READING and UNDERSTANDING a French Menu | How (and what!!) to order at a restaurant in Paris

Today we are going through an entire French menu from A to Z, plus some tips and tricks for ordering at a restaurant in Paris. Enjoy !

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TIME STAMPS
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0:00​ – Intro
2:16 – Restaurants to avoid
4:38 – Tips for ordering
6:06 – Starters Entrées (in French)
16:20 – Mains Plats (in French)
22:24 – Dessert
25:36 – Jean’s recommendations

~~TAGS~~
French menu, French restaurant, reading a french menu, Paris restaurant, how to order, speak French, ordering in French, paris travel tips, vacation, travel abroad, Paris, France

hi guys it’s Ariel welcome back to my
YouTube channel I hope you guys are all
doing well today’s video is going to be
about food specifically French food I
want to go through a French menu with
you guys from A to Z I want to show you
pictures of every single dish and to
explain every Dish as well the reason
why I felt like this was an essential
video to make is because a couple weeks
ago I met this really lovely American
family in a museum I ended up
translating something for them and we
got on to talking and they asked me for
a restaurant recommendation it was their
last evening and they said oh well we’ve
had crepes we’ve mostly just had Thai
food could you recommend a restaurant
for our final evening and I was floored
by this I was just shocked that you
would travel all the way to France from
the US and spend most of your trip
eating Thai food I really didn’t
understand but I thought about it and
then it clicked for me that it is not
easy to understand a French menu because
it’s not necessarily a translation
problem it’s that some of the dishes or
most of the dishes are Regional they
have their own names so even if you’re
bilingual or you speak a little bit of
French it’s still going to be hard if
not impossible to understand a French
menu and I was thinking back to when I
first arrived in France like s years ago
and I knew nothing there is no way I
knew how to navigate a menu in France
and the reason why over time I am able
to understand 100% % of a French venu is
because I’ve had dinners with French
friends and French boyfriends and their
families and people over time have you
know opened my eyes to French food and
helped me when it comes to ordering and
so I’m passing on that knowledge to you
guys today before we get into it though
I do want to quickly mention that by the
time this video is out I will have
launched my website which I’ll leave a
link down below but you guys should
definitely check out I have my
itineraries on there I have my specialty
events lists and I also have the
registration for my summer Meetup so
don’t forget to check it out it’s going
to be linked down below and thank you
guys as always for all your support now
without further Ado let’s get into the
video before we even look at a menu I do
just want to cover a couple ground rules
that I have for you guys when it comes
to choosing a place where you can lunch
or Dine In Paris these are rules that I
very strictly follow the first one is I
wouldn’t eat anywhere with plastic
flowers you guys know what I’m talking
about they’re all over Instagram and the
reason I wouldn’t eat here is because
any restaurant or cafe or bar that has
plastic flowers is typically going to be
relying on these cute flowers to bring
in the clientele and not the delicious
food or drink the second rule I have for
you guys is I wouldn’t e anywhere that
is 247 which is service continue in
French or continued service the reason
why I wouldn’t eat here is because
because these places are open 24/7 they
are going to keep it simple this type of
establishment is going to serve frozen
foods that you can just throw in a deep
fryer and serve up to the client very
easy simple drinks because they’re open
24/7 they want to keep their menu and
their staff simple they don’t have a
lunch and dinner service they don’t or
they probably don’t have a head chef
designing the menu so these are typic
not going to be places that are going to
serve the most authentic or most
delicious meals and then my third rule
is I don’t eat anywhere that has several
different types of cuisine on the menu
and tens and tens and tens of dishes why
because any restaurant that serves over
a 100 dishes is not going to be great at
all of them they’re going to be like
average 400 dishes instead of really
good for 10 dishes if I think about the
best restaurants that I’ve been to In
Paris like truly the top tier
restaurants these are restaurants that
have set menus where they have three
Entre three Mains and three dessert
options it’s a very small menu but
everything truly is Market Fresh and the
menu is designed by a chef almost on a
daily basis and you can really tell that
there’s love and care that goes into
both the menu and the cooking so those
are my rules for you guys there’re there
obviously are always going to be
exceptions to the rule but typically if
you want to have the best dining
experience that’s what I would follow
now once You’ picked a place and you’ve
sat down you’ll probably be handed two
different menus you have the drink menu
and you have the food menu the drink
menu is easy you’ll have wines beers
cocktails Apple ciders soft drinks hot
drinks all that good stuff that’s going
to be easy for you to navigate I will
just say if you only want to have water
with your meal which is totally
acceptable and you want to just have tap
water that’s free and that’s called a k
do there’s been a couple times where
I’ve seen restaurants kind of try and
trick tourists into paying for water
because locals and French people know
you just ask for the caau and they bring
you a free bottle of tap water that they
will refill throughout your entire meal
but when they’re talking to tourists
they’ll say would you like a boute dough
would you like sparkling or flat water
in a boute a boute is going to be a
plastic bottle of water and you could
definitely order a plastic bottle of
water if you want but if you just want
free tap water the word
is anyways moving on to the food menu
the menu will have three section Entre
Mains and dessert it’s going to be
Entre D and when the server comes to
take your order he’s going to take your
order for your Entre and your pla your
entree and your Maine and then once
you’re done dinner he’ll come back see
if you’re still hungry hungry give you
the menus again and you can order
dessert so just pre prepared when the
waiter comes you will have to order your
Entre and your pla all right now that we
have the basics covered let’s take a
look at our menu the menu that I’ve
picked is a chalkboard menu from a
beastro
called which I really love and I think
this menu does a great job of covering a
lot of the main dishes that you’ll see
on repeat in bastos
and um
bons throughout Paris so I think this
gives a great picture of what your
dining experience will be like when you
eat out in France I will say that this
menu is meat heavy as are a lot of
beastro that’s actually the number one
complaint that I hear from tourists and
even my mom when she came to France she
was like okay French food is good but
I’ve had enough of the the meat and the
carbs can we get some veggies so you’ll
see as we go through this menu um it is
meat heavy that is pretty
typical uh in French cuisine but um but
yeah we in the future we can definitely
go through other menus as well if you
have any restaurants or any suggestions
you can leave them down below but let’s
start with the entree section you’ll see
if you count the items on each section
between Entre PLA and Des the most
dishes are in the entree section and
Entre in France honestly I would say
that’s the best part of the meal you
want to order a couple dishes
to to have the best experience but yeah
Entre are where it’s at when it comes to
eating out in France so let’s go through
them I’ve made very detailed notes about
every single dish so buckle
up the first orang that we have is the
toin DEA and a toine is a type of Pate
that’s going to be slow cooked in a dish
that’s called toin and it’s most
commonly made of pork but you can also
have fish vegetable and fruit toin this
restaurant specifically is known for
their pork meat so I already know
without having to ask the server that
this is going to be a pork toin and
typically when you order this it’s going
to come with a baguette and pickles for
Jean and I we always order the tin
always it’s delicious the second entree
we have are
theet and this is another one of my
favorites I always order this please if
you have not yet tried
definitely order this on your next trip
to Paris or to France the texture ofet
is very similar to ped pork it looks
like it and the texture is very similar
essentially the meat for the ret is slow
cooked in fat to create this texture and
typically retes are going to be made of
pork that’s what the ret from this
restaurant is made from pork but you can
also have different types ofets that are
made from fish or vegetables I actually
really like fish and when it comes toet
in general in French you would say that
this is
aond which translates to a spreadable
meat which sounds kind of gross but um
when you order whether it’s fish
vegetables or meat it’s going to be
served with pickles and baguette and you
really are going to take your knife and
spread
theet on your baguettes to give you an
idea of how you would eat it our next
entree is a pate on so this is going to
be similar to the tin that was at the
very top of our menu this pate though is
going to be cooked in a puff pastry and
Pates are mostly made of liver which is
why there’s such a creamy texture to the
Pate but it can also be combined with
other cuts of meat as well and again
Pate is mostly going to be made of pork
this restaurant their Pate was made from
pork but you can also have Petes of
other meats and vegetables as well and
again just like the riet just like the
toin this is going to be served with
baguette and pickles I say pickles
because most of the time it is pickles
but it could also be other pickled
vegetables I’ve been to other beos where
they serve baguette and pickled hot
peppers with their Terin and their Pates
the idea is just to have something
pickled to go along with it next we have
the Pate Basque espet now this is going
to be similar to the Pate that we have
above although this one is not in the
cot so you won’t have the puff pastry
shell around it and this pate is going
to be specific to The Basque Cuisine
which means that it’s going to be a pork
based Pate cooked with espet which is a
type of spice or spicy pepper that’s
similar to Hot Chili Peppers again this
is going to be served with a baguette
and pickles or pickled something next we
have the kpo T C and I had to bring in
the reinforcements for this one because
I have never seen this on a French menu
in my life and I don’t even understand
it because this is pigh head Carpio and
I’ve I’ve never even heard of the
possibility of eating pork raw so I
actually um texted Jean’s dad
to know if he had heard of this dish he
had also not heard of this dish neither
had Jean and so we’re all very confused
essentially from all the research that
we’ve been able to do this is very
likely going to be thinly sliced pork
that’s been cooked in a traditional way
but this one is the only dish on the
entire menu where I was like what is
this next we have the suis sesh and this
is going to be the thin shaut that
you’ve maybe seen before they’re
essentially they almost look like ropes
it’s it’s a thin suis dried sausage
that’s almost a horseshoe yeah
essentially it’s going to be seasoned
pork meat that that’s wrapped in a
thinner casing and Dy between 3 and 4
weeks and again as with everything else
this is going to be served with baguett
next we have the crew with an a
of this is again something that I’m sure
you’ve already seen if not in France
then in the movies this is just very
thinly sliced ham Shak and when they say
a that means it’s been cured for 18
months from this point on we start to
get into Entre that are a little bit
more unique and things that you may not
have tasted or heard of before we have
the PUO vinegret another dish that I
always order these are going to be um
boiled leaks that are seasoned with a
little vinegret sauce and served with
baguette on the side then we have the
salad
de this is a a very popular entree in
France not even necessarily in
restaurants but just in the home as well
this is a very popular entree to make
and eat and this is essentially just a
lentil salad with cooked L which is I
guess the the best translation I could
give is bacon bits it’s
basically ham cut into tiny cubes and
fried next we have the Earth buo Mayon
this is a classic classic French dish I
don’t think you can go to any beastro or
Buon in all of France and not have have
Earth Mayo on the menu this is eggs and
mayonnaise and also this is a dish
served cold just as an FYI another egg
dish on the menu we have o on muret
which are poached eggs served in a muret
sauce and the Moret sauce is composed of
red wine Lon mushrooms onions and garlic
and this dish is going to be either be
served with a baguette or Crouton
sprinkled on the dish I up until this
moment I had actually never heard of
this kind of dish I never tried this
dish but I’m very intrigued and I will
absolutely be working this the next time
I go to the bizo for sure next we have
the O and this translates to bone marrow
and the people beside us actually
ordered this entree while we’re eating
and it looked very intriguing the bone
was essentially cut horizontally as
opposed to smaller vertical cuts and it
was open like this and it just had the
bone marrow on the inside and it’ll
probably be seasoned with um maybe a
wine sauce and garlic and other herbs
okay we’re almost done with this entree
list next up we have the
Sardine and this is going to be similar
I think to can sardines I’ll open up a
can sardine that we have in the cover to
show you guys what the texture and look
of these might feel like but sardines is
huge in France this was something that
surprised me because it’s not
necessarily huge in Canada or not in
Toronto where I’m from but uh in France
you have sardines and other types of
fish as well that are canned in so many
different flavors you have garlic and
salt and pepper and lemon tomato fennel
like you just have every type of
vegetable that can be infused in these
sardines so I’m not sure what type of
Sardine this restaurant serves but it
will definitely be some delicious type
of Sardine that’s served in an oil
that’s probably fragrant of something
and this is going to be served with
either baguette or potatoes and maybe
another vegetable like pickle or
tomatoes another fish entree we have the
fet and this translates to Herring filet
in English which is a
fish and this is going to be similar to
the sardines I would imagine in terms of
presentation and again it’ll be served
with probably potatoes or baguette and
our last entree the
eso this again is a dish that you’re
going to have to try at least once if
you come to Paris escalo which you might
already know is snails and it doesn’t
specifically say what kind of sauce they
use it’s uh the escal so it’s going to
be a house sauce we did have these and
it was a nice butter garlic Herby sauce
so delicious definitely something that
you should try if you can handle snails
uh while you’re in Paris okay moving on
to our MS this restaurant specifically
has nine Mains on their menu and from
what I remember they also had a um daily
special that the server just told us at
our table so that’s kind of the amount
of mains that I would say is the maximum
that a good French restaurant or beastro
will have um so let’s start with number
one which is the PVE R steak with a s p
now this is going to be a steak and
fries with the house sauce which in this
case is a pepper sauce and I didn’t know
this before but I do know it now that
I’ve done this research um the rum steak
specifically is a part of the and that’s
um to the back of the animal that’s near
the thigh good to know our second dish
is very similar it’s the noot with a so
this again is a steak but this is a
ribey steak and this is going to be
served with fries and that same pepper
sauce next up we have the tone with a sa
nor now V means ve in English so this is
a ve T-bone steak that’s going to be
served with a s normon which is sauce
that’s Regional to Normandy and it’s
made from ve stock cream butter
mushrooms and onions it sounds delicious
and this is likely going to be served
with vegetables instead of fries but
you’d have to ask your server just to be
sure if you want clarification they’ll
honestly probably tell you if this type
of steak doesn’t come with fries our
fourth dish is the andet g with the S
mut now this is probably the only dish
that I will never order again in France
I I really don’t like Oni or onou yet um
I don’t like the taste and I feel like
it smells very bad but I I think it’s
worth worth it to try it once if you’re
daring so basically an onou is a cooked
cold meat that’s made from the digestive
tract of pork or ve and and are smoked
and typically eaten thinly sliced as
shut I’ll put a picture on the screen
when when it comes to andet they’re
similar but they’re not smoked and
they’re smaller in size uh they’re also
garnished with a fine mints and I do
just want to touch on the five A’s that
are beside this dish because I had never
seen this before and it definitely
intrigue me so the five A’s stand for
theci uh which basically translates to
the association the friendly
Association of
amateurs dedicated to the authenticity
of onette basically this is a sign that
these are high quality and traditional
style andet now I would assume this dish
is going to be served with either house
fries or potatoes but your server would
definitely
clarify when you ordered it and the
sauce is a mustard based sauce next we
have a very similar dish called the grat
dond alesh and this actually sounds
delicious I love all types of grat a
grat essentially is something baked with
cheese and milk and cream and
breadcrumbs you have for example the
groa which is potatoes baked with milk
and cheese and breadcrumbs on top which
is delicious so the grat dondet is going
to follow the same recipe it’s
essentially going to be andet the the
sausages baked uh maybe with some other
potatoes and in a cheese creamy sauce
this one specifically says that uh
there’s tum fresh which is a fresh
cheese made from cow tum is an excellent
French cheese something else you should
try when you’re in Paris um so yeah this
is essentially going to be the
ouet baked with cheese potatoes and
bread crumbs honestly it sounds
delicious our next dish is the trio
with p and this is a dish from the a
region it is a stuffed sheep or ve belly
and the stuffing is made from Ham ve
garlic and parsley and this dish will
come with boiled potatoes might also
come with carrots and other vegetables
like the sauce that they cook the tri in
or not the sauce the broth will probably
have potatoes and other vegetables our
next dish is also a trio uh but this one
is
aiz with P vapor and this is a mystery
to me I mean when it says when whenever
you have the name of the restaurant in
the dish like this
the this is the house version of this
dish so I would assume it’s going to be
exactly the same as
the but just with a different type of
meat it’s a house dish so the server
would definitely explain more if you
asked the next dish you probably already
know it is the T the B OK this is beef
tartar so it is raw beef diced and
presented beautifully on a dish and this
is probably going to be served with
fries or salad or both and our last main
on the menu is the co
de
mat and this is a prime rib steak that’s
been aged for six weeks and you can see
on the little note that it has beside it
you have to actually order this as a
group because the minimum serving size
is 1 kilogram and it’s
8.90 per each 100 gam so the minimum
cost of this dish would be um 89 so
interesting I it’s rare that you see um
restaurants sort of have these dishes to
share but I like the concept I don’t
know how many you’d have to be to order
that but quite a few I would imagine
moving on to our desserts my second
favorite part of the menu after the
Entre trays now some of the desserts on
this menu I accidentally cut off in the
photo so I’m just going to go through
the first three and then I’m going to
add on a fourth and a fifth dessert as
well that aren’t necessarily on this
menu but are definitely desserts that I
recommend that you try and you’ll see
very often on other French beastro and
Buon menus so the first dessert on this
menu that we have is a SE Fage this one
is easy this is going to be a small
little taster plate of different cheeses
maybe some fruits maybe some dried
fruits definitely some baguettes but
this is not a sweet dessert this is just
cheese our second dessert is moous OA
which I’m sure you guys know this is
chocolate mousse so it’s essentially egg
whites mixed with chocolate the third
dessert on this menu is a f Ora and
please please order this at least once
when you come to France this is one of
my favorite desserts literally ever I
think it’s similar to a CH cholate lava
cake I want to say the outside of this
dish or of this little cake is hard it’s
essentially the texture of a brownie or
really thick cake and then on the inside
of this
delicious f is um like a gooey chocolate
goodness so when you cut the full noal
chocolate on half you just have the
inside that like flops and oozes out of
the dessert I maybe not describing it
the most um beautiful way but it really
is just such a creamy chocy dessert and
this is usually served with vanilla ice
cream whipped cream or creme Ang which
is English cream now to this list I want
to add the profol which again is a must
try when you’re in France a lot of
people when they think of French
desserts they think of Crepes but I want
to say that profol is up there when it
comes to notoriety like this is a very
known and delicious French dish the
profiterol is going to be a French shoe
pastry I was trying to think about what
I could compare the shoe pastry to I
would say it’s similar in texture to a
dut but it’s not deep fried and the
profol is probably going to be cut in
half and in between the two slices of
this shoe pastry you’re going to have a
good amount of vanilla ice cream and so
much chocolate sauce is going to be
drizzled on top it’s just chef’s kiss
delicious especially in the summer the
the ice cream and the shoe pastry are
just a match made in heaven and finally
the last dessert that I want to add to
this list is the riol which is a sweet
dish that is made from a base of rice
and milk and you’ll have sugar added in
you’ll have vanilla added in and maybe
other um flavors maybe like citrusy
flavors as well it’ll say on the menu if
it does have um any other flavor to it
but typically it’s going to be vanilla
and yeah it’s served in like a little
glass dish and it’s just delicious Sean
can you come here can you come here I
want you to participate in the video
come okay I was just going over the bizo
menu and um I thought it’ be fun if you
gave your opinion if you had to order at
the bizo what would you order in Entre
what would you do uh to the starter yeah
it will
be
or because I am a basic a meat a meat
guy yeah I would say the same for me my
Entre I would either say
sis or the Earth betet really I I
definitely want to try that soon or
maybe
s but in s place don’t uh
okay and the your entree
okay ah think I’m going with it oh I go
with the T the this is like je loves
order of the tart but I hate Tartar and
so it means when he orders this we can’t
share our dishes I think I would choose
the if I wasn’t looking at the price I
don’t know if I would like it’s kind of
expensive that of the P steak and I only
say this because the fries from the B
are so good and I just steak fre so good
and what would you pick from the
desserts I also added and
have okay I will go
with
no
what I would go with the pho as well but
J’s not like a you don’t really like
dark chocolate yes but fine that
surprised me okay see see this is what I
was saying in the dessert in the dessert
section I said that they have to try
a all right thank you you’re welcome
bye and with that with our dish
recommendations I think that’s the end
of this video I hope you guys enjoyed
watching I hope you learned something
new about French cuisine I hope I give
you some ideas of what you can order
when you come to Paris let me know if
you have any questions down below and
I’ll see you guys in my next one
[Music]
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