Once you find your way to Paris‘ Latin Quarter, you’ll likely find yourself lost in the maze of little streets and alleys near the Saint Michel fountain. As the crowd jostles you along, your nose will soon be tempted by all manner of good eats.  Doner kebap, fondues, crepes, pizza — even Haagen Dazs has a presence here.

And outside of just grabbing some take-along for your walk, it can be difficult to find the right place to eat.  Little restaurants promising authentic French cuisine, tourist joints that offer discounted three-course-meals for 10 Euro and brasseries proffering a free glass of vin rouge with your meal line these streets.  Hawkers come out waving menus in your face.  Restaurant patrons spill out of cafe windows looking thrilled with what, exactly – the food or just the experience of Paris itself?  And passers-by will you tempt you with wonderful-smelling, hard-to-identify foodstuffs they can eat out of their hands.

So you might not notice La Grange Saint Michel when you first walk by.  It looks much like many other places along these streets offering “Cuisine Traditionnelle Francaise.”  There doesn’t seem that there’s much to differentiate it from its neighbors.

Except, of course, the food.

Expecting an overpriced touristy meal, I was thrilled with my traditional (and family favorite) raclette.  The cheese was the perfect accompaniment to my potatoes and ham.  The house wine was also lovely – and not too expensive, either.  My colleague chowed down on a lovely filet cooked on a hot stone and commented that it was the first meal in Paris where he thought we were given way too much food.

We walked in expecting a quick bite to fuel our exploring.  We left with a belly full of great French food and an experience to remember.  And you can’t beat that.

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La Grange Saint Michel
11 rue Saint Severin
75005 Paris
France

Tel:  01 43 26 36 30

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