Domaine de Lintillac

20 rue Rousselet, 75007

Metro: Duroc

On the search for good duck (I guess you could call it a type of "duck hunt"), I discovered "Domaine de Lintillac." Vegetarians beware, I don't recall having seen anything fit for your "gout" at this restaurant. But duck lovers, you have found your haven.

Duck is on the menu and duck is what they do best. The restaurant is located in the 7th arrondissement and we were able to benefit from a "reduction" of 20% found on the website lafourchette.com if you reserve online. This was not the only attractive thing they had to offer, the prices are more than reasonable, and the food was very good.

I went looking for a good duck restaurant to take my friends when they visit me, keeping in mind they probably don't want to shell out a pocketful to taste authentic "canard." Having found the majority of "the best" duck restaurants in Paris quite pricey, I was very enthusiastic to see what "Domaine de Lintillac" had to offer.

The restaurant is quite small but very cozy. The tables are decorated with red and white checkered tablecloths, giving a very countryside feel, as well as the rustic paintings and dried flowers hanging from the ceiling. They oddly have toasters at each table and although we never figured out why, we think it might had to do with the lovely array of foie gras on their menu. The server was very friendly and seemed to speak English quite well, as we overheard him serving a nearby American couple and their two young children. He hesitantly offered us the menu in English (seeing as we were talking Franglais at the moment) and later became a bit confused at which language to address us (whoops!).

Under the entrees you will find pates, rillettes and foie gras (of course everything is duck). They even had salads (with duck)! I took the "rillettes pur canard," which I spread on the provided toasted bread. It was very good, very flavorful, and a bit hearty - not too smooth - good texture! For the plat, I had the confit de canard, the same as our guest that evening, and my boyfriend took the magret de canard.

My confit was accompanied by patates sarladaises, potatoes drowned in garlic and parsley (that's a good thing), and a salad. The confit was excellent and it was mainly due to one thing that I had yet to find in Parisian resturants until this night. Crispy skin. You heard it. Golden crispy duck skin. Ohhh yeahhhh. It was heavenly. The duck wasn't too fatty (which I didn't know was possible) and was perfectly cooked. The magret de canard was delicious, and my bf adored the patates sarladaises.

To complete the dinner, our guest and my boyfriend took the "gateau au noix de Brive" - a walnut cake, speciality of the region, that was served warm with vanilla ice cream. It was very light, sweet and nutty, and the ice cream was a perfect complement.

Can you believe that a meal for 3 people, all composed of duck, one who took an entree, two who had taken desserts, and also a glass of wine cost less than 40e?? Ridic. I mean, ridiculously awesome. The plats were between 9-13e, my entree was less than 5e and the dessert less than 4e. You can't get any more right in this town!

I highly recommend this restaurant, especially if you aren't looking to pay the high price but are still looking for a satisfactory duck themed meal. Their website is found here and the discount we got was here (I'm not sure for how long this offer will last though). Although my initial goal was to find a great duck place to show to my visiting friends, I don't think we'll be able to wait before our next visitors come to town.

El Nopal

3 Eugène Varlin, 75010

Metro: Chateau-Landon

Mexican food at last! El Nopal is located right next to Canal Saint Martin in the 10th. The small, and I mean small, shop (I would say) makes burritos, tacos, burrons, gorditos, quesadillas, and couple other yummy means of goodness. Just stepping inside brought back memories of California - the smells of corn, cilantro, refried beans (they make themselves!) and lime wafting around.

You may be a bit confused as you enter if you don't know the protocol. We watched others and followed what they did. Since the shop is so small, everyone waits outside. You go in, order, and the nice woman will write down your order and your name and you pay. Then you wait outside until you are called, come in, take your order and say "gracias!." You can only take the food to go, which wasn't a problem on the beautiful day we went and you can have your fiesta overlooking the canal.

I took a main dish of three beef tacos while my boyfriend took a chicken burron - supposedly a burrito with avocado and melted cheese. The tacos were small, but delicious. The corn tortillas were hand made - hot and fresh - the real taste of raw corn, not salty corn chip stuff you find at Taco Bell. The beef was full of flavor and diced onions and cilantro were mixed in. They supplied you with a small serving of hot sauce on the side which was not too spicy, but nice enough to give some heat. I also spied some salsa verde in their glass refrigerator.

Although the larger flour tortillas are not hand made, my boyfriend found the burron very good. His only complaint was the lack of "fromage" (again, the whole, "I want more fromage" thing with him), and there was wasn't a lot of chicken. However, he's a beginner with Mexican food and therefore wasn't sure what to expect. In any case, he was happy.

We took chips and guacamole on the side. Chips were unfortunately not hand made, but the guacamole was decent and had big chunks of tomatoes in it. I was a bit disappointed with the portion size though.

Prices ranged from 6.50e-9e and drinks are 1.50e. Be sure to take cash, they don't accept cards.

Although I could have eaten a bit more, I would definitely come back to satisfy my need for good Mexican food in Paris. They are slowly making their way across the Atlantic. Heck, if America doesn't want 'em - send 'em to Paris!!! 

Les Pâtes Vivantes

46 rue de Faubourg Montmatre, 75009

Metro: Peletier

01 45 23 10 21

Just seen Kung Fu Panda and looking for some good noodles? This is definitely the place for you! Having been here several times, it is one of my favorite places to eat, and very convenient (as it is found near my workplace). We had to visit the restaurant more than 3 times before remembering to take pictures of the food before eating it, as we were a bit too enthusiastic once we saw those bowls of steaming hot noodles.

Found just a few meters from metro Peletier on line 7, you'll notice right away that no effort (or money) was spent on interior design, nor exterior for that matter. No worries though, the thing that will catch your eye won't be the fancy modern Chinese decor, feng-shui type furniture, or glittering pendants hanging from the door. You won't even miss it! Once you see those delicious and tantalizing long noodles being made by hand in the window, you'll be good to go!

There is an upstairs and a downstairs seating area, although the majority of the time I find myself upstairs. One of the only disadvantages of this restaurant is the heat. You'll be sweating as you climb those small stairs up to the second floor, looking around for some ventilation and only finding a few small windows at the end with a perimeter barely large enough to let in a slight breeze. But if you don't mind the heat, even with your jacket off, you are in store for some wonderful, fresh, cuisine!

Noodles are the thing and noodles I recommend (aka: try not to take your gluten allergic friends here - it's just not right that they have to choose rice instead). The noodles come hot and fresh, chewy and thick - everything you expect - in these deep bowls, perfect for splashing around in. There are about 2 dozen or so different plates on the menu. I have tried a little from each page and haven't been disappointed yet. They have different stir fries, soups, and traditional meat and sauce mixtures. When they say something is spicy, don't be fooled, it's spicy! And that is another reason that I love Les Pâtes Vivantes! And if you are the daring person such as myself, they have little pots of "piment" on the table to add to the glorious heat.

One bowl of noodles is enough to fill you up - I haven't yet tried their entrees nor desserts. The main dishes range from 9e -14e, and sometimes you have to pay in addition for noodles, so read carefully (but they're worth it!). The service is always quick, although meat dishes will take a bit longer. The only difficulty is tagging  down the servers for water, but on the second floor they leave pitchers of water on a trolley in the middle - they don't seem to be offended if you help yourself.


I definitely recommend this restaurant for anyone who loves Chinese noodles! They have a second restaurant in the 6th, but I have yet to visit it. Don't worry - once I get around to that area, I'm sure they will have gained another loyal fan.

Credit to Freya for the pictures. Thanks!!