Take your sketchbook (L'Ebauchoir)

Name: debod

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Product:	L'Ebauchoir
Date:	12.01.01 (302 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fab French food, simmering atmosphere,

Disadvantages: Slightly expensive, out-of-the-way

You won't need distracting from the food but there's plenty to look at while you eat in L'Ebauchoir (the sketchboard?). It's somewhat out of the way, off the main street, several minutes walk from the nearest metro, Charonne. In the 12th behind Bastille, the rue des citeaux doesn't look promising, but if you're passing, or if you're looking for an interesting, typically French cafe-bistro to take friends to, it's worth a look in.

The food is excellent. You'll find traditional French dishes such as cold meats or egg mayonnaise for starters, beef "en daube" (a rich casserole) or kidney with mashed potatoes, for mains, and creme caramel, or apple tart for dessert. As you can see, it's not great for vegetarians or for the faint-hearted. Lower budgets may flinch at the prices for such a small, seemingly low-key, out-of-the-way place: there don't seem to be any "set deals", and anything over one course with wine will probably take your bill over 100F (a tenner).

What you're paying for is the quality of the food and the atmosphere. There are VERY few tourists yet the place is usually full midday and evening. My rule of thumb is: if the locals like it, it's doing something right. The clientele varies in age and type. I like to guess who's who - couples, office-workers, manual labourers.

The other thing to look at is the mural. Done by a young, contemporary French artist called Tati Mouzo, it takes up all of one wall and depicts local life in a sort of "faux-naive" style. It's not imposing, or gaudy but it provides some extra colour.

So for a good meal, in one of the less obvious spots in Paris, L'Ebauchoir is on my list.

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