La Boulangerie, Paris

This should have a sub-heading - it's not a boulangerie.

The bistrot La Boulangerie is found in a slightly odd part of Paris, Menilmontant, that as far as I can tell has on one side Pere la Chaise cemetery, and on the other the hill that goes up towards Belleville. In between there's the usual hubub of local markets on the main stretch, some ropey looking eateries and a pretty rad cafe / bar I hung out in where the guys were caning the pastis nice and early, lunch-time style.

This place looks the business - intricate mosaic tiling, attention to detail from the quality of the bread to their ace knives. Yeah, the knives. The owner looks like he eats at the restaurant, in a good way, and essentially would fill the role of, say, a Parisian bistrot owner perfectly in a Hollywood film.

Anyway, the lunchtime menu @ 14 euros for two courses, @ 17 euros for three:

Entrees
Rillettes maison de canard des Landes
Carpaccio de maigre*

Plats
Palette de porc 'noir de Bigorre' braisee*
Pave de saumon d'Ecosse a l'estragon

Desserts
Pithiviers
Blanc manger coco

* - what I rolled up for...

I went for the maigre (white fish) which was a really clean, light, yum starter. Then the main course, the sexy palette which is basically like a souped-up pork chop served with dauphinoise and a densely flavourful dark sauce. This was the ultimate winner, and although it was manged fully two weeks ago now, is still very fresh in the memory.

I'm not going to bore you with loads of detail - all I'll say is if you're in Paris, looking for some French food at a reasonable price (lunchtime is best for the menus), you could do a lot worse than to head over here for a great experience.

La Boulangerie
15 rue des Panoyaux 75020 Paris
01 43 58 45 45
Open every day except Saturday lunch and Sunday.

Bonobo Feat. DELS & Andreya Triana 'Eyesdown' (REVOX) by DELS