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French recommendations

Posted by on

In the spirit of the other thread 'no recommendations', does anyone use French review sites to find good restaurants?

Over the past several years, we've had consistent luck referencing French reviews, both in France and other countries like Spain & Italy. True to their reputation, the French take food seriously, so to me, it's usually a good sign if there are some French tourists inside.

We'll be back this Christmas near the Rue Cler neighborhood (the 7th has long been my favorite), and while we have the general area pretty well figured out, we still check out the current French reviews to see what's new.

(Of course, you can't actually get a good meal on Rue Cler, but the outlying streets can be a good bet. Rue Cler, IMO, does actually deliver on market items, so it's a nice place to shop for groceries if you happen to have a kitchen.)

Posted by
7 posts

Alan, thanx for the tip. We're going to be staying in a small apartment on Saint-Dominique just a few hundred yards away by Rue Cler. I've walked along that route dozens of times to get to the Champ de Mars and other locales. I even recognize the archway, but don't seem to recall actually going down Exposition before.

We'll be in Paris for a week (in between London & Amsterdam), so we'll have plenty of time to check it out.

Posted by
2739 posts

You are welcome. Very small, very popular. Reserve well in advance.

Posted by
244 posts

Are you familiar with the website, Paris by Mouth? They have great reviews of Paris restaurants. They also offer food tours. We took the Taste of St. Germain tour. Food Tours. It was fabulous! During our tour she gave us suggestions for dinner. We enjoyed dinner one night at Cafe Constant. The restaurant is on Rue St. Dominique, which is close to Rue Cler. There are a lot of wonderful restaurants on that street. We enjoyed dinner at a few of them!

Posted by
10753 posts

Yes, in France if I I go by the TA reviews, then I read those written in French first. You can change the language at the top of the screen. They are a tougher crowd.

Posted by
2916 posts

Bets, I also do that for hotels. I find that reviews by English speakers, particularly Brits but also sometimes Americans, often downgrade a hotel for things like not having a hair dryer.

Posted by
7 posts

Many cultures seem to have unique specialties that can provide glimpses at high(er) standards & expectations. The French are the obvious go-to for restaurant reviews, Germans for infrastructure/travel, etc.

OTOH, consider Euro travelers wishing to rent an RV in the US, or researching (to them) very long sightseeing trips. It must seem astounding to see the level of expertise & opinions on various high powered truck chasses, or nonchalant discussions of 3,000 mile car trips.

With the advent of social media, the advantages of learning even fragments of local languages becomes even more evident since you can attempt to decipher real, unvarnished insights & opinions. Like others who have mentioned them, I've found the French TA & Yelp to be really good sources of information.

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