Dinner at les Petits Plats, where les plats aren't really that petit!

This past weekend, I had my first visitor since my arrival in Paris.  My friend, whom I haven't seen in a year and a half came for a quick visit from Boston.  We both LOVE food and wine, so I really had to make sure I made reservations at some impressive restaurants.
This was also a chance for me to dine a bit more fancily at dinner.  Normally I only dine out at lunch as it is cheaper and not as weird to dine alone.
For our last night together, I made a reservations at a small restaurant not far from my apartment in the 14th arrondissement called "Les petits plats," meaning small plates.  The concept is to let diners try out different things in smaller portions.  The set dinner menu lets you choose 4 small plates for 35 euros.  You can choose any combination that you wish: I opted for 1 entree, 2 maind dishes, and 1 dessert, as did my friend.  We found out very soon that these plates aren't exactly as petit as we thought!

There was a little "mise en bouche" to start, with small crostinis and this amazing olive tapenade.  My first course was a white fish gravalax with a creme fraiche sauce wrapped in thinnly sliced carrots.  The creme balanced the fish well, and the piece of baguette was the perfect accompaniment.  My companion had a foamy soup that was poured into a bowl with fresh breadcrumbs right in front of us.  Again, one could probably go through a loaf of bread with the soup alone.

My second dish was pan-fried fish on top of a small crepe filled with leeks and pancetta.  The skin of the fish was crispy, but a bit under-flavored.  But the crepe certain made up for everything!  My friend's second dish was a "riz de veau" carpaccio.  It was served sliced cheese and an excellent cream sauce.  I think this was probably the best dish of the night.  The veal was flavoreful and tender (did I mention it was raw?)

My third course was kind of a decomposed paella.  It was served in two small hot plates, one with the seafood, and the other a wild black rice.  The sauce from the seafood was amazing that I could not resist another piece of bread, even though by this time I was already stuffed.  The other dish was a duck confit ravioli served with sliced pears and grapefruit.  Another inventive and unique dish.


We were both overly full by this point, and expecting our dessert to be just a small sample.  But then out came this big piece of hazelnut eclair and a big bowl of sweet fresh grapefruit and shaved ice.  If that was considered a small plate of eclair, then I don't even want to know what their version of a regular size eclair is!  The flavor of the eclair was to die for, and the caramel sauce complemented it perfectly.  My grapfruit ice dessert was a little lighter, but it was so much that I could barely handle the rest.


Les Petits Plats is a small and quiet restaurant that serves up fun and inventive dishes.  The service was good, and the wine options are plentiful with reasonable prices.  The menu changes everyday.  It is definitely a place that I would go back!

Things that you can ALWAYS find in Paris within a block's radius.

1. Pharmacie: Even the French admit it, every two steps you walk in Paris, you're never far away from the bright green neon light of a Pharmacie.  They do come in handy, especially when I got sick a gazillion times this past winter, and also the fact that I tend to hurt myself rather easily.
But really?  With all the Pharmacies around, you'd think that the French are all infected with some kind of illness or diseases.
There's also the "Parapharmacie" that sells body care products and such.  It's rather bizarre to see famous brands like "Biotherm" on its shelves, when they are sold at fancy department store counters in Taiwan.

2. Brasserie:  I love the multi-functionality of a French Brasserrie.  In the morning you can go and have a coffe with croissant or tartine.  At lunch, they serve lunch with very reasonable prices (usually around 10 Euros for the plat du jour).  In the afternoon, you can go and have coffee or a late-afternoon drink.  And of course dinner at night.  For me they are an excellent choice to rest my legs when I'm tired from exploring the city!
I can serious picture before the banning of smoking that these Brasseries were filled with non-stop smoking customers just chatting away.

3. Boulangerie:  The French love and need their bread for every meal, so it is essential for the existence of boulangeries every other step.  And also, you can even find some that are open on Sunday nights *gasp*
There is nothing better than passing by a boulangerie in the morning and smelling fresh baked bread.  I used to pass by one on my running route, and it'd kill me every time!  I guess since I'm not from here, I like to try out different boulangeries, since the quality differs emmensely.  But there are many French people who swear only by one boulangerie!!
Oh and just a side note, for some reason many of the award winning boulangeries are around the Montmartre area.  But so far my favorite baguette tradition is from a place called "les Ateliers des Pains" near Place de Clichy.

4. Banks:  I think Taipei and Paris should go head to head in who has the most banks in a hundred meter radius.  BNP Paribas, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Banque Populaire, Credit Cooperatif, Caisse d'Epargne, HSBC, etc.  I think I can find all of these on Boulevard Voltaire.  Oh not to mention the Post Office also offers banking (and oddly, cellphone service).

5. Small super market chains: Franprix, monoprix, casino, etc.  They're convenient to a certain point, but what I don't like about them is it takes away my joy of shopping at local butchers, cheeseshops, wine shops, seafood shops, etc.  Their existence has also taken a lot of business from small shop owners.  Most of them are owned by the Casino Corporation. 

6. Traiteurs: which are more or less take out joints.  I'm actually really surprised how often the French eat pre-prepared food. 

7.  Ok I have to mention this again... DOG SHIT: and this is something you find every step of the way!