restaurant review: la cave gourmande (aka our favorite french bistro in the montmartre area in paris)

(Paris, France).  As a lactose intolerant person, I find fancy French cuisine difficult to enjoy continuously due to the heavy, creamy sauces.  However, I do enjoy simple French bistro fare such as steak frites, cassoulet, duck confit, escargot, etc.  It's rustic, simple and straightforward - and when done well, such as at La Cave Gourmande - it becomes a lovely, memorable experience.

I didn't make any reservations for our last few days in the Montmartre area in Paris.  I figured we could stroll around and pick places to eat spontaneously.  At least that was my initial idea, but when one is tired with sore feet, the thought of traipsing about looking for a meal can be rather daunting.  Thank goodness for the yelp app.  I was able to search "restaurants nearby" and select possible restaurants based on the reviews.  On our first night in Montmartre, I picked La Cave Gourmande, which was literally around the corner from our airbnb apartment, and we were not disappointed!

It's a small restaurant with a few outdoor tables and we could tell it was a busy, popular spot.  We didn't have reservations, but the owner was lovely and sat us anyways.  I think there was only one waitress and she was running back and forth the entire time, but she was very nice and helpful.   Their menus are on blackboards which they carry to your table and luckily they do have an English version.

We ended up getting:

Escargot - buttery and fresh, just as they should be.

Bone marrow - this was splendid; such a great meaty flavor and the greasiness was cut by the rock salt perfectly.

Roast Duck - this was also super good and tasty.  nice balance of savory and sweet, and the potatoes were awesome.

Beef Bourguignon - the waitress told us this was their house specialty and it is simply divine!  It's basically a delicious beef stew with carrots and potatoes served with the butteriest of mashed potatoes.  

Apple tart - lovely end to our delectable meal.  Crisp and buttery.

We had a wonderful time at this restaurant. Some restaurants in Paris are not particularly warm and welcoming, but that is not the case at La Cave Gourmande.  They made us feel welcome and seemed really happy to introduce us to French home cooking. It was our favorite French bistro meal of the entire trip. Highly recommended.

Address:  96 rue des Martyrs  (metro stop - Abbesses) in the Montmartre area, about a 10 minute walk from the Sacre Coeur.  Reservations recommended, which you can do online through tripadvisor.

 Another very traditional bistro we went to was Brasserie Lipp in the St. Germain area (right across from the famous Cafe du Flore).  It was highly recommended by our Parisian friends and the food was quite superb, but on the pricier side.  We had really great pate and lamb with beans.  

However, they didn't really cater to non-French speakers.  They didn't seem to have English menus and their waiters only spoke a little English - which (oddly enough) seemed to improve based on whether they liked you or not.  They were actually pretty nice to us offering us recommendations for food (like the lovely dessert below) and a lovely table where we could people-watch.  However, when other tourists came in, their level of hospitality seemed to shift inexplicably.  I would probably recommend this only for people who can speak or read at least a little bit of French.