As I walked toward the pedestrian bridge that links the Ile de la Cité to the Ile Saint-Louis, I thought of a restaurant I knew and have enjoyed several times. It's the Brasserie de l'Isle Saint-Louis (notice the old spelling), and guess what. It was closed up tight. It just figured.
I was starting to wonder why I had passed up some of the tempting restaurants along my way. This one, for example, in the Latin Quarter. Can you read the menu?
French beef braised with carrots for only 13 euros. Or a sirloin steak of Salers beef from the Auvergne at 18.50€. A slice of quiche made with Reblochon cheese from the Alps for just 12 euros. Oh well. I had also had my chance at the Brasserie Balzar across the street.
Scallops (Saint-Jacques) with boletus mushrooms was one of their daily specials. A "gaspacho" of fruit and berries for dessert. And why not a bottle of champagne? Kind of pricey though.
I would certainly have found something tasty at the Danton, over at Odéon a few minutes earlier. But I had just ambled on by, not thinking clearly.
I had stopped and looked at the menu and facade of a restaurant where I've never eaten before: The Bouillon Racine a.k.a. Bouillon Camille Chartier. That braised veal with honey and lemongrass for 16 euros would have been succulent and tasty, I bet. With a choice of either a bowl of watercress soup or a creamy, caramelly dessert.
The Bouillon restaurant is on the Rue Racine just a few steps off the Boulevard Saint-Michel. Again, I had walked on by. Why? Should I go back?
There is a wide choice of restaurants there so sometimes it nice to taste sth in a different restaurant..
ReplyDeleteTrying not to think of those great flavours....
ReplyDeleteso I'll concentrate on that wonderful Art Nouveau facade on the Bouillon!
There are vertical lines of symmetry all the way along...
so I'd hazard a guess that the facade is 1918 to 1920...
just before Art deco took a hold...
it could be a little later if "tradition" was wanted...
but it looks too complex to be a repro... all that bevelled glass!!
I also like the way that the panels upstairs get wider right to left....
can't help but wonder about the reason for that!
Damn... flavours won... need toast & marmalade!!
I've had dinner at the Bouillon Racine. Very good. Not "wow", but very good.
ReplyDeleteOh, you tease us!
ReplyDelete; - )
DeleteOh the hours we spent, hanging out at the Brasserie Ile St Louis !
ReplyDeleteMy first 2 trips to Paris, we stayed at the Lutece .. just a few doors away from the Brasserie. No better way to be introduced to Paris.
Never turn back!
ReplyDeleteSound advice.
DeletePlease pick someplace! I'm getting hungry.
ReplyDeleteWhat is between the lardons and the salade verte? Potatoes somehow?
Carolyn, I have the same question. I hope his/her cooking is better than his/her spelling which is atrocious!
DeleteI think it reads 'pommes vapeurs'. Just guessing, though :))
DeleteYes, Martine, I think you're right.
DeleteI read "p. vapeur' -- pommes (de terre)- vapeur, or steamed potatoes.
ReplyDeleteCHM, I see " al'yau" with a dropped O, and then "échelotes" [sic] but that's all . The bavette seems to come from Irl. (Ireland) -- maybe the person who wrote out the menu too?
You missed the quiche Savyarte wich is probably "quiche savoyarde".
DeleteLes lecteurs rétablissent d'eux-mêmes. Les gens qui travaillent dans les restaurants ne sont pas forcément des littérateurs, même si leur restaurant se trouve en face de la Sorbonne...
DeleteLOL !!!
DeleteOublié de dire qu'au lieu de bœuf, j'ai lu 3 œuf !!!
DeleteOne thing you have to say for that hand-written menu-on-a-chalkboard is that it is eye-catching.
DeleteI didn't say trois yeux!
DeleteI think it actually did say savoyarde...
Deleteif you look at all the other Ds they are done as a vertical line with a twitch to the right that leads the white marker pen into the ring of the D... the person was scrawling in a hurry and that one didn't come out.
All the Ts are a vertical line with a slash through it [albeit at various heights!!]
No matter which... it is terribly written!!
We've had both lunch and dinner at the Bouillon Racine. The upstairs (only open for dinner) is an Art Deco confection, and the food is quite nice.
ReplyDeleteAfter your favorable review, Chris, added to Ellen's, I'll have to try the Bouillon Racine soon.
DeleteTurn right in a couple of blocks, cross the river again, and you can eat at La Tour d'Argent!
ReplyDelete: ^ )
DeleteOn the Brasserie Balzar menu du jour, I don't know what 'minute de Saint-Jacques' is. Or 'noix torréfiées' -- are they actual walnuts, or scallops?
ReplyDeleteK - I had the same questions. I thought maybe it was a game show - all the coquilles you can eat in a minute without terrifying the nuts?
DeleteHi Cheryl, I found some recipes for minute de Saint-Jacques on the web. It seems to be scallops either whole or sliced and just sauteed or grilled very briefly before being served. I could probably eat quite a few of them in a minute. I don't think we should call the Brasserie Balzar's customers "nuts" — LOL.
DeleteKen, you've taken us up and down Paris streets, looking in the windows of 6 or 7 restaurants, but you have yet to sit down and eat lunch. Is this your idea of a "moveable feast"? :-)
ReplyDeleteMoveable famine?
Delete