Amongst all great food in Paris, Paris meat is certainly one aspect not to miss. During the week between February 24th and the 2nd of March, at Porte de Versailles, a very famous and typical French exhibition called ‘Salon de Agriculture’ is held.

Food in Paris: Meat

You can visit the market on your own, but consider taking a tour of this special occasion since it will provide you with many additional insights!

During this exhibition, the best farmers from France come to Paris with their most beautiful animals and most tasty products to sell. This exhibition is a major attraction in Paris as it is a tradition; even the French president has to go there. If you are a meat lover, make sure you visit Paris during this week!

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The exhibition is also the best way to taste traditional French food and meat. Because all the farmers bring with them their specialties, this is a good way to taste a lot of exquisite sausages, hams or pâté to find your way into the French meat world.

In the salon, the farmers are proud of the products they have and let the people taste them with the hope that they will buy. Going there is also a very good experience because the atmosphere is completely rustic, and you barely feel that you are at the countryside.

When I went there, I realized that the only downside of this exhibition is that it is so famous hence gets crowded, but this shouldn’t deter you from going there because it will be an experience you will remember. To go to the salon of agriculture, you just have to take the metro on the 12th line and stop at Porte de Versailles.

The Salon is a good place to taste meat but not such a good place for lunch. To have a real typical French meal and to enjoy food in Paris, you have to go to a restaurant. The first thing you need to know is that even if Paris cuisine is famous for its complexity, in every restaurant you will find a “steak frites” which means steak and French fries.

This dish is a favorite of not only children, but is also a classic landmark in Paris cuisine, as it is rather easy to cook. But if you want to eat very good meat, you should go to specific restaurants.

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In France, we eat meat in a very specific way: it’s called the “steak tartare”. I think that the best way to define steak tartare is to say that it is a big piece of crude meat mixed with a lot of spices, sauces and an egg. I would advise that you choose a good restaurant to taste it in order to be sure that the meat is fresh and well prepared. A good but expensive restaurant to do so is called “Le Severo”at Mouton Duvernet on the 4th metro line.

meat_plateAccording to a recent survey, the favorite meat of the French people is surprisingly not beef, but duck. The duck breast is famous in France for being a typical dish. At “l’Auberge Pyréneés Cévennes”, you can enjoy a duck breast with French fries or a potato gratin, which is, in my opinion, the best meal ever.

The most original restaurant in Paris, and therefore a great place to find good food in Paris, where you can eat meat is probably “le Relais de l’Entrecote” around Saint Germain des Prés metro station on the 4th line.

In this restaurant, only one dish is cooked (and I can tell you that they cook it perfectly): a steak with an exquisite sauce. For your meal to be different from the other customers around you, you can only choose the wine and the desserts you want.

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If you prefer having a walk in a district to find a restaurant on your own, I know a very good spot. It’s behind the Halles, next to the Church Saint-Eutache, where you can find the best pieces of meat in Paris. In the past, this district used to have the best open market for meat and since then, the restaurants here still have the best meat in Paris because they know the best butchers.

Here are some famous restaurants around the metro station Les Halles on the 4th line: “Le Pied de Cochon” is a beautiful restaurant where you can eat very good meat in a typical old Parisian brasserie decorand. At “the Beef Club” for instance, you can eat nice ribs in a very trendy place. You just have to pick the restaurant that seems good to you because in all the restaurants, I can assure you that you will be served great food.

meat_wineIn France, the most common way to eat food is to go to the butcher. Finding food in Paris naturally works the same!

If you find a butcher on an open market or in a commercial street, go ahead and ask him for what you want. Here is a small guide for you to get inspired by our typical habits. In France, we are used to having an “apéritif” before eating. If you want to enjoy French appetizers, buy some sausage from the butcher, and don’t hesitate to ask him what is French and original.

Be warned however that you will have to be brave and resist the temptation to buy the whole shop because when you’re in front of a butcher’s stall, everything seems so good!

Otherwise, eating sausage with a glass of Pastis before having dinner will be a typical French delight. If you want to taste another French specialty, ask for pâté from your butcher and he is going to show and explain to you what he has, and what is best. Then, go to the bakery for a baguette: you put some pâté on a piece of bread and you will enjoy your food.

Whatever way that you prefer to eat meat in Paris, don’t forget to drink red wine at the same time, as this is precisely the French way to eat meat.


 

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