Phil -- yes you are correct; CAJ is totally incidental. As a matter of fact, we had a great meal and great service at CAJ; there were eight of us and because of that and the size of thekitchen, the waiter, impromptu, proposed a set menu for the table. We could not have been happier.

Mangeur, as I said in my original post: it was the worst service we have ever recieved, bar none. We have been dining in Paris bistros off and on since 1985, and how we were treated at RdC was beyond the pale. The guy runnng that room was completely offensive. I would not return if the owner-chef comped us for the next ten meals there.

As it happens, we are not a lonely voice. Today I happened to pick up the current Zagat guide at the apartment where we are staying, and after acknowledging the food can be good, it goes on to say, and I quote "the decor is 'banal' and the service 'glacial' . . .leaving some to suggest 'it's not worth the 40-odd euros.' " And, it gets an abysmal "12" for service.

Parigi, we dined with you at L'Ami Jean last Saturday and if I am right, my criticism is mild compared to the reaction you would have had, had you and yours been treated the same way.

The guy running that room should have had a career in the restaurant (I was going to say hospitality!!) business that lasted five minutes. I put the blame on the the chef-owner; if you own a restaurant, you are responsible for how your guests are treated.

The service was the most condescending, offensive, and, yes, childish we’ve have come across in any restaurant, Paris or anywhere else. Background: we stopped in the around lunch time and made a reservation for that night. We were only one of just a few names in the book. The place is split-level, with one room off Blvd des Filles-du-Calvaire and the main room (downstairs) off rue Amelot. We show up on time, go through the empty upstairs room, go downstairs and say we have a reservation under such-and-such name. The head waiter (there are only two, he and his assistant) looks at us and proceeds upstairs. No, we say, we’d rather be downstairs (which at that point was at best half-full). Much irritation and consulting his reservation book, he puts us in a corner downstairs.

We order. There is a starter of, loosely translated, egg with cream of mushrooms, and listed on the menu as “Oeuf . . . . . “. I start to order it and he, in mock horror, spits, “Boeuf?? Not, boeuf, oeuf!” Fortunately we don’t have to deal with him again for awhile, but with his young dour assistant (we guess she has been trained not to smile by the head guy). After the mains, we look at the menu and order the “fromage du jour, “ and indicate it is for both of us as we each want just a bit. No, impossible – if two of you eat the cheese, you will get charged for two. Notice that it was listed as a singular, not an assiette, not a plat du. We order one, and share, and fortunately don’t get charged for two. After we finish, he comes by, doesn’t ask if we want caffe, drops the check off without a word, doesn't look at us, and leaves. Of course, no: thank you for coming, au revoir, etc.

A couple of side notes. The downstairs room was at best three quarters full at any point. We were probably the only non-Parisians. Also, this was the unhappiest crowd we’ve ever seen. No one, absolutely no one was smiling. The food, ah yes, the food. It was exceptionally good; all the dishes were delicious, although for a neighborhood bistro on the expensive side. All the more reason this was a major disappointment, to say the least.

And, a word of advice for all those who come to Paris looking for “a little non-touristy bistro off the beaten tourist path”: this is it, BUT be careful what you wish for. You might want to go to one; the restaurant on the other hand may very well not want you there and will let you know it.

We'll be staying just up from Charlotte Street and look forward to sampling some good London ethnic restos. We would like to keep food expenses reasonable. Short trips on the tube OK. Also, a recommendation for a good local pub would be great. Thanks in advance.

We would love to have a meal in a beautiful room but it looks like all the brasseries have been taken over -- by the Flo Groupeand the Freres Blanc -- and institutionalized and are now mediocre. Are there any left that can still be recommended? Extra points for good choucroute.

Thanks much for the replies; invaluable for the old decision making process. A couple of commetns on some of the places I included.

Le Train Bleu -- included in lieu of a brasserie; would satisfy our wanting to dine in a beautiful room; if anyone can suggest a brasserie instead, that would be great. Has Wepler been taken over too?

Chartier -- included not for the food, but just the great hustle-bustle time-forgotten atmosphere at lunch.

Re: chez l'ami jean -- we are going to be in the 7th one night for a panel discussion (we'll be in the audience), so we'll probably eat over there, then. Since CLJ is soooo heavily touted here, my fear about going there is that we walk into a room full of foreigners who've heard about the place on CH. Activates the flashbacks of going to Maitre Paul in the 6th 20 years or so ago and upon seeing we were Americans, directed upstairs to a room full of - surprise! - Americans. And at Balzar eight or nine years ago when we were shown to a little cubby hole off the main room with - no surprise - Americans occupying the other seats safely hidden away. Never again.

First, thank you 'hounds for your generous advice and recommendations. Next month, we're staying in an apartment just north of Place des Vosges. We've spent a fair amount of time in Paris before, but have always stayed in the 5th and 6th, and have pretty much just eaten in those areas. So, this time we're going to explore the right bank restaurants. As you can tell from my list of possibles, we are not looking for anything fancy or too expensive, just solid cooking in convivial rooms.

But, first, we need a recommendation on where to start the day. Is there a cafe nearby with excellent expresso and croissants, brioche, etc., etc.??

Here's the list so far. Any obvious ones to eliminate? The ones with the star in front are ones we're leaning to right now. One thing we are looking for is to balance out the 10 days -- we aren't looking for 10 straight days of bistro, bistro, bistro. . .. That is why Shan Gout and the cous cous places and wine bars are included. Also, we would love to have a meal in a beautiful room but it looks like all the brasseries have been institutionalized and are now mediocre. Hence, the inclusion of Le Train Bleu (which we have been to before and loved). And, please, feel free to offer additional recommendations.

* La Machon, 16, rue Commines, 03 recommeded by a friend, recent visit
Au Bascou, 38, rue Reaumur, 03
Le Café des Musees, 49, rue de Turenne, 03
* Chez Janou, 2, rue Roger-Verlomme, 03 recommeded by a friend, recent visit
Breizh Café, 109, rue vieille du Temple, 03
* Robert et Louise, 64, rue vieille du Temple, 03
L’Ambassade d’Auvergne, 22, rue Grenier St. Lazare, 03

Nominoe, 13, rue Castex, 04
* Le Gaigne, 12, rue Pecquay, 04
Le Temps des Cerises, 31, rue de la Cerisaie, 04

Casa Olympe, 48, rue Saint-Georges, 09

* Repaire de Cartouche, 8, Blvd des Filles du Calvare, 11
* Astier, 44, rue Jean Pierre Timbaud, 11
* Le Villaret, 13, rue Ternaux, 11
Auberge Pyrenees – Cevennes, 106, rue de la Folie-Mericourt, 11

Café Cartouche, 4, rue de Bercy, 12
La Gazzetta, 29, rue de Cotte, 12
Shan Gout, 22, rue Hector Malot, 12

Le Train Bleu, Gare du Lyon, 12 -- lunch
Chartier, 7, rue du Fauberg, 09 -- lunch
La Cloche des Halles, 28, rue Coquilliere, 01 -- lunch
Chartier, 7, fue du Faubourg Montmartre, 09 – lunch

Jacques Melac, 42, rue Leon Frot, 12 – wine bar
Le Baron Rouge, 1, rue Theophile Rousasel, 12 – wine bar

Chez Omar, 47, rue de Breetagne, 03 – cous cous
Les 4 Freres, 27, Blvd de la Villette, 10 – cous cous – entrance on 35 rue, Sambre et
Meuse

We'll be staying in Fitzrovia for a week in October and need a very good espresso cafe to start the day. It looks like Lantana and Wild and Wood are the top candidates so far. Any others? But, first, we need help with the lingo: what exactly are a "flat white" and "long black"? We generally order cappuccini and macchiati. Any other terms we need to know? Thanks.

Howler, Thanks for the tip on El Pirata, but it opens at noon each day. Sounds like a choice for one of our evening meals, though.

Lizard -- Thank you very much. We're from Seattle, home of Starbucks, and it is one of the last places I would go for just about anything, especially an espresso. We'll check out L'Etoile and Carluccio's. Thanks again.

We'll be staying in Bayswater for a week (on Prince's Square), and would love to know of any espresso cafes. Ideally with a good croissant, or something similar. Thanks in advance.

We'll be in London for one week in October and are looking at renting an apartment in either Fitzrovia or the Kings Cross areas. They are not far apart, but which would be the better choice for convenience to restaurants, especially for dinner? We're not looking to do anything high-end and will probably focus on Asian and Southeast Asian options.

Also, and this is just as if not more critical: a cafe to start the day -- ideally with cappuccinos and croissants/cornettos. Thanks in advance.

Does anyone know a source for this in Seattle? I am on Neapolitana-style pizza making spree and need to purchase this flour. Note: the Caputo Rosso Pizza flour is NOT the same as the Caputo "00" Extra; totally different uses. Thanks in advance.

We have been to Da Gino several times for dinner over the last two years. Reservations are absolutely necessary. The doors opens at 8 and the place is filled within five minutes. The first time we went we were under the impression that there were no reservations; not so. So, we made a reservation for the next evening. Generally, reservation times are at 8 and 9:30. These are two very different places. The last time we were in Armando, about one quarter or one third of the people there were Italian; that was in November. The food is very good at either.

I would plan on the upper-end of Howard's range. One recommendation for an entree -- the duck with Italian cherries, deglazed with grappa. So good. I've gotten that the last few times I've been there. Instead of two appetizers or salads, you might consider splitting one appetizer and splitting one pasta. The risottos are always good.

Is it open for lunch these days? I just called the number (1:45 Monday afternoon) and nobody answered.

If you are looking for a keg, or half keg, from a microbrewery, try Big Time Brewery in the U District.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We ended up at Bistrot Bistro, and all four of us enjoyed it. Everyone ordered something different and there were no disappointments with any of the food, or the service.

We would appreciate recommendations for a very good, reasonably priced Greek or Italian restaurant in the West Broadway or Kitsalano areas. For this Saturday night around 8:30. Other cuisines considered, but no Asian for this Saturday. Thanks in advance!

We need recommendations for two places for dinner for next Thursday (July 10th) and Saturday (July 12th). We're staying at the Holiday Inn on West Broadway (more or less between Oak and Canbie). Thursday we will not have a car, but will have a car on Saturday. Ideally, casual with very good food, but no msg. Thanks in advance!!

Criteria: party of three. Time around 8:30 or 9:00 tonight -- time is not definite because one person is flying in from out of town. Really good food, moderately priced, type of cuisine secondary, except no Asian (we've been doing plenty of that recently). Location: midtown east, murray hill, union sq, nolita, LES. Probably a place we can go without reservations. Would Keen's Pub work? What else? Thanks!!

Criteria: party of three. Time around 8:30 or 9:00 tonight -- time is not definite because one person is flying in from out of town. Really good food, moderately priced, type of cuisine secondary, except no Asian (we've been doing plenty of that recently). Location: midtown east, murray hill, union sq, nolita, LES. Probably a place we can go without reservations. Would Keen's Pub work? What else? Thanks!!

Here's an undate. Kojy Osakaya was not what I was looking for; the dish itself was tasty for what it was (grilled chicked pieces, curry sauce and rice), but was not a traditional curry rice as I have known it. Tsukushinbo -- went for lunch; didn't see curry rice; ordered katsu curry which was pretty good; the katsu itself was very good. Harbor Cafe -- this is Thai; the dish was yellow curry chicken over rice; pretty tasty for what is was. Sunneys (4700 block on the Ave), a new Korean place -- not quite what I was looking for, but again pretty good for what it was (got a little dish of kim chee on the side). I'll definitely go back for, say bibimbap, or bulgogi. The winner so far is . . . Kiku (5000 block on the Ave). Japanese semi-fast food place that has been there for years. The dish was exactly what I was looking for. BTW, less that $6 and a very generous serving.

A friend and I ate there a week or so ago and we both ordered Steak Frites, both medium-rare. Both came out of the kitchen almost raw inside. Back to the kitchen then back to us; this time just barely rare. The cook obviously wasn't doing his/her job. If you're going to mess this dish up you're going to mess up a whole lot more.

Your are correct about the color, the Japanese Curry Rice dishes that I've had tend to be either meduim or darkish brown. What struck me about bbqer's decription of the Harbor Cafe dish was the inclusion of potato and carrot. This was exactly the dish I had oh so many times (twenty odd years ago) at a small Japanese lunch counter in San Francisco across the street where all the Japanese airline people (and passengers) stayed. I'll have to try the Harbor Cafe to see for myself, maybe tomorrow, it's only a block from my office.

Japanese. That's the only cuisine I know of with "Curry Rice" as a specific dish. (As opposed to some rice dishes with curried this or that.) However, bbqer's reply/description of the dish at Harbor Cafe sounds like a traditional serving of Japanese Curry Rice.

I'm looking for a good bowl of Curry Rice. Any recommendations -- downtown, ID, or north of the ship canal? Downtown would be for lunch during the week.

Four of us were at Antico Arco about a month ago for my sister's birthday dinner. If you do go there, make sure one of you (at least) orders the risotto with castelmagno cheese as one of your primi. It comes with a little pitcher of vino cotto on the side. Truly delicious. I am hard pressed to think that I've had a better risotto anywhere.

I just got back from two+ weeks in Rome. We had an apartment near the Campo and just about every night we were there we stopped in at L'Angolo Divino for a glass before going off to dinner. (Twice in fact we did not have to go far as we had dinner at the wine bar.) Massimo is the propritor and he is an absolute wealth of knowledge about all things wine and cheese, Italian of course. He would enthusiastically help with your wine education. In addition to probably a couple of thousand bottles in the wine bar, he has eight whites and eight reds by the glass, ranging from I think 3E to 9E. Three of the whites and three of the reds are half-price between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. Monday through Friday only. In addition, he offers a cheese plate and a plate of salumi -- all D.O.P. in both cases -- for 10E each. Most of the nights we let him select a bottle for (the four of) us, and it was usually in the 15 to 18E range. One we especially liked and would never have known about on our own was an organic ("biologico") red blend from Lazio; without out my trip notes I think the name was Trufliccio. All in all it is a most convivial place to just sit and relax.

Thank you. And for Evangelista?