Chez Michel

Chez Michele is a great little place tucked way in a corner only a few streets away from the Gare du Nord (the major train station of Paris). It is important to understand the way their menu works. Dinner at Chez Michele will cost at least 32 Euro. This includes bread and three courses which you can choose from the printed menu. However, there are also daily specials and dishes with more expensive ingredients which you can select from the chalkboard menu for an additional supplement.


As you can see, the good stuff all has a "+" next to with with the supplement amount in Euros. While I was making up my mind, I was presented with a plate of sea snails served with a nice mayonnaise. These are briney and delicious, tasting very strongly of the sea.


Looking at the appetisers, I'm sure you can already guess which one grabbed my attention.


That's right, Tartine de campagne grilee, foie gras et truffles d'ete. I'm not sure what half of that means, but the words I do understand sound delicious. What's that? You can't see the foie in that picture.....ok let me just move a few of these pesky truffles for you....


Better now? I don't even know how to describe how this tastes, but I'll give it a try. Firstly, the toast is crunchy and crcks when you bite into it, but almost instantly, the smooth richness of the foie gras seems to melt into it and the earthy overtone of truffle comes in to round out the whole mounthful. This was sensational, my tastebuds were having a party.

For the main course, there were several options, but knowing that Pigeon is another French traditional favourite, I decided to give the roasted pigeon a try.


This was served with potatoes, mushrooms and carrots. The pigeon is broken down into two halves, but the ribcage is on the plate too in case you want to nibble on it later I guess. The meat was done to a beautiful rose colour and was juicy and not too strongly flavoured. The vegetables were very nice, especially the mushrooms.

For dessert I selected the classic pastry Paris-Brest which created in honour of the bike race from - strangely enough - Paris to Brest. Apparently that is why it is the shape of a wheel.


Made from a choux pastry and filled with an almond cream, the outside of the pastry was nice a crisp and the inside light and airy. There was also a nut brittle scattered over it which presumable contained almonds.

Dinner here was a great way to finish of my stay in Paris, with an old school Breton bistro meal with amazing tastes and wondeful ingredients.