Paris, it really is the case even when you are just cooking at home.

What do you do with leftover mussels? You make seafood pasta!

This was even better the second day. Al dente spaghetti mixed with creamy sauce was rich and satisfying.

Served with Vintage champagne.

We also picked up some dessert pastries from Stohrer Pastry Shop while we were on Rue Montorgueil.

A nice selection of fruit tarts to cap off the meal.

Restaurant Julien, Paris

We had our first French meal out, the first of many for the next couple days, at Restaurant Julien in the 10th. Julien is owned by Flo Brasserie that has tons of branded brasseries around town. Julien is rather traditional and ornate in decor inside with it's stained glass ceilings and chandaliers. Apparently the food is consistently good.

Although it looked fancy, the service was good for Paris standards and not too snooty.

They offer a three course prix fixe lunch for Euro 27.50 but we decided on ala carte because the items we wanted were not on the prix fixe; I wasn't feeling the tartare or salmon. Main courses were in the high 20-30s euro. They offer a lot of fish and meat dishes but unfortunately did not have the goose cassolet which is one of their specialties.

Love their signature plates with their logo embossed.

Bread and olives

Wine Puligny Montrachet Premiere Cru, good white wine

French Onion Soup

Flavorful broth with ample sauteed onions and toasts submerged in broth and covered with cheese. Unfortunately, the cheese was a bit strong for me and was not gruyere (unlike the American version).

Veal liver, with balsamic vinegar and mash potatoes
The veal liver was a large portion and cooked perfectly (medium rare). It was tender and had that liver flavor but not too pungent.

Chapon with morel cream with pasta

Chapon is a castrated chicken. It's supposed to be extremely tender but to be honest with you, I've had more tender chicken (like the homemade roast chicken from yesterday or the chicken I had at RH at the Andaz back home in LA) so I wonder... is the castration really necessary?!?

Duck confit
Tender confit leg of a duck. The pieces of meat fell off the bone with one nudge. Now, this was definitely more tender than the chapon and it didn't require castration.

For dessert, we shared two between the four of us.

Floating island egg white souffle with shaved almonds, custard cream and nougatine.
It tasted exactly like a meringue but less sweet. The souffle was light and airy and went well with the creamy custard.

Creme Brulee never fails, especially in France. There will be many more on this trip.

Overall, a good meal but not mind blowing especially in Paris. But it's a good start to the string of restaurants that lie ahead. I hope..

Hits: veal, creme brulee
Misses: castration to no avail
Rating: ***

Restaurant Julien

16 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis

75010, Paris, France

01 47 70 12 06
http://www.julienparis.com/

Rustic French Christmas dining

How do you top the awesome Christmas Eve meal from last night? Wash rinse repeat.

Centerpiece of seasonal flowers.

We started lunch with fresh shellfish and champagne. Starting with seafood seems to be the common trend here. While we only had oysters the previous night, this day we also had clams. Personally, I like fresh clams over oysters as they are a little sweeter.

Foie gras, pistachios and champagne as well.

Cheese and bread.

The main course for lunch was roast chicken. Sounds boring and dry? No, it wasn't.

MTB has a penchant for making cooking look so simple. Well, actually, it was pretty darn simple. Throw the whole chicken in the oven, top it with a couple pads of butter, season and bake.
I bet if I did this at home, it'd be the driest thing since jerky, but somehow the chicken was moist and juicy. We drizzle chicken jus and butter sauce on the plain rice and chicken. This is the epitome of casual, rustic French cooking. It's simple yet the flavors were there and the cooking was on point. And I liked how it was merely served with white rice as the chicken didn't need any other sides.

For Christmas dinner, we had boudin blanc.

The boudin blanc was a veal and truffle sausage, served with white rice. The sausage was lean and light, which was a nice change from the heavy meal we had the night before. Once again, it was so simple and the saltiness from the sausage was sufficient to flavor the white rice

And with the meal, we had.. did I say more wine? And cheese? And foie? Dejavu? Oui Oui.