mcolonne's Profile
Coffee
This kind of relativistic thinking has no place on chowhound! :) Actually I had come to the same conclusion as you Phil, that somehow the French prefer this 'bad' cafe given that I've had the same bitter but tasteless concoctions even in otherwise excellent restaurants. However I have yet to meet a French(wo)man who returned from Italy complaining about the coffee or will not admit to the superiority of Italian espresso. Which is certainly not true of wine or cheese, things that may rank a little higher on the national priorities.
a week in marseille
Some locally dominated favorites of ours (though tourists,esp foreign, do not exactly swarm Marseille). In ascending order of 'nice/touristy-ness'):
1. Snack dinner with take-away fried shrimp, octopus, sardines ('mange-tout') and panises (fried chick pea flour circles) from Chez Gilda (13 Rue de Tois Mages). Sit outside at the bar across the street.
2. Excellent wine bar La Part des Anges http://www.lapartdesanges.com/ who have good plates, meats, and wine selection. I usually take whatever wine they are pushing at the moment, usually around 25e a bottle and very good. Is usually crowded on Fri - Sat, but it is a jovial crowd.
3. Lunch at Au Bord de l'Eau, Port of Madrague de Monteredon. Nice deck on an old fishing village at the edge of Marseille (end of the 19 bus). Grilled fresh fish and good pizzas (for some reason a pizza for the table serves as appetizer in Marseille and is followed by the fish plate). April will have many days nice enough for eating out by the water. Afterward you can walk 20 minutes up trails (follows signs for the 'GR') to get a great overview of Marseille.
In general there are many decent locals restaurants on Rue Sainte and around the Notre Dame du Mont/Cours Julien metro. La Gentiane is a cozy Lyonnaise place with 30e menus (9 rue des trois-rois, Cour Julien) and Chaos-Zen is a solid Corsican place on Rue Sainte.
West African food
I assume it is too late to help you but for reference to others, I recently ate at Le Manguier, 67 ave de Parmentier (11th), a Senegalese place that was easily the best (of 3!) Senegalese restaurants I've eaten at (the other two in Marseille). I delayed posting because I could not track down the name of the dish I had, but it was a meat stew with strong fish-sauce flavoring that the patron warned me away from as 'particular.' The Thiéboudienne was also quite good. People often get the Yassa and Maafe, classic dishes that are to me kind of boring I would suggest people go for the fish at west african places.
On previous visits I've eaten at L'Equateur (151, Rue Saint Maur, 11) which is Cameroonian or pan african and I ate a good Ndole (the national dish of mashed greens plus fish) but this is the only Cameroonian I've had so comparisons are difficult. They did have house made scotch bonnet pepper sauce that was great.
Any one else have good meals at Senegalese or Cameroonian places in Paris or Marseille?
West/Central African in Paris
What are the French Chowhounders' favorite west or central african places in or around Paris? I would love to hear about the fancy (if it exists) to the hole in the wall takeouts.
A Week In Provence- Where to Eat
In spring of 2008 we had an unremarkable meal at Les Santons and was latter told by our hotel owner that the chef had moved to La Ferme Ste Cecile (http://www.ferme-ste-cecile.com) which we visited this summer for a fabulous dinner and great suggested wines for a very good price. Memory fades but I remember olive ice cream and sardines for an entree.
Country dining pleasure in the Auvergne: Auberge des Montagnes
Unlikely things happen. Based on this recommendation my girlfriend and I finished our Auvergne vacation here this summer and the food was indeed excellent and amazingly cheap (for France). 27e menus for 5 course meals. Everything was good with some outstanding dishes including the above mentioned trout.
Thanks for posting this review and I can heartily second it.
Beautiful countryside too, though really in the middle of nowhere.
