Staying, Eating, and Drinking near Saint Germain des Prés, Paris

During a visit to Paris in March, I stayed once again in my favorite neighborhood in Paris, the area surrounding the Saint Germain des Prés church in the 6th arrondissement. The Hotel d'Angleterre, at 44 Rue Jacob, is in a wonderful location and I have enjoyed two stays there.  The people at the front desk are helpful with directions, dinner reservations, and answering transportation questions.  Yes, they all speak English!  It is a quick walk to sites such as the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Luxembourg Gardens.  There is great shopping-high end designers and more low key options-close by.

While it is fun to visit the famous cafes of the neighborhood, like Cafe de Flore or Brasserie Lipp, for an afternoon glass of wine, you may not want to have dinner there. I want to tell you about four restaurants that I especially loved during my most recent trip. One note, I am a vegetarian, but the people I was traveling with are not!  So the restaurants below all had vegetarian, meat, and seafood options that suited our whole group.

• Au 35 is directly across the street from the Hotel d'Angleterre at 35 Rue Jacob.  The menu changes according to season, with different specials each day.  The restaurant is tiny, so you will want to reserve ahead.  The four of us all ordered different things, and declared each to be delicious.  They have some nice house wines as well.  March's weather was cool, so one of their interesting soups was the perfect starter.  You can get "le petit menu" that includes a starter, main course, dessert, and a glass of wine or coffee for €29.50.  Menus are available in English.
• Fish La Boissonnerie is located at 69 Rue de Seine.  We made a reservation after walking by and checking out the menu.  It looked so good, we had to try it for ourselves!  They are known for having an extensive wine list, and we enjoyed trying a bottle of wine that was not a familiar varietal.  The bread was amazing...and our meals were fabulous.  The restaurant did seem to attract a fair number of American tourists since it is widely written about and included in many guides, but there were French people there also.  The menu was not available in English, but our waitress was very helpful in explaining some of the phrases and food items we did not know in French.
• Little Breizh is a creperie located at 11 Rue Grégoire de Tours.  They serve buckwheat galettes with a variety of savory fillings for your main course and sweet crepes for dessert.  You can order a salad or side dish as well.  They had several wines by the glass and, of course, traditional Breton cider.  We actually went for dinner and lunch another day because the galettes were so good!  We made a reservation for dinner, although for lunch we just walked in soon after they opened.
• Le Petit Saint Benoit is around the corner from the hotel at 4 Rue Saint Benoit.  If you want to try a French classic like frog legs, foie gras, or beef tartare, this is your spot!  The food is traditional, as is the service.  Your bill is added up on the paper tablecloth.  There were not many American tourists in the restaurant the evening we went, but our group of six was welcomed and the server was happy to bring around menus in English and French.

More Information:
Hotel d'Angleterre
www.hotel-dangleterre.com/en/

Le Petit Saint Benoit
www.petit-st-benoit.com/gb/index.php
Little Breizh
www.facebook.com/LittleBreizhCreperie/
parisbymouth.com/our-guide-to-paris-little-breizh/
Fish La Boissonnerie
lefooding.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-fish-la-boissonnerie-paris
Au 35
restaurantau35.fr/en
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