Quote Originally Posted by Ryllharu
Zagat's Restaurant Guide is the big one here in the States. Not that I really bother to trust it. I've learned you can enjoy a lot of the lower end places better than the places that charge you premium.

There's a place not 20 minutes from my house in a really upscale town, and it started as little more than a coffee shop. It's a tiny artist-community place, the menu rarely exceeds 10 items a day, but the food is still great. A really expensive place up the road from it can't even compare.

When I was in Seattle, we went looking for the Todd English Fish Club, but in the end we went across the street from it to a chain seafood restaurant. Ate outside right on the pier. Definitely more enjoyable at only $7 per person.

When I visited Quebec (a little closer to topic) my friends and I ate at this cheaper cafe, shared a bottle of the house wine (which was surprisingly good for $14). Probably rated a 1-star (I'm guessing). Later, we ate at a completely average diner kind of place in the Old City that served anything from lamb to gyros, and it had this incredibly relaxing atmosphere. Nothing fancy, just booths, decent service and good food. I doubt this place had ever been rated, but I really enjoyed it.

My advice is to just go wherever you feel like it. We tend to like the places that are a lot more comfortable than the upscale "creative" places. It's not really the place you go, it's the people you're with, and an atmosphere where conversation flows easiest.
That I agree too and do quite a lot.

But sometimes trying something very different is nice too. I didn"t mean to say I only go
to rated places, because it's almost the contrary.
Just wanted to mention that in a discussion, because that may be useful to someone visiting France to try it too.
This really is something else, but again, I'm really into it.

Of course you also have here cafés with a formula: starters/main dish/dessert/coffe for 10 to 15€ (roughly $15 to $22.5) which are very good. And I like that quite a lot too, since it's more afordable, I do it more (and also because of my work).