Le Bastringue — Restaurant in Paris

First off, this was our experience as Americans who don't speak French. We came here on a short trip to Paris and it was our one "sit-down" restaurant experience. We stayed at the Hotel Tilde which was only a short walk away, and it was probably 9pm or later when we ate here.

It is definitely a popping place with the locals! I think we were the only tourists. The atmosphere was quite loud but I thought it made us less conspicuous with our English conversation, haha. They did have an English menu, but I'm not sure it was too much more helpful than the French one. They were written out on a chalk board and the writing was a little smeared. Our waiter spoke some English, but not that much. I'm pretty sure I ended up with the lasagna of the day instead of the pasta of the day, but it's totally possible they had run out of the pasta or something so they gave me lasagna instead. Either way, it was very tasty and not too far off of something I would normally eat at home. My mom ordered a fish dish, which our waiter assured us was white fish. Her meal ended up being a sort of seafood plate, with mussels, shrimp, and white fish in a creamy cheese sauce with rice. We were totally surprised, but it was actually very tasty and felt super gourmet. We also ordered wine for each of us. Oh, and they gave us free water to drink, without having to ask.

Paying was slightly confusing, but we were able to go up to the counter and pay with card when we were finished. They definitely don't rush you out, which is nice.

Overall, I'd recommend if you want to try some French food and be adventurous, but not too adventurous! I think you can find a "safe" menu option without too much difficulty, but there's also opportunity for walking on the wild side. It made some fun memories and the food was very tasty. Oh, and I think we got away for around 36-38 euros for the two of us, which was not too bad for a lil nicer restaurant in Paris....

On my first night in Paris, I wanted to have dinner somewhere near my hotel with no expectations whatsoever. I found this cute Bistro and was surprised how good it was. The bistro is very small with red decor and a very warm ambiance. The waitress explained to us in detail every single dish on the menu since we don't speak French, and made sure to ask if we liked the food after and even recommend her favorites from the menu. We ordered ravioli stuffed with chicken and truffle and baked Camembert for starters, they were very tasty. For the main dish, we ordered the 1.2 kg steak medium cooked, and it was huge, I recommend ordering it for at least 3 people. It comes with salad and roasted vegetables and crispy hot fries as sides, the steak also comes with herby butter, mushroom and blue cheese sauce. We also ordered the squash and salmon plate and it was phenomenal. For the dessert, I got a very fresh cake that had banana and berries, unfortunately I don't remember the name now. To my surprise the bill wasn't hefty at all. I would recommend you to travel to this place even if it is not in Central Paris, you will...

This place is amazing! The food is very typical Parisian but for me it was the atmosphere and the staff that truely made the restaurant. It was so welcoming! I accidentally showed up an hour before the kitchen was open, but the staff let me sit and read my book with a drink. I wasn’t feeling very confident in my French so they helped me translate the menu! It really felt like the staff loved working there and were having a great time. The other thing I wanted to mention was the professionalism! They had a customer who was not happy and the manager sat with him and discussed the solutions. As someone who has dealt with customers like that, I was so impressed with the calmness he displayed. I will definitely go back when I go...