Peter G.
Yelp
Paris - Chez Gladines ... reportedly the highly rated ya'-gotta-do-it place.:
Hour long street-wait in frigid temp ... Ok that's the review of the best part.
Harsh? Yeah. Ok, the atmosphere was poverty-chic; the spuds were great and the price didn't bust my balls. Other than that, pretty much .... See above.
Steak was just bad. It was over cooked and tasted a bit off. The best part was the sauce, which was an ok au poivre.
The cassoulet was a morass of brown stuff and fat . (Ok, the sausage was good.).
The duck appeared to be of good quality but was cooked to shoe leather.
The 'everything' salad was tasty, huge and well-priced... Hence, stars.
My basque chicken insulted the Basque and murdered a chicken. It made me think about the dubious restaurant compliment, "home cooked', which assumes the food at home doesn't suck. In this case, were I Basque, I'm sure I'd be highly offended. I'd feel the same way, were I a chicken ...
The potatos: The other star. were I a potatotarian, this is where I'd go. Perfectly cooked (fried?) little round wafers of spuddy goodness.
The line and the buzz... There was definitely a buzz in the placed which reinforced the staff's attitude that we really were quite lucky to be there ... Just ask them.
Full disclosure: I am not young & hip, which was the crowd. I am old(er) and apparently grumpy. I do, however, know my groceries.
NOTE: Does not take credit cards.