La Maison de Verlaine, Paris

As soon as we’ve confirmed that we’re traveling to Paris on my birthday, my daughter started searching online for a nice restaurant for my birthday dinner. Ako naman gusto ko lang maglakad at kumain kung saan lang meron. Even the small Asian restaurants, on the side streets of Champs Elysee is good enough for me. But not Oyen, gusto nya kami sa Michelin star restaurant daw. So every now and then she would update me, “Mom, I found a restaurant”
Me——- “How much?”
Oyen—– “Three hundred euro”.
Me——- “For all of us?”
Oyen—– “For one”.

For at least 5 times, our conversation was like that. I was more concerned of not spending too much on food. I told her, first day pa lang namin baka ubos na baon namin on one dinner pa lang. Sya naman, she wants us to have a fantastic Michelin star gourmet experience kasi daw dapat special since it’s my birthday. Hindi ako high sa shabu para magbayad ng one thousand dollars for one meal. Except siguro if it’s my 65th birthday. For now, dun na lang tayo sa tabi-tabing restaurant.

With my directive not to spend over a hundred Euro, my daughter didn’t give up. She kept on searching and she found a very good restaurant.

After several train rides,

transferring from one station to another,

after a dozen stops to look at maps,

after a few times asking for directions,

This building is a block away from the restaurant. I will blow-up a copy of this photo to hang in our labahan.

and a long walk going uphill,

we found the 78th best restaurant in Paris out of 12,500. Not bad.

Grabe ang layo ng nilakad namin. Ang sakit na talaga ng paa ko. I cannot keep up na with young people.

Finally we found it.

This better be good.

The restaurant is fairly small, with quaint decor.

We achieved our goal of arriving in the restaurant earlier than our 7 pm booking to avoid the crowd. Yun pala they open at 7 pm. We arrived at 6:45 and we were the firsts. After half hour, the restaurant started filling up and medyo masikip.

Nagka gutay-gutay na yung street map.

Very romantic place, we’re so happy we found this restaurant.

They have a pre-fix menu that comes with a glass of champagne

3 slices of French bread with a spread that tastes like salmon but it’s not.

This is what I ordered, Menu Tradition Euro 20.90

Appetizer- salmon, scallop and shrimps

Shrimp, crab meat on half avocado, salad. Very delicious

Every bite I could hear Oyen saying, “It’s so good”. She had prosciutto, foie gras salad.

I was happy with my order. I had hot fish soup that reminded me of the Bouillabaisse Marseille’s style.

Oyen swears that it’s so delicious. The most delicious cod fish she’s ever tasted.

I didn’t hear my son’s ooh sarap while he’s eating his steak but when I asked him how it was, masarap daw.

This cheese plate remained untouched because I was really too full. It was included in the set menu.

This chocolate cake is like the hot and gooey lava cake. It’s delicious too.

La Maison de Verlaine’s number one popularity booster is it’s location, it is situated on the ground floor of an apartment where Ernest Hemingway lived.

I spent less than a hundred euro for a delicious meal. The ambiance was great, food was very good, service was excellent, the waiters were very friendly and accommodating.