Europe in Oct

Europe
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Hi Everyone,
headed to Europe for the first time since i was a kid (i don’t remember much) for my Wife’s 50th Birthday
we will be in Barcelona-4 nights, Paris 4 nights. London-5 nights.
can you please give me some suggestions on places to eat? casual, walk in type places, pintxos, and maybe a few places i might need a reservation to.
if it helps in Barcelona we will be staying around Sant Marti
in Paris we will be staying around the 1st Arrondissement?
in London we will be staying near Trafalgar Square.

it’s my wifes first time in Europe so we’re going to be doing some sightseeing and touristy stuff but any suggestions for food and stuff will be great.

thanks in advance.

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Hungry Onion has a quite lively France discussion board with several people living in Paris - that could be helpful for information around restaurants in Paris

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thanks for the info!

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I’ve been told these places in Barcelona are fantastic. I’ve never been to Barcelona but its on my list when we have a chance to go back to Europe.
Bar Canete
Cal Pep
Bar Mut
Bar Gresca
El Vasa De Oro

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Some discussions on hungry onion about BCN and more about Paris.
From my personal experience:
In BCN look at Mont Bar - refined tapas, Teoric - bistronomy, Enigma or Disfrutar - modern/creative, Bar Canete - classic tapas, and Compartir ( I have only been to the one in Cadaques which was amazing, but now they open a branch in BCN).
Consider day trip to Girona (Espresso Mafia for amazing coffee, El Cellar for very fancy but amazing dinner)
Very handy guide for BCN - https://www.macarfi.com/en/bcn/restaurants

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thanks so much!

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My personal favorites in Paris are Montee and Pages (both tasting menus, Japanese chefs making French food).
Over the years enjoyed Ze Kitchen Gallery, Sola, La Condesa, Le Chateaubriand on Parmentier, and even now “discovered” tourist favorites Chez Ami Jean and Frenchie.
Hungry onion link on Paris

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i missed that comment initially. obviously some of my reccomendations are quite a bit fancier than that.
however, Mont Bar, Bar Canete, and Teoric fit in BCN but still need a reservation. Paris places I listed are all on a fancier side. Great option that does not take reservations is Clamato in Paris.

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Fancy modern French food I can get at home. In Paris my favorite thing is the super-old-school bistros like Chez Rene, Chez Paul, Chez Michel.

Weather permitting, maybe shop at Fromagerie Quatrehomme and La Grande Epicerie de Paris for a picnic at the Jardin de Luxembourg.

I almost always go to Bouillon Chartier (the original). You can get better food elsewhere but you can’t beat the atmosphere, conviviality, or price.

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Paris-Mokonuts

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Paris: L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre or L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer (2 doors away). Open all day, walk in only, friendly, nice vibe, good wines, small plates, free home made bread w/great butter. It’s a stand at the counter, talk to others type place.

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in london, st john (all of their locations are similarly outstanding, but smithfield is the classic one) is an absolute must-visit

in paris, patrick roger is one of the top chocolatiers, just a couple blocks away from l’avant comptoir, and often has some stunning chocolate displays that are arguably worth visiting even from a non-eating perspective.

also in paris, le wepler is a solid bistro (open since 1881) which has the advantage of being open to midnight (used to be 1 am), and generally doesn’t require a reservation to be able to get a table - a good backup restaurant to have in mind in case plans change. they do all the classics - escargot, french onion soup, seafood tower, crepes suzette flambeed tableside. won’t be life-changing amazing, but more similar to a perfectly-run american diner

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in london, the river cafe. i feel like they do the simple but elegant style of italian better than anyone - really beautiful restaurant

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i would like to thank all the people who gave me suggestions in this thread. It was my wife’s first time in Europe and my first time as an adult and we hade an awesome time and cant wait to go back.

we did a lot of touristy stuff (day tours and Euro Disney) which took away from us eating at all the places that were suggested.

in Barcelona, we went to Mont Bar, Bar Canete and Cal Pep. The sitting at the tapas bar vibe ad Bar Canete and Cal Pep was awesome, i wish we had places like that here in LA. The servers and the cooks were friendly, and it was such a lively joyous vibe in there. Mont Bar was more of a sit down dinner but was still awesome.

Paris, we went to Montee Bar and had a great relatively cheap tasting menu dinner. Had the best lime tart at Des Gateaux Et Du Pain. the rest of the days were at the day tour for Louvre, Eiffel Tower,
& Montmarte and Euro Disney (food was terrible at Euro Disney)

In London we ate at Dishoom, In Chinatown, Little Four Seasons (not the hotel), Wun’s Tea Room, The Delauney.

had an absolutely great time and cant wait to go back

thanks again everyone

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