Bidoche Oberkampf — Restaurant in Paris

This is my favorite place to eat in Paris. No kidding. I am a big meat lover and this is the best quality meat I have ever had. I been to countless places which are known for their meat (Argentina, Japan, etc.) and I live in America where we have access to some of the best meat from across the world. However, I have yet to have a better fillet than at Bidoche. The dry aged fillet is incredibly tender and flavorful and honestly quite reasonably priced. The service at Bidoche is very good. We came here two years ago and the server was the same person. He is very knowledgeable about meat and wine and makes fantastic recommendations. He is affable and funny. Needless to say the meat is cooked to perfection every time with a wonderful sear. I had my fillet blue last night and my father had it saignant and both were awesome but I would go for blue. The meat is so high quality that you should experience it in its pure form. They serve excellent sides and sauces included. The mashed potatoes and salad very are perfect. The fries are cooked in beef tallow, super flavorful. The appetizers are also of note. The mayonnaise (deviled) eggs are fantastic. The tar tar of beef is very flavorful. The bone marrow was a bit too fatty for my preference but delicious nonetheless. This is a good honest restaurant with simple but delicious dishes made from meat of the highest quality I have ever seen. The prices are quite reasonable and the service is very good. The presentation of the dishes is very nice too. Overall, Bidoche is a fantastic restaurant that I will eat at every time...

Lovely concept, you walk into the butchers and they show you through a curtain to a very sociable and cosy dining room.

We had an outstanding waitress (sorry don’t recall your name) who used to work in Richmond (Near London) who talked us through the menu.

Basically order your starters, and then the ‘butcher’ will call you back through the curtain to talk meat. He spoke amazing English and walked us through the different cuts and we settled on a 750g ribeye for two of us.

We ordered eggs mayonnaise which are always a classic, and then we had a bottle of Calibre 12 from the Beaujolais region which was very good value at €30. The steak for two plus sides including salad, mash potato and amazing duck fat home cut fries was €80 which is supremely good value. They also bring you three sauces on the side for your steak which were all tasty.

Lovely evening, left feeling full and really was not overly expensive for two of us either. I really wanted the steak and frites experience but didn’t want to get fobbed off with something average from touristy brasseries or small little steaks.

The majority of the customers were local, so there was a little trepidation about our poor language skills in French, but they were actually super friendly and all spoke brilliant English when we needed some help!

Put this on your list! There is also many good bars nearby for a predrink and for after...

Unique Setting but Mixed Dining Experience

We came here on the recommendation of a local Parisian, and the setup is certainly unique with a traditional butchery at the front of the shop, and a cozy restaurant tucked away in the back. Reservations are required (easy to make on their website), and do note there are different (at least two) branches in Paris, so make sure you book the right one.

The restaurant itself is quite small, with seating a little crowded, but not unusual for Europe. Unfortunately, the night we visited was very hot, and although there was an air conditioner, it struggled to cool the space. Sitting through the meal sweating and uncomfortably warm didn’t help the experience.

We started with the bone marrow, which was excellent. For mains, we shared the trio of tartare and a steak. The tartare was good, but not quite as exceptional as I had expected from such a reputable butchery. The steak, cooked medium-rare, was disappointingly tough and lacking the tenderness you would expect from a specialist meat restaurant (especially since we asked for tender above flavour).

Overall, it was an interesting experience, and I appreciated the unusual concept of dining behind a butcher’s counter. That said, given the quality of the dishes, we’re unlikely to return, as I think you can find better value and quality...