Tag Archives: Paris

Ruby Foodie – Paris Part 2! Le marché des Enfants Rouges

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If you ever find yourself in Paris, you should pay Le marché des Enfants Rouges a visit. It’s the oldest market in Paris and they have the best crepe I’ve ever had. The market’s hours are a little limited, I’ve been there at least four times only to find empty stalls and people closing up.

There’s numerous family owned ethnic food stands including, Japanese, Italian, Moroccan and Middle Eastern. We had a delicious lunch at the Japanese restaurant last time we were in Paris, so this time we decided to try something different.

I’m not a big fan of couscous. My family liked it though!

We loved the pastilla at the other restaurant so much that we got another one. This one without all the frills was still delicious. I loved the clay dishes and the friendly waiter. He was obviously the family servant (the son) forced to work obediently at the family restaurant. We asked for an extra plate but he thought we ordered mint tea (I have no idea what happened there) and he had to take it off our bill. We felt really bad and left him a bigger tip because we accidentally got him into trouble.

The mint tea was really refreshing after the meal but it was way too sweet. The fresh mint and honey was a wonderful combination though.

Ruby Foodie – Paris Part 1! Foodie Finds Food in France!

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Ah… Paris… 🙂 Yum!

We didn’t research very much before we arrived in Paris and even though great food is not hard to find in this gastronomic city, I think we lucked out in our restaurant choices. We were never once disappointed with what Paris served to us.

This little place was close to where we stayed and a little off the main road. We were specifically looking for some sort of a duck dish and just French stuff in general. I’m not going to lie, knowing some French (both me and my sister) helped a lot when deciphering menus.

The owner of the restaurant seated us at one of only 4 tables inside the teeny but cozy restaurant. She was so nice to explain to us almost everything on the menu. Most importantly though, she was more than happy to recommend dishes for us. She asked if there was anything specific we were searching for (duck) and if we were brave to try something very French (oui oui!).

The “something very French” was this “Beef Tartar”. It’s raw beef… so I was SO EXCITED TO TRY IT. I’ve always wanted to try other kinds of raw meats (other than fish). I loved it.

Next goal: Horse meat.

Next was our duck dish, as requested. We had never seen this spaceship looking pocket of meat, and apparently it’s called a Pastilla, and after some research, I found out that it is a Moroccan and Algerian dish. It was new and surprisingly good, it’s so fun trying something new and trying to figure out what it is and how its made. It was basically delicious duck meat wrapped in some sort of dough and there was some potato chunks in there too.

Sardines… My sister loves sardines, so this was all hers. Personally, I don’t like them, but I tried one, and yep, still don’t like them.

Mmm now for dessert. We were all about trying new stuff that day, so when given the choices between strawberries or figs, we went with figs. Plus, my parents love figs (old people love figs…)

I was a little disappointed when we all dug in and found out that our dessert was warm. Maybe because it was a hot day, but nonetheless, the flavor of the cooked figs was so pure and sweet that I really enjoyed it.

We stepped into another restaurant solely because crème brûlée was on the menu, but we were pleasantly surprised with all the other dishes (though not all “French” things) we ordered.

Have to get steak frites in France!

Mmm and the crunchy, creamy crème brûlée certainly did not disappoint.

Exploring the culinary culture of a city is a big part of the traveling experience for me. When I travel, I like to research news and magazine websites and blogs for recommended places to eat. There’s nothing worse than being hungry and frustrated trying to find a place to eat after a long day of sight seeing.

If you don’t have time to research ahead of time, I have some tips that might be able to help you avoid ending up in a tacky touristy restaurant.

Things to avoid:
1. The man or woman with the insincere smile, saying, “Hungry? Dinner? Pizza?” as you walk by, trying to lure you into the restaurant
2. A “tourist friendly” menu written in languages from all over the world
3. Restaurants nearby or right next to big tourist hot spots (museums or churches…) as they can be pricey
4. Old plastic menus that seem like they have never been changed
5. Generic furniture (tables, chairs, counters…) pieces

Look for:
1. “User review stickers” and awards from magazines, websites (ie. Yelp, Tripadvisor…)
2. A chalkboard menu, it might indicate that they frequently change their menu items according to what ingredients are in season or a chef that is capable of making a variety of dishes
3. People inside the restaurant (preferably those that look like locals)
4. Decor that has some character, shows that the owner actually cares about the restaurant
5. Set menu prices. Sometimes a ton of choices is not such a good thing; sometimes when the owner/chef limits their patrons to a few choices for a set price, it asks for the customers to trust that the portions will be enough, the food will taste good, and that the food will pair well with one another.

And of course, bon appetit!

Snaps from Paris

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A little over-due post from my trip to Paris with my family.

Apparently not every hotel room in Paris has a view of the Eiffel Tower like they do in the movies.

We had a view of a busy street, and I know a lot of people often review hotel rooms and complain about how “noisy” it is but I think that’s silly. You should be able to sleep through a fire if you’ve done your job as a tourist, you should be able to fall asleep the moment your head hits the pillow, with your shoes on, after a long day of touristing around. Or just close your window.

Growing up in Hong Kong has taught me to tune out any kind of street noise.

We stayed in a comfortable and clean apart’hotel which is a really nice set-up for families and large groups because there’s a kitchen and space to “entertain”. Having a kitchen allows you to buy and eat local produce/groceries and save money and stress on finding an “authentic” restaurant to eat at for every meal.

We have all seen or been one of those couples or families wandering the streets with our backpacks and city maps fighting and snapping at each other about what and where to eat. Mostly it’s just the hunger talking, but it goes a little something like this:

“I DON’T CARE, JUST PICK A PLACE!”

“BUT WHAT DO YOU WANT?! SOME INPUT WOULD BE NICE!!”

“IF WE KEEP WALKING THIS WAY THERE’S NOTHING TO EAT!!!”

“THESE RESTAURANTS ARE ALL TOURIST TRAPS!!!!”

“WHATEVER, I’M NOT EVEN HUNGRY ANYMORE!!!!!”

*ends up eating dinner silently at McDonalds*

McCafe has awesome macarons only available in France, so actually– don’t write off McDonalds.

We squeezed in a day trip to Versailles!

Versailles has an awesome discount, people under the age of 26 who are residents of the EU get in for free! So my sister and I got in for free! (I flashed my Danish Social Security card that I got when I was studying in Copenhagen 😉

We were lucky to be there on a hot sunny day, look at that beautiful garden!

The grounds are broken up into different areas, and these last three pictures are from the Marie Antoinette part of Versailles. We walked there from the main castle and we couldn’t get ourselves to walk back, they are not joking around when they say that Versailles is monsterous. My sister and I fell asleep on the ride back to the main castle.

Don’t even think about walking the whole thing, your legs will break.

I was listening to the Rick Steves audio guide that I downloaded onto my phone. At one point I had my headphones on, the museum audio guide thing on, my purse, and a camera hanging on my neck. #crazytourist

And of course, it’s not a trip to Paris until you’ve seen the Eiffel Tower.

It was my second time there, but I still haven’t been up the tower. Last winter, we stood at the base of the tower and almost froze our fingers off from taking pictures and breaking the snot icicles off our noses, so the thought of going up 320 metres (1050 ft) seemed suicidal. This time, one look at the line under the tower was enough to turn us around (not before taking about a hundred pictures). Paris in the summertime is a clusterfuck.

I love these flippity flappity boards. In our digital age, most airports and train stations don’t have these anymore, so seeing this one in action was a treat as we were waiting for our train back to Amsterdam.