Fish in Paris

Three very different but wonderful restaurants specializing in fish preparations

Here are three quick recommendations for different fish restaurants in Paris. The first is Sushi Marché. I went there with my trusty sushi friends, Alex and Mary. Not only is it good, reasonably priced, and comfortable to sit in, but the staff is very pleasant (unlike other more expensive sushi places we have tried in Paris).

We all ordered from the dinner menu which gave us our main dinner choice, two appetizers and dessert. Alex had his favorite Chirashi Royale, I had Mixte Royale and Mary had Sashimi Royale. Royale means a much better and more varied selection of fish than the basic assortment. Mixte means that there are sashimi, sushi, maki and one hand roll on the tray. The Chirashi Royale is particularly inventive with different types of fish and seaweed flavoring the rice. We were all very satisfied with the quality, freshness and variety of the fish. I would recommend this place to anyone including a Japanese person.

My sister-in-law and nephew were in Paris and they took me to Les Fables de la Fontaine--a restaurant I have tried and enjoyed before. There is one meat dish on the menu and the rest of the choices are fish. Every preparation we ordered was delicious including croustillants de langoustines (something like a modern version of langoustine tempura but rather wrapped in a paper thin and crispy dough), a salmon preparation on a fresh blini with an avocado-cilantro sauce (not for me however!).

We chose three different main courses so that we could share many things. The dorade, mulot and cabillaud were all prepared in different ways with lovely sauces and garnishes that accentuated the flavor of the fish. Each dish was excellent. These are simple basic white fish but were relegated to royalty by the preparations. Jeremy chose a roasted cabillaud (cod) with bacon, crusty polenta and cuttlefish sautéed in a parsley-garlic sauce. Catherine had simply grilled hake with green asparagus, in a lovely sauce flavored with chicken broth, parmesan and chanterelles. I had the poached bass with a purée of sweet peas, a tuna cream sauce and grilled baby artichokes. By the time we ate everything, we could not think of dessert but did decide to share one thing: a poached apricot with apricot sorbet; almond cream and a warm butter biscuit. With our meal, we ordered a Petit Chablis which was very good. The Michelin awarded this restaurant one star and it deserves it.

Today, Mary and I went out to her favorite seafood place: Au Chien Qui Fume. It is a very old restaurant in Les Halles. In the old days, it was right in the bustling market but now it is next to the garden of the Halles and on a street that has no traffic. Mary told me that she likes to find places that have outdoor seating that is not in traffic. Neither of us can understand what the French see in dining outside in the midst of honking cars. Another plus for this restaurant is that the staff is very pleasant and especially helpful to women dining alone.

I had a plateau de fruits de mer which took the entire lunch period to finish. I chose my favorite speciales (meaty oysters), pink shrimp and bulots (winkles). Everything was fresh and delicious. Mary had a more classic meal starting with foie gras and continuing with a half roasted lobster served with a sauté of foie de lotte(fish liver). It was very good. We both had light desserts of fruit with sorbet. To arroser the meal (as the French say) we ordered a 1/2 bottle of Sancerre.