Category Archives: France

E.DEHILLERIN – one of my favourite shop in Paris

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in France, Kitchen wares, Shopping, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

E.Dehillerin is definitely one of my top 10 favourite shop in the world.

This little quaint shop is located in Paris (not far from the Louvre museum). If you take the metro, it is easiest if you stop at the Louvre-Rivoli metro. From there, head straight along Rue du Louvre and you will see the shop on your right (rue Coquillière)

So, what does this shop sells?

E.DehillerinThey sell everything and anything to do with kitchen and pastry tools and cookware. If you are into baking and cooking, you will LOVE this place. They have an amazing range of copper-pots and cast iron products.

Unlike other kitchenware shops, this place is like an organise mess. Why do I say so? Going into the shop feels like you are transported back to the previous century. Things are scattered all over the place. You’ll find goods all over the floor and some are hung on the ceiling. But, if you ask any of the assistant in the shop, they will be able to easily locate the items you are asking for.

I know many people find this arrangements to be a bit daunting. But, I love it. It’s like a treasure cove. I could easily spend 2-3 hours going thru item by item and not get bored. They also stock my favourite Staub !!!

Talking about this place makes me miss it so much already. One big tip for you guys heading there, PLEASE go during NON-peak hours. I usually go there on weekday early morning and gets plenty of attention from the assistants. Most of them can speak English but can be a tad impatient. Don’t go during weekend. It’s a nightmare to get any service / attention.

Have fun shopping ! BTW, you can also order online if you want.

http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/en/index.php

18 et 20, rue Coquillière – 51, rue Jean- Jacques Rousseau – 75001 PARIS
Phone: +33 1 42 36 53 13 – Fax: +33 1 42 36 54 80
Email: info@e-dehillerin.fr

Open on monday from 9 to 12.30 and from 2 to 6 pm and on tuesday to saturdays from 9 am to 6 pm. Closed on sunday and off-days.

Le Coq Hardi – Ales, France

18 Tuesday Dec 2012

Posted by in France, Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

I walked pass this little restaurant many times in the past, but was never tempted to check it out. The bright red deco and outside frame of the restaurant felt a little too pub-like to me. Hence, I pre-judge this little guy and refuse to even look at their menu.

I’m so glad hub and I decided to give this restaurant a try this round. More like an interesting encounter which made us stop right in front of this restaurant, giving me the reason to scan thru their menu. I was instantly hooked. They serve quite a number of interesting traditional French / almost home cook type dishes.

The restaurant was pretty pack even at 6.45pm (which was relatively early for French to start dining). This is surely a good sign. The waitress speaks almost no English but luckily she is happy to help as much as she could and bear with my lousy French. LOL.

Hubby ordered escargot for starter to share. It was so delicious and I was so glad that it was a huge plate pack with escargots (I think there’s easily 2 dozens of escargots on that plate!). The sauce was absolutely fantastic and compliments the escargots really well.Escargot

For mains, hubby ordered duck. He loves the French way of cooking duck. This is the traditional Magret de Canard with apricot sauce. Simple common dish but done really well. The duck meat was pan-fried well, leaving it juicy and tender. It was a very generous portion plate fill with assortment of sides.

Canard à l'Orange As for me, I am in love with my Sole meunière. Such a simple dish of pan frying the sole with butter, and yet, the taste was anything but simple. The texture of the fish combine with the butter almost has a melt-like quality once in your mouth.

Sole meunièreEach bite is almost as amazing as the first, making me want to savor each bite slowly and making the meal last forever. Now, I truly understand why French takes 3-4 hours for dinner. When you have food this good, who would want their dinner to end?!

I would have loved to try their dessert. But, we were super full by then. I can’t wait to come back again to try their other dishes.

 

Address: 7 Rue Mandajors, 30100 Alès, France
Phone:+33 4 66 52 15 75

Les Charlottes en Ville – Lille, France

09 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by in France, Gastronomy, Oversea Restaurants, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

While strolling around the quaint town of Lille, hub and I stumble upon this little café / restaurant. It’s a bar / restaurant specialises in potato! Interesting.

I’m not a big fan of potato myself. To me, potato has always been like a supporting actor in a plate. Most of the time, I’ll leave them untouched (and hubby will finish it). Since it was close to lunch time, we decided to hop in and give this a try.

The waitress was a really sweet girl and she helped translate the menu for us.

As I was not very hungry, I went with the Entrecôte grillé, sauce poivre (pepper), crème ciboulette (abit like sour cream but, it’s made with Crème Fraiche drizzled with chives). As you can see, the portion of potato is more than the meat itself.

The steak was done to my liking (Medium Rare) but it was nothing spectacular. As for the star of the plate – the potato, it was sublime indeed. The potato is baked so well that each bite melts in my mouth. It’s almost like eating mash. The taste was so good even without the crème ciboulette. Yumz. This time, I finished up my potato…but, i was kind enough to share some with hub. hehehe…

Hubby had the Salade de Chevre (Goat’s Cheese Salad). The Goat’s Cheese was surprising light, and the citrus sauce went really well together. Aside from the slightly burned toast on the side, it is quite delicious.

For main, hub had the La Montagnarde which was basically, mountain ham with baked potato oozing with melted cheese (similar to raclette). Not a fan of the ham but again the potato was done really well… yum yum.

If you are a potato fan, give this little restaurant a try. It seriously open up my eyes about making potato the main star on the plate.