Le Mange Tout was our last evening in Paris. Foolishly we had not booked and the restaurants we tried were all full. However that one was wonderful too!

We had a late lunch at Le Gare after going to the Musee Marmottan Monet - very tasty salads followed by creme brulee. There is a large restaurant downstairs in an old train station with a full menu but the outdoor table on the main floor suited us. Friendly service, reasonable price.

About reserving - we did not reserve for lunch at L'Ebauchoir. At most of the others we reserved same day. My strategy: I found reserving by phone a challenge due to my French (when I got an answering machine with a complicated message, I was stumped). Also I wanted to check the menu first so I tried to walk by the restaurant around 11:30 am when staff were busy for the lunch crowd. This seemed enough time for the same evening.

I have to say too that on the occasions that we were in some non-touristy neighbourhood and just chose a likely-looking bistro, the food was good too. My only disappointment was a brasserie - Brasserie de l'Ile St. Louis. It is in Great Eats Paris and when I reread it this morning, I noticed that the author says that she recommends it for its fun atmosphere. The food was okay - Richard had an omelet. I didn't want something we could cook for ourselves though, so I had jarret de porc with apple marmalade. Somehow, I thought the the apple would be like onion marmalade, slow cooked to bring out the sweetness and to caramelize it. But it was apple sauce! So though not the highlight of our stay, not bad. My gripe though is that our neighbouring table with three young girls seemed to get the benefit of the fun atmosphere from the middle-aged waiter, not us! We only got more bread when it became available from another table!

Frances Toronto, Canada http://homepage.mac.com/richardw3/triplog2002/index.html