My grading system

For restaurant reviews, perhaps I ought to explain my rating system, as it may confuse you. I am a somewhat lenient grader, but here is how I think. Most of the time, I rate out of 10, since it gives the most gradients and you can see little nuances between an 8 and a 9. But when I rate out of 10, I am actually using two scales. The scale from 10 to 6 is the "good scale."

- 8 and above is good; it means I would return happily anytime, or would order the dish again (Obviously a 9 is a pretty good. I have yet to experience a 10).
- 7 to 7.5 means I would return depending on the occasion, or I might order the dish again, depending on what was offered
- 6 means I might return, depending on what others restaurants I could eat at and how convenient it was. I might not order the dish again, unless I couldn't find something else to eat. This means I wouldn't hesitate to order such a dish, but I wouldn't get excited about it either.

The scale from 5 to 1 is the "bad" scale." Generally anything that get judged with a 5 or below is something that I am reviewing so that you can avoid my experience.

- 5 is something I didn't enjoy

- 4 is something not good

- 3 is something pretty bad

- 1 or 2 is something truly awful

If I am rating based on stars, I use 4 stars to mean the very best. This is like Christian Etienne (Avignon, France) or Inn at Little Washington. Four stars equates to a 9 out of 10, or above.

- Three stars is still stellar, like my favorite restaurant in DC, CityZen.
- Two stars is a nice meal, like TenPenh or Volt (Frederick, MD).
- One star is something I would not go out and pay for myself, but I wouldn't object if someone else did. Meaning, it's not worth inconvenience, but it's still a nice place.
- No stars, well that's pretty self explanatory.

I normally reserve star ratings for nicer, more formal dining, because this is how other reviewers rate them.

Sometimes I give restaurants or dishes no rating. This is either because of laziness or indecisiveness. For those, I am sorry, and generally I don’t call them “reviews” so much as just written experiences that I am sharing with you.

I hope this clears things up!

Lunch at Carpe Diem Café

This is the last of my reviews of meals in France! And funny enough, we chose this restaurant at random while we were going out (as opposed to most of our other places, which we always went to based on recommendations), because it was close to where we were doing some shopping. It also had fans inside. That last fact was important, because it was incredibly hot the day we went, hence why we were shopping inside of air-conditioned stores, rather than walking and sight-seeing.

The café was fairly crowded, but the service was good, the décor was nice (contemporary), and there was outside seating, inside seating, and a basement lounge. Casual dress, fine.

We order one two-course “formule” with coffee for 17€. It included a main course and dessert. We also ordered three entrées (meaning appetizers, in French). We weren’t feeling too hungry. Heat can do that to you.

This was the only plat that we ordered: a suprême de poulet, crème de champignon, salade, et pommes frites, which was part of the formule. The chicken was good and moist and the potatoes went well with the cream sauce, but overall it was just an average meal. What do I mean by that? I mean that it was fine as a family lunch, or even a casual business meeting, but I wouldn’t take anyone to this place for a date while I was getting to know them. I was unimpressed. Ideally when I go out to eat, I want to leave impressed.

This camembert rôti au caramel de miel, salade de noix (10€) was astonishingly good, especially for the price. I do not like cheese—especially soft cheeses, because their gooey texture throws me off and makes me think too much about their fat content—but this was a discovery. This was excellent. The warm, melty cheese was slightly caramelized and served on bread with the caramel-honey sauce, and some salad and walnuts… The flavors melded very well, and I was impressed. I was very impressed.

This salade de magret de canard aux fraises et fruits (12€) – included smoked duck breast, raspberries, and tomatoes. It was simple, but very good. Given the price, I would order it again, even though I wasn’t wowed, it was solid.

I ordered a gazpacho de concombres à la menthe avec sorbet melon (7€). It was cool and refreshing, and just what I needed on a hot summer day. Complaints? I wish the texture of the gazspacho had been a little bit smoother. The mint and cucumber were a nice combination and the flavors were great, but the texture was just too rough. I really liked the melon sorbet though, quite a nice touch.

This strawberry tiramisu was the dessert that came with the formule. Sadly, though it was very pretty and the idea of it sounded nice, it was a disappointment. I did not like the flavors nor the texture. I can’t even rate it because I disliked it that much. I put up the picture as a reminder that looks can be deceiving.

Carpe Diem Café
21 rue des Halles
Paris, France
Metro: Les Halles
Tel: 01 42 41 02 01

Overall rating for the price: 6 out of 10, average, good for a casual, inexpensive lunch

Gelati d'Alberto

I was fairly obsessed with this place during my time in France. I enjoyed it so much, I sometimes took the metro there by myself just to buy a cone and enjoy it all alone.

Gelati d'Alberto is this fantastic gelato shop that scoops your frozen treat into the shape of a little rose with petals. The flavors are amazing and the price isn't bad either. For two scoops (called boules), you only pay 3€. And you can taste flavors before buying.

My absolute favorite was the caramel beurre salé (salted caramel). It was sweet and salty and oh-so satisfying. The cone you see me holding was a mixture of capuccino on the inside and salted caramel on the outside.

Gelati d'Alberto

45 Rue Mouffetard
75005 Paris (5ème), France

Metro: Place Monge
Tel: 01 77 11 44 55

Fauchon - Paris, France

How can I describe Fauchon to those of you who don’t know what it is? I’m not quite sure. Perhaps it can be compared to the American Dean & DeLuca. Frommers calls it a “hyper-upscale mega-delicatessen,” while TripAdvisor calls it “a haven for food lovers.”

To me, it is a place that I go when I really want to splurge on pastries. There are three actual “Fauchon”s in the square: one is a small goods store, one is a tearoom, and one is a food counter. These are truly bad descriptions though.

The “small goods stores” sells speciality chocolates (handmade), dried and candied fruits (including whole pineapples), speciality teas (you can smell them before buying), speciality coffees, jams, jellies, speciality mushrooms, speciality rice, and various packaged goods, including cookies and drinks. I personally really enjoy the experience of shopping for tea here, as you can smell their varieties. They have endless options, from sweeter, floral teas to darker, more herbaceous ones.

Upstairs is the “tearoom,” where you can actually sit down for a meal. There is a prix fixe menu option, though be warned, it is much more expensive to eat in the tea room than the “food counter.”

The “food counter” that I am talking about is probably the most famous of the “Fauchon”s. Just across the street, this store sells expensive caviar, specialty hams and foie gras, wine, chocolate, jams and jellies, prepared foods (including salads and couscous), and pastries and breads. The boulangerie/pâtisserie part is definitely my favorite. The pâtisserie sells beautiful éclairs (I prefer to look rather than eat, since they cost an extremely hefty sum compared to your normal éclair) that are decorated with rainbows and Mona Lisa’s and other artistic designs. There are also various cakes and mousses and tarts.

So what have I tried?

Well, upon a visit with a friend, we split a baba au rhum, which was very non-traditional, but delicious. It came with these two adorable little droppers, full of extra rum (in case the dessert didn’t have enough alcohol for your taste, I suppose).

Fauchon’s take on the traditional chantilly was delicious; although not quite as airy, it was still light, and full of vanilla flavor. The only thing that made my stomach ache was the price: 7€50. A little hefty, especially considering that a regular pâtisserie would sell a baba au rhum for less than half that price! But, for those of you who enjoy cute keepsakes, the cute glass that the dessert comes in is yours to take home, so I suppose you’re paying for the “gift.”

On another trip, I tried the baba au fraise et melon avec chantilly de citronelle infusée. It was heavenly. It tasted like a garden in my mouth. The chantilly was light, airy, and carried the lovely scent of citrus, and the melon and strawberry went so well together in their light syrup. The pastry was perfect. It could not be improved.

I also tried a chocolate mousse type of dessert with a nougatine, or some sort of crispy hazelnut type of filling. It was a little too sweet and rich for me, although with a cappuccino from the counter, it was perfect.

From the boulangerie, I tried a Kougloff, which was delicious. I’ve never had this type of thing before, but it was essentially a small cake/very large muffin in terms of size and crumb texture. It was soaked in some sort of orange blossom water and then dipped into course sugar. It was so fragrant!

I couldn’t stop myself from eating it, hence why the picture here is but a fourth or sixth of the original thing. My apologies. I went and bought another one, but ate that as well before I could get photographic evidence of its existence. Again, I’m sorry. Though I don’t regret the decision to eat it before anyone else could.

Fauchon
24 - 26 place de la Madeleine
Paris (8ème), France
Metro: Madeleine
Tel: 01 70 39 38 00

Lunch at Glou

Yes, I am still reviewing restaurants in France.

I'm going to tell you right off the bat that the problem with this review is that it is being written almost two months after the meal itself. Nevertheless, I thought it was important to post this, since I have pictures and the memories from the meal.

This is, however, not to say that the meal was astonishingly good. Nor was it horrendously terrible. It was an average meal in Paris. In fact, when I look at my journal entry for that day (June 10th to be precise), I wrote: “Lunch at Glou. Was okay.”

That's not what you want when you go out in Paris for a meal. There are far too many good places to eat for a meal to just be summarized as "Was okay." In fact, the averageness of the meal is what has made me procrastinate on reviewing it for so long. I just couldn't get excited about writing about it. Hence why I posted about meals that I had after this one before I could sit down and write about this one.

I went four family members, and we all ordered different things. We ordered one menu (meaning a fixed priced menu set), which included une entrée, un plat, un dessert, all for 20€! Then we ordered three other dishes.

To begin the meal, we ordered a pâté de campagne maison avec Calvados (part of the menu), to share. It was a rough, country pâté, but it didn't taste like it was just liver and fat; from the texture, I felt there must have also been some meat. I also remember that the seasoning was a little lacking. Also, for the size of the slice, the confit was a little lacking. The bread was decent, “country” style bread. Very hearty.

This dorade grillée (19€) was served in a thick, creamy sauce with various root vegetables, and honestly felt a little bit heavy for a summer dish, but it tasted good. Nothing remarkable.

This saumon polenta mesclun (part of the menu) was a bit dry due to the fact that it was slightly overcooked, but the polenta this came with was very good. It was one of the things in the meal that still stands out to me. It had great texture and was perfectly seasoned. Not too salty, not too bland. It was also not cheesy in taste, as some polentas can be (personally I find the cheesiness to be off-putting).

This lomo de cochon aux pieds noirs (21€) was the only salty dish. The meat, a specialty "black ham" was so salty, it absolutely required those fingerling potatoes to balance it. While the dish was different, and had a lot of character, the salt was just a bit much.

This terrine d’agneau (12€) looks almost exactly like the pâté, doesn’t it? And it was just as disappointing. It was texturally identical to the first, and pretty similar in taste too, thought this was supposed to be lamb. I was especially disappointed because it was not labeled as a country-style terrine on the menu, and so I had assumed that it would be a smoother terrine.

This thon blanc de l’ile d’Yeu crème fraîche (12€) was a smoked salmon dish that was quite good. I’m not really a smoked salmon person, but I enjoyed it.

This cherry clafoutis was the best part of the meal. The custard was sweet and light, and not at all too eggy (which can be the downfall of some clafoutis). The cherries were the perfect balance of sweet and tart. I really enjoyed the flavors and textures.

Overall, Glou is a casual to business casual type of restaurant. You wouldn't look out of place in shorts, a summer dress, or even a suit (though you'd probably want the jacket off). Tourists and Parisiens/Parisiennes alike. There was some seating outside available (three small tables, could seat two each), as well as a bar and an upstairs area that I did not get a chance to see. I believe Glou is actually supposed to be a wine house, which is a term I have just now made-up to describe a café/restaurant that focuses on wine pairings and carries many different wines. I do not believe we drank anything other than tap water.

The noise level of the restaurant was that of a typical cafe; no need to whisper, but definitely no shouting. I never felt that I could hear anyone else's conversation nor that they could hear ours, despite the fact that tables were pretty close to one another. The waiters were attentive in the very quick manner that is typical of Paris, and did not seem to mind our questions regarding the menus. Food was served fairly promptly.

Glou
101 Rue Vieille du Temple
75003 Paris, France
Tel: 01 42 74 44 32

Overall rating for the price: 4.5 out of 10
(come on, if you're in France and you can't serve a good pâté...)

Dinner at Brasserie L’Ouest

Having been to one of Paul Bocuse's restaurants, we wanted to try another, especially since it wasn't too far from where we were staying in Lyon. Dressed appropriately this time, we walked along the river to the Brasserie L'Ouest.

I warn you ahead of time though: if you plan on walking like us, please realize that this restaurant is around almost nothing else, except new apartment complexes and construction areas.

Once we arrived, we were seated inside, right in front of the open kitchen, which I was very excited about. During our meal, we got to watch the chefs prepared all the dishes and we were able to see the way that everything was timed. The kitchen was divided into cold food preparation (seen below), which was mostly appetizers, hot food preparation, which was the meats and main courses, and desserts, which interestingly enough, was only place in the kitchen where I saw female chefs.

This place was much more contemporary than the other brasserie, with a large, stylish bar on one side, and a big open dance space (wood floor). There were also four mounted flat screen TVs on the wall above the open kitchen, and one very large, mounted TV screen by the bar (this took up almost the entire wall). But don't worry; the TVs are turned down in volume, so it isn't obnoxious, and when I was there, I believe they had somehow managed to close-caption everything, which was nice. All the TVs do show the same thing, and it ranged, during our meal, from footage of cooking in the kitchen, music videos, and the World Cup game.

A three course meal here will cost you 22€90, that's with an appetizer, main course, and dessert.

We also enjoyed a jambon et melon appetizer that came with the formule. It was simple: sweet cantaloupe and delicious ham.

For our main courses, my mother ate a salmon tartare that she enjoyed very much (a main course, 17€90) and that my sister had a carpaccio de boeuf. The carpaccio came with lettuce and thick cut, fried potato wedges. I ordered a côte d’agneau rôti au thym (26€90), which delicious. The meat was juicy and succulent, and the mashed potatoes and bruschetta were a nice addition. My father order some sort of meat dish, which can be seen at the very top, but I cannot for the life of me remember what it was called. My sincerest apologies.

Here you can see the potato wedges, the lamb chops, the unnamed meat dish, and the carpaccio.

While we waited for our desserts, I walked over to the part of the open kitchen where they were making dessert, and watched for a bit. It was amazing to see how organized the chefs are.

This clafoutis de cerise (part of the formule), was not exactly a traditional clafoutis; it was far too cakey. Ignoring the lack of custardiness (not a word, yes I know), it was a fairly good dessert. I was pleased that the level of sweetness was just right. Most desserts fail because they are too sweet. This one did not have that problem; it was just right. The coulis was a nice touch.

All in all, a fun meal.

Brasserie L’Ouest
1 Quai du Commerce
69002 Lyon, France
Tel: 04 37 64 64 64

Dinner at Brasserie Le Nord

While walking around Lyon, my dad saw the Brasserie Le Nord, which is one of the famous Paul Bocuse’s restaurants. Having never eaten at one of his places and knowing that he is old and about to retire, we couldn't pass up this opportunity for a meal. We stepped in to make a reservation for dinner, and then continued our sightseeing for an hour or so before returning.

The restaurant was quite large, with many tables inside on the first floor, private group dining upstairs, and covered outdoor seating. The décor was traditional: long white table cloths, classic paintings on the wall, a nice amount of space between tables, and so on. We felt a little out of place, as the waiters were all dressed in suits while we were fairly casually dressed (we were, after all, just tourists exploring the city). They were polite, however, and what impressed me was this...

I had been wearing shorts and a sleeveless top that day, and the air conditioning in the restaurant made me feel chilly. After a while sitting in the restaurant, my body forgot that it was summer outside. “It’s so cold!” I said shivering at some point, and while I had said this just to my family, and in English, one of the waitstaff who had heard me, went over to the thermostat and changed the setting, then winked at me as he went back to work. It was extremely nice. I did feel a little warmer after that.

That being said, I remember little of this meal, so it's not technically a restaurant review the way I typically do it. Let me tell you what I do recall.

The best crème brûlé ever (6€40). Seriously. I've had many crème brûlés in my life (they're not all that unique), but this one put them all to shame. It was impossibly, silkily smooth and the custard just melted in your mouth. It was the kind of thing that I have to tell you, if you only get to have one more dessert in your life, have this one. Don't brush this off as "just" a crème brûlé. It was so much more than that. It was ambrosia, food for the gods, with a sweet caramelized sugar topping.

That crème brûlé still stands out in my mind. It has been weeks since we ate there (it was June 25th, to be exact). It made so strong of an impression on me that while I know we had a good meal at the brasserie, I cannot for the life of me give you a good description of any of our food.

What do I remember?

We ordered one two course meal for 19€90 (appetizer and main course). Then we ordered one three-course meal, which was was 22€90, and included dessert. We ordered two other plats à la carte.

We did order the famous poulet de bresse à la crème (22€60), which came with rice, and was beautiful present for us tableside. It had a nice, rich sauce, and was good, but not spectacular.

We also ordered an original moussaka (gigot d’agneau en terrine) (16€80), which was interesting, and above average, but also a little one dimensional.

And that is all I have for you.

So now, plan your trip to Lyon so that you can have a taste of the amazing crème brûlé I just told you about.

Brasserie Le Nord
18 rue Neuve
69002 Lyon, France
Tel: 04 72 10 69 69

Dinner at Le Felouque

Eating at this restaurant, Le Felouque, was just a stroke of fate. A very tasty, satisfying, delicious stroke of fate.

On our way from Perpignan to Lyon, we stopped for a night in Le Puys-en-Velay, a very small, quaint town. We went to look at some cathedrals before deciding to eat dinner. On our walk around town (literally, we circled the entire town), we had seen a restaurant that was Michelin rated, and so we thought we would eat there. But when we go to it, it was completely full, even though it was just 7pm or 7:30pm (remember, the French eat dinner late, so often restaurants aren’t full until 8:30pm). Then we walked to a restaurant that had been recommended online. It was closed. We walked to a restaurant recommended by our hostess. The sign on the door listed its hours and the dates that it was open for the summer and it was supposed to be open… but it was dark. No one appeared to be there and the door was locked.

During this time we walked around the town three times, and we kept passing this small restaurant which was fairly busy. Finally, we gave up trying to eat at a recommended restaurant and just sat down in the courtyard in the back of the restaurant. And we ordered ourselves a very satisfying meal.

So, we learned our lesson. 1) Make reservations ahead of time and 2) You can generally trust that a busy restaurant in small French city is good.

We ordered three prix fixe menus for 19€50 each. The formule included an entrée (appetizer), a plat, and a dessert. We knew, upon seeing the menu, that we wanted to order something with lentils, as it is a regional food and speciality, and something with verveine, as the area is known for infusing various things with verveine. (In fact, we ended up trying and buying some delicious Liquor de Verveine, Sirop de Verveine, and Confit de Verveine at a shop while we were in the town.)

The first appetizer was an assiette de jambon et pâté. I liked the two hams we got to try, one of which was very salami-like, and one of which was a dried, cured Serrano-like ham (I don't know if it actually was Serrano). The pâté was nice; it had texture, but wasn't as rough at the typical country-style pâté. The slab of butter was a nice touch, as was the slice of cantaloupe.
[Note: In case you didn't know, most French restaurants give you bread but no butter. That is because bread is not supposed to be eaten alone. It should be enjoyed with the meal.]

The second appetizer was a salade de lentilles, with raw onions, tomato, and fresh canteloupe. It was very good. I had no idea that lentils could taste so wonderful. And cold too! It was a beautiful discovery.

The third appetizer was a salad au bacon. I don't think I need to say more. Very average. No need to try it yourself, unless you have a love affair with bacon.

The first plat was a a gigot d’agneau. The plating was nothing special, and the same thing can be said of the dish. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing. Just lean, juicy lamb on a very large bed of lentils.

The second plat was saucisse aux lentilles, which looked exactly like the gigot (above), except, obviously, with sausage. The lentils in this dish, the gigot dish, and the appetizer were all essentially the exact same thing, except that in the plats, it was served warm. Still very tasty. The sausage was good, but just above average. Nothing wow. I could serve this at home and I don't think anyone would be impressed. Had this been my first taste of lentils, yes I would have been very pleased, but since we'd already tasted the appetizer, the element of surprise was gone. I would be happy to eat those lentils again though. The texture and taste were both very pleasing.

The third plat was a pavé de saumon (only a 5 out of 10) with a terrine de courgettes (very good, 8 out of 10). The fish was dry and not special, but the zucchini terrine was delicious. The flavors were beautiful, summery and delicate. Bravo on all the sides. It is too bad that the headline piece--the salmon--wasn't good.

I ordered an escargots au beurre (9€), the only thing that did not come off the prix fixe menu. It was an entrée (appetizer), so it was small, but very good. I had been craving snails, and this was just what I wanted. The butter/garlic sauce was delicious, the snails were meaty and perfectly cooked.
And yes, as you can see, the snails did come with those special shell clamps that were made famous by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

This dessert is a glace de verveine, which was a beautiful 9 out of 10. Have you ever tasted verveine? In English it is called verbena (I actually had to look that up to make sure). It's an herbacious plant, comparable to mint in its uses. Its scent in the ice was amazing. We loved it.
Normally, we make a point not to order ice cream as a dessert when we eat out (after all, you can normally buy a carton at the grocery store for cheaper than the price of one or two scoops at a restaurant, and you get a wider choice of flavors and toppings when you do your own shopping), but I'm glad we made an exception to this rule.

This fondant au chocolat was also delicious. The dark chocolate was silky smooth, and I enjoyed having it melt in my mouth with the crème anglais.

This poire à l’hypocras, which I ordered just because it’s name sounded interesting—was very good. I was so glad that I was seduced by that sound of it, because it tasted even better. In fact, it was so good that when we were done eating it, we wipe our plate—our dessert plate—with bread, to soak up every last drop on the delicious sauce. I have to give this a 9.5 out of 10. I’ve never used bread before to get all that I could off a dessert plate. That was a completely new level of enjoyment.

I felt no shame.

Le Felouque
49 rue Raphaël
43000 Le Puy-en-Velay, France
Tel: 04 71 02 34 72

Overall rating for the price: 8 out of 10
(The only reason why I'm giving it so low a score is because the savory food was somewhat normal. But the desserts were phenomenal. I would recommend stopping by if you're ever in this tiny town.)

Lunch at L’Assiette Catalane

Having read reviews of L'Assiette Catalane, and having being told to eat there by the locals themselves, we set off with high expectations.

We had an early lunch reservation, which was a good idea, since the place filled up quickly, both inside and outside.

After we were seated, as is typically in France, our waiter asked us if we wanted to order un aperatif or a pre-meal drink. There are often house specialties to choose from, and so when I looked on the menu and saw couquitos, which I’d never heard of before, I asked the waiter what that drink was. He told me that it was a mix of whiskey, rum, vodka, fruit juice, and strawberry syrup. That sounded delicious, and since it was only 1€50, I ordered a glass. It was rather lovely, which is not something I usually say of alcoholic drinks. It was light, sweet, and fruity. There was an underlying taste of alcohol, of course, but it didn't assault my throat the way that some drinks do. Quite a nice start to lunch.

Then we ordered.

I ordered La Speciale Tapas (14€), which actually was split into two separate plates. The first was a plate of cold tapas, then came a plate of hot tapas.

The cold tapas included a nice sweet slice of melon, cold roasted pepper, and various hams. A nice, easy dish to eat.

The hot tapas included a variety of seafood, meat, and sausage. This was like another seafood dish that we ordered, only it also included none seafood items and this dish lacked fish. But it was very enjoyable.

My sister ordered the magret de canard au miel aux amandes (14€). While the presentation isn’t gorgeous, it was cute (I liked the little Catalan flag), and the dish itself was a little too sweet, but it was creative, and very good. The duck was perfectly cooked, succulent, and medium rare. The sauce had the flavor of the duck in it, but also the sweetness and fullness of honey and cream, as well as the fragrance of almonds.

My mom ordered the pareillade de poisson a la plancha (17€50), which included a large variety of perfectly cooked, well-seasoned seafood. The aioli that came with the dish was full-bodied and flavorful. There were three different offerings of fish--all delicious, mussels, clams, shrimps, and squid, and that's not all. That's just what I remember. It was all delectable. I loved how the smokiness from la plancha went through all the seafood, yet the grilling did not leave anything dry. An 8.5 out of 10.

This fraginat, which was beef in a tomato and cream sauce, was part of a formule for 16€ which included an appetizer (escargot - as good as we expected it to be) and a dessert. The dish, overall the good, but it was also a little one dimensional. Nothing exceptional.

The dessert, on the other hand, was a monstrosity. I didn't take a picture of it, because it was just a very large bowl of ice cream. I think it was some sort of take on a peach melba, with canned peaches, whipped cream, and three or four large scoops of ice cream. It was just too much. Too sweet, too artificial, too... American. It wasn't anything like the classy, elegant, or traditional desserts we were used to seeing in France, and quite frankly it horrified me the same way that seeing Starbucks in Europe horrifies me. Good, quality food should never be exchanged for average or mediocre cheap, fast, easy food.

Despite the business of the restaurant, our service the entire time was quick and pleasant. I found our waiter to be quite friendly, and later, upon being presented with the bill, I saw that the drink that I had ordered was offert. The waiter had given us the drink for free (it was struck off our bill par his hand, not the owner's).

This kind gesture is actually not a unique occurrence. There were several time in France when our waiters would, without us asking (I would never ask for this), simply give us a glass of wine or an aperatif for free. It is a small move on their part, but it always warmed us to the restaurant a little bit more and made the memory of the experience a little sweeter. A little kindness goes a long way. (And that can be said on both sides of the table.)

L’Assiette Catalane
9 rue de la République
66000 Perpignan, FranceTel: 04 68 34 77 62

Overall rating for the price: 7 out of 10