It’s that time of year again: time for us to appreciate the variety and beauty of wild animals… with our mouths. Time to taste of the bunny, the bambi, the boar, and the buckshot. Bite down carefully, and bite here, at the following selection of game-savvy restaurants preferred by our gang of contributing advisors.
Five Six Great for Wild Game
- Le Repaire de Cartouche – Whether you like your lièvre (hare) with foie gras or à la royale (with blood sauce), Rodolphe Paquin will be serving a slate of sturdy fare all season long. Outstanding wine list, too.
- Chez l’Ami Jean – the menu for a single dinner might include biche (deer), palombe (pigeon), perdreau (partridge) and lièvre, along with ten other dishes. Game or no game, Stéphane Jego ain’t playing.
- Chez Michel – Like Jego, chef Thierry Breton is usually cooking half a dozen different forest creatures on any given autumn night. The oven-warmed dining room is a cozy place to devour them on cold evenings.
- Philou (tied with the two following places) – always seasonal, the cuisine of Philippe Damas really shines in the autumn, and his wine list holds plenty of affordable interest.
- A la Biche au Bois – as the name implies, there be deer in this here forest. And wild boar with chestnuts. And good cheese…
- Au Petit Marguery – autumn seems to be the only time that anybody talks about this place. Le Figaro called their lièvre à la royale a “plaisir vampire.”
Runners up (in order): La Grande Cascade, La Cerisaie, Le Comptoir du Relais, La Régalade/La Régalade – St. Honoré, Spring Restaurant.
Rejects: Auberge Bressane, Michel Rostang
About our process: For each topic, we begin with a little research to identify options. We then ask our readers, by posting a question in the forum, to offer additional suggestions. From that discussion, we compile a list of candidates and ask our panel of contributing advisors to rank their top choices and identify any rejects. Their rankings are weighted, analyzed, and compiled into a new Five Great post every week. Runners up are places who received more positive votes than negative comments. Rejects are places that received only negative comments with no positive votes.
More on Wild Game
- Wild Game Glossary
- Wild Game Sightings in Paris Restaurants
- Gibier Challenge: Who Plays the Game Better?
More delicious Five Great lists:
- Five Great for Dinner in Montmartre
- Five Great for a Box of Chocolates
- Five Great with Kids
- Five Great for Groups
- Five Great for Vegetarians
- Five Great for Ice Cream
- Five Great for Outdoor Dining
- Five Great Places for Oysters
- Five Great Places for Sunday Dinner
- Five Great Steak Frites
- Five Great Baguettes
The newly revived L’Os a Moelle has a printed item on its carte (rather than the chalkboard) that reads something like “shot by a rifle” and today it was perdreau/partridge; obviously I have no idea what the item will be on other days, but it was pretty good.
I have to say we were disappointed last time we were at A la Biche au Bois. It’s always been a favorite place to bring out-of-town guests, but this last time it seemed the restaurant was phoning it in, in terms of both food and service. Lukewarm steak, chalky St-Marcellin, overly sweet sauce on the wild duck. Really a shame.
Lievre a la Royal recently consumed on the 36E Paul Bert lunch menu was one of the best in recent memory .. bested Chez Paquin … and frites for sauce a la royal was not too bad !
…lots of buckshot!
Its the time of year for us to indulge in these beautiful meats on our spit roast fires
Thanks for this collection! I’m honestly a fan of exotic food and everything in this list is a must try!