After lunch, we took a nice siesta. Upon awakening, the Missus decided it was the correct hour for le goûter (tea time).
So, we headed on over to Rue Montorgueil (of course) and the Missus picked up some tea from Mariage Freres.
Mariage Frères Montorgueil
90 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France
And then of course she needed to find some dessert. Our usual stop on the street would be Fou de Pâtisserie, but the Missus wanted to try somethin different. Right up the street is a location of Jeffrey Cagnes, which had opened at the end of 2022. The place had always been pretty packed on our previous trip to Paris, but now it looked like things had settled down a bit.
The Missus liked the look of the pistachio tarte.
So that's what we got.
It was actually a pistachio – orange tarte.
Which the Missus enjoyed with Her tea. Edging on overly sweet, hints of orange, hints of earthy-nutty-vanilla.
Jeffrey Cagnes
73 Rue Montorgueil
75002 Paris, France
We enjoyed just relaxing before heading out to dinner.
While in Milan the Missus requested that I cancel our reservations at Septime and make reservations at a place named Le Colimacon instead. I'd never heard of the place, but went ahead and cancelled Septime and made requested reservations for dinner. The "modern bistro" is located in the Marais on a street we're fairly familiar with Rue Vieille du Temple, where Breizh Café, Edwart Chocolatier, and other places we'd been to are located. We arrived at opening which was at a very "un-Paris like" 630pm. Most Parisians dine after 8pm.
The restaurant is warm and cozy and there's also an upstairs area as well. Service was very attentive and we were spoken to totally in English….which are "red flags" for me with regards to dining in Paris.
The prices weren't too bad and there seemed to be some interesting items on the menu.
Though there was an item on the iPad menu that I wasn't going to order……
I think there was something "lost in translation" here? Hmmm……
Of course I started with a nice Kir Royale!
Which sadly would be the highlight of the meal.
Though the baguette was yeasty and quite good.
First up was the Frisée with poached egg and "lard croustillant"…that would be crispy bacon.
The frisée was crisp with nice, bitter tones, and the vinaigrette complemented it well. The poached egg was ice cold and the yolk overcooked and hard. It also had that fishy flavor. The bacon was on the burnt and bitter side and was chewy instead of being crisp.
The Croustilles de Escargot was up next.
The pastry that the escargot rested in lacked crispness. The escargot was fine; nice and meaty, but the persillade needed more "umph" and was weak in the garlic and flavorful olive oil department.
Seeing Huitres…..oysters from Normandy with a truffle gratinee on the menu…well, you know I had to order that, right?
The oysters were nice and plump with an almost sweet-briney finish.
But the sauce overpowered the bivalves and we really couldn't make out any truffle flavor either.
The last dish up was the Cassolette de Champignons.
This usually creamy mushroom dish was served at room temp, which made it really gluey and pasty. The overall flavor was quite bland.
Overall, nice service though a fairly mediocre meal. All the customers were tourists, which is quite telling.
Le Colimacon
44 Rue Vieille du Temple
75004 Paris, France
As we were leaving the restaurant I asked the Missus how She heard about this place. She then told me that the daughter of the owner has a very popular Instagram account! Say what???
The place was packed with folks waiting outside when we left……ah yes, the "influencer effect".
As we walked back to our room; I tried to recall when we had two mediocre meals in a row in Paris?
Well, I was determined not to make it three in a row!
