My Mum, my sister and I are treating my Dad to a weekend in Paris for his 60th birthday in June. I have booked them into the Hotel Regencia in the 16th Arr. My parents have never been on a %26quot;city break.%26quot; Their annual holiday consists of 2 weeks in a resort (usually the same place every year) where they know they will get the friendly service and food they like. Neither of them are very adventurous eaters - they like simple food and meat that is VERY well done. My Dad is a very fussy eater - family occassions can be difficult because of this. He likes plain chicken or chicken kiev, steak, potatoes, vegetables, nothing with spices or pepper. I know it%26#39;s not ideal but he has always wanted to see the sights of Paris. Help! I need to send them to restaurants where they can get something. Friendly and patient service would also be important, maybe somewhere more used to tourists (we%26#39;re Irish). Any suggestions would be so welcomed as I want them to have a special time. Thanks!
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Don%26#39;t worry about restaurants in Paris. Steak and chips is the national dish although well done steak will take a bit of explaining to the waiter. In fact a lot of the restaurants serve very simple dishes like roast chicken. The 16th is a little bit away from the main tourist sights, although still in central Paris, so they%26#39;ll have to get used to the metro. I%26#39;ve never eaten in that area so I can%26#39;t give you recommendations but in general French cooking is a lot simpler than you imagine. But they do like their meat rare. Recently I%26#39;ve found that a lot of waiters like to show off their English. If they get tired easily then they shouldn%26#39;t be too ambitious with the big art galleries like the Louvre and Musee d%26#39;Orsay. They%26#39;ll love Notre Dame and they should make their way to St.Germain des Pres to have a tea at Les Deux Magots or Cafe de Flore(following in the footsteps of fellow Irishmen Beckett and Joyce)and take a walk in the Luxembourg gardens nearby.
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Actually that hotel is at the edge of the 16th so it will be fine. Sorry if I alarmed you.
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Try L%26#39;Entrecote on the rue St Benoit. They ONLY serve steak with fries. Ask for your steak well done, the sauce is on the side and they don%26#39;t pepper it. The steaks are excellent and desserts fantastic.
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Thanks so much for that. I looked up a few restaurants that do rotisserie chicken and L%26#39;Entrecote looks great - you can%26#39;t go wrong with that! I do think that they will love the Luxembourg Gardens and around Notre Dame so good suggestion. All of this research is making me want to go back to Paris again soon! And making me hungry.
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I think the Relais de L%26#39;Entrecote on Rue Marbeuf is closer to your hotel.
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There is also Atelier Maitre Albert in the 5th. They are a meat and potatoes sort of restaurant. All their meat is spit-roasted, which pretty much makes it fall off the bone tender (and well done in a good way). They have chicken, veal, beef and usallly a fish offering. They do killer mashed potatoes.
A bit pricey; dinner for two, without drinks, will be about 70-80E, but for an anniversary dinner, it would be lovely.
1 r. Maitre Albert in the 5th. Call and reserve at 01 56 81 30 01
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Le Tastevin on Ile St Louis is a charming and friendly place with all sorts of food from steak to chicken etc. If the steak must be well done I think the term is Bien Cuit or similar and if he wants it cooked to a crisp tell him to add Tres so it is tres bien cuit or whatever. They speak pretty good english and it is such a sweet place and the island is wonderful. They could walk to St Michel via Notre Dame on the way back and grab a taxi
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Sorry here is the website
http://www.letastevin-paris.com/Page2.html
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you shouldn%26#39;t have problems finding good restaurants in the 16th as this is the main posh area of Paris, both conservative and elegantly low key.
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if your dad likes pastry or chocolate he should check out pierre herme, sadaharu aoki (french style with heavy japanese influence, chocolate caramel tart and lemon praline cake are very good), fauchon, laduree.
for chocolate, check out maison du chocolat, jean charles rochoux (his truffles are soooo good, they just melt in your mouth. check out his chocolate bars too, he has one that has liquid caramel inside. his rum and raisin praline, lemon praline %26#39;richelieu%26#39; and nougatine covered in chocolate are my favourites), patrick roger (his 1 metre long chocolate box), michel chaudun.
if he likes ice cream, amorino%26#39;s gelato is the best (in my opinion), they have many branches around paris and they serve coffee too. if you buy a %26#39;cone%26#39;, they shape the gelato into a flower. you can try berthillon too, but i find it overpriced and too sweet.
there%26#39;s a good steak and fries (with pepper sauce or some other) near opera called cafe m-something. it%26#39;s opposite surcouf along boulevard haussmann. leon de bruxelles is everywhere, they specialise in mussels but also have beef or fish. fries are free flow. hippopotamus is another steak chain but i personally don%26#39;t like it much.
bon appetit!
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