Un Zebre a Montmartre and les Passages

Today our warm sunny weather ran out. It was cool and drizzly and I donned layers so I'd be prepared for anything: T-shirt, heavy turtleneck and a jean jacket I could barely zip up over the sweater. We had a fabulous lunch at a down-at-the-heels looking place called Un Zebre a Montmartre. I'd read a review in The Guardian a while back that cited it as a good value bistro. It's a funky and charming spot in the active Abbesses neighbourhood. It's a noisy, friendly place; the service is helpful and the food is wonderful. I had a salad of rocket and parmesan to start. It came shaped like a little cake with the greens in a tangy vinaigrette on the bottom and a whole lot of shaved Parmesan on top. My main course was ribs in a caramelized sauce flavoured with five spice and accompanied by scalloped potatoes, haricots verts and a baked tomato. Mr. Nag had a millefeuille of tomato, mozzarella and basil. His main was poached salmon in a cream sauce flavoured with cauliflower and tarragon and came with the same vegetable accompaniments. We shared a pear tart with hot chocolate sauce for dessert and topped it all off with a half litre of decent red and coffee. All this for less than 50 euros! I'll definitely eat there again next time I'm in Paris.
After all that good food I definitely could not zip up that jean jacket. I felt like a sausage about to burst its skin! We took a stroll over to the area in the 9th where we stayed the first time we visited Paris together. We walked through the lovely passages which are covered shopping arcades and did a little shopping. Of the forty plus passages that existed between the late 1700s and mid-1800s, only seventeen survive today. They contain interesting book and print shops as well as upscale toy and houseware stores and charming restaurants and cafes. The Grevin Wax Museum and the affordable Hotel Chopin are also located in the passages. Here's a photo of one of the ones we visited today:

Comments

  1. Anonymous8:20 am

    A wonderful, evocative post.

    w

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow! It sounds wonderful. I suppose it's the wrong season for Berthillon ice cream on Ile St. Louis? Soak it all in. (envious sigh)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Nimble,
    We had lunch on the Ile one day but, though tempted, I passed on the ice cream (although I have enjoyed it many times in the past).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11:25 pm

    hi everybody


    Just saying hello while I read through the posts


    hopefully this is just what im looking for, looks like i have a lot to read.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:01 am

    pretty cool stuff here thank you!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete

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