L’Ecureuil, l’Oie et Le Canard, Paris 75005

UPDATE December 2013: SADLY CLOSED

This typical French bistro in the Latin Quarter is not far from the Jardin de Plantes, with its Evolution Gallery full of impressive animal figures ranging from elephants to butterflies, set in a beautiful park with large greenhouses full of exotic plants, and a small zoo.  Surprisingly, just around the corner is the Arena of Lutèce, which dates from the 1st century, and has been very well preserved – it is set back from the road through an archway and you seem to step out of time when you leave the bustle of the street and go inside.

The Patron of the restaurant is an ex-rugby player, which makes sense in view of his impressive size, and he has a special welcome for everyone who comes in.g   The restaurant specialises in dishes from South-West France as well as meat from the Aubrac region which is particularly famous for its beef, and the steaks are indeed first-class.  They are served with sauteed garlic potatoes and salad, and we washed  them down with a carafe of hearty Madiran red wine.  The menu also offers traditional bistro dishes such as pig’s feet, kidneys, veal’s head and cassoulet, plus several specials of the day, which on our visit were duck breasts in a pepper sauce or roast veal.  The three course menu was 27 euros and the steaks 18 euros.  There is also a large dessert menu, which although it looked delicious, we thought was too expensive at 9 to 12 euros each, though the enormous baba au rhum was indeed tempting.

Each table has a sign over it:  Director, Architect, Journalist etc. and a notice on the bar says “In this establishment water is only used for boiling potatoes” which gives you the tone of the place in a nutshell!  There was also a little cupboard over the bar containing table napkins in rings marked with people’s names, so it would seem that there are quite a few regulars. Another point worth noting is that the restaurant is open every day, which is most unusual.

There is also a good bakery called Maison Grégoire on the nearby rue Lacepède, where apart from excellent bread, they make Portuguese custard pastries which are absolument délicieux.

A fun place to go for steak and chips, with plenty of atmosphere.