Le Baratin

Waaaaaay back in January, on a tip from our Paris landlord, I brought my mom and Cathy to a neighborhood restaurant with a city-wide reputation: Le Baratin. According to various online reviews, many famous Parisian chefs come to Le Baratin when they feel like going out to eat. We went for lunch, and were pretty pleased with both the cost (17 euros for three courses) and the quality of the meal.

Filet of cabillaud (cod) on an artichoke heart salad

Tripe, veal foot, and chickpeas in a spicy stew

Ever since January, I've been telling Maggie that we have to get back to Le Baratin, and last week our good friends across the courtyard treated us to an excellent dinner there. I appreciated the larger selection than we had had at lunch (it turned out I'm not a fan of tripe) but that was the only real difference; the kinds of dishes offered and the quality were similarly top notch.

Le Baratin specializes in simple, hearty fare that combines traditional French products and delicacies with an Argentinian sensibility (Madame is Argentine, I think). On the menu the night we were there: entrées including braised, pulled beef tail (top left) and gorge de maquereau (mackerel throat, top right); plats including wild turbot over sautéed vegetables (middle left) and slow-cooked beef cheek (middle right); and desserts including strawberry soup (bottom left) and fondant au chocolat (super-moist chocolate cake, bottom right).

There are some internet-dwelling gourmands (foodies) who think Belleville is too far to go for good food, even when it's of the caliber served at Le Baratin. Tant pis pour eux (too bad for them), and so much the better for us, real-life-dwelling gourmands who live right around the corner!

Le Baratin

3, rue Jouye-Rouve, 20th arr.

Métro Belleville or Pyrénées

01 43 49 39 70