La Cantine de Belleville, Paris

My number 3 restaurant during my interrail trip was La Cantine de Belleville in Paris. We found out about it from the lady in the hostel, and it's lucky we did because it's not around any of the usual tourist areas, and also doesn't look that amazing from the outside, so would probably be somewhere I would usually walk past. However, it was amazing and did brilliant, unpretentious, homely French food, and was filled with locals.

Look how French the writing is! The menu was an amazing deal - it was only €14 for 3 courses, which I would imagine is practically unheard of in Paris! Even elsewhere you'd be hard pressed to find somewhere which is that good value for good quality food.

For starter, I chose the Bretonne terrine, and James went for the duck terrine.

Bretonne terrine

Duck terrine

Both were rich without being overpowering like some terrines can be. For main course I went for the rump steak (medium) with béarnaise sauce and sautée potatoes and James chose the bavette (medium) with blue cheese sauce and the potatoes.

Rump steak

Bavette steak

I was a little bit disappointed with the cooking of my steak, as I thought it was heading a bit more towards well done and wasn't as pink as I'd have liked - I should have asked for rare but my usual experience with the French is that medium comes out as rare!! They probably heard my accent and thought that we overcook our meat so that's how I'd want it! However, it still tasted delicious and the béarnaise sauce was amazing - and the potatoes were absolutely to die for! They were gently spiced and beautifully soft and possibly one of the best things I have ever eaten. We both wanted to get a portion for pudding! James' steak was very well cooked (as in to his liking rather than well done) and he said the blue cheese sauce was really nice and strong. Also, like Café à la Une, the salad had really nice dressing!!

I was really full (why do I always eat so much of the basket of bread?!) but at that value I HAD to have a pudding, so I went for tarte tatin (my mum makes a really good one so I had to compare!)and James went for his favourite, cheesecake!

Not quite as good as my mum's but still delicious!

As you can see, the food is pretty much just piled on the plate with no attempt at refinement, but that's partly what we loved so much about the place - so we decided to do ANOTHER double nighter!!

Looking very French - James even asked (in French) for a lighter from another table!

On the second night, I went for the avocado starter and James chose the charcuterie plate.

The avocado was pretty much just a peeled and destoned avocado cut in half on a plate, but it was nicely seasoned and a really good, light starter. James' charcuterie was nice and varied and they even gave butter for the bread which is a rare but excellent find in France.

For main I had the bavette steak (medium, as they seemed to cook those better from the previous night's experience) but with Béarnaise sauce, and James had the same as he had last night.

The steak was amazing and the potatoes just as tasty as the night before - if only I could order a delivery to England...or if only I had asked for the recipe.

For pudding we both had chocolate mousse and I can definitely say it was the best one I have ever tried - very rich but just so good!

The waiters here were so friendly and jokey, but seemed to only speak French so beware of going without a French speaker! It was without a doubt one of the best value restaurants I have ever been to and I'd recommend everyone who wants to taste authentic and homely French food to try it! (Get the metro line 2, direction Nation, to Belleville, then if you're facing the Quick, turn left and walk along the road for about 3 mins, and you'll see it!)