Brasserie Balzar or Bofinger?

We%26#39;ll be staying a little out of Paris but want to come in to the city for a day.

We ate many years ago at Bofinger and enjoyed it and husband wants to return.I am more in favour of trying Balzar.Which do people recommend?

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I prefer the menu and the more intimate ambience at Balzar. I ate a Bofinger once. The food was very average (almost below), and at lunch time the crowd was very stuffy.

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A tradition during my 20 trips to Paris over the years has been to go to the Brasserie Balzar and have the same meal every time. The last TWO TIMES I went, the meal was so awful that it was inedible -- leeks that were almost raw and chicken that tasted like cardboard. I only gave it the second shot because I was sure the first bad meal was an aberration. This was surely not the old Brasserie Balzar where I brought or recommended to countless friends. As nostalgic as it had become for me, I%26#39;ll never go there again.

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I totally agree with nutsabouttravel - It was terrible. We went last Oct and it was the only restaurant that we went to in Paris that was %26quot;touristy%26quot; if you know what I mean. We had wonderful meals in other places that are not in guide books etc. The food was not good and the service was even worse worse. The only thing I liked was their chocolate mousse.

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Balar and Bofinger are both part of the giant Flo company. To their credit they help save the lovely decor of these places but, like many companies, the accounting department overrule the creative one! check http://www.flobrasseries.com/brasseries/ on the right there is the list of all the places they own...I would skip all these places.

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OOPS I meant Balzar of course..

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The quality at both have become horrible, to be honest. They used to be independent brasseries, and therefore much better...but then they got eaten up by Flo and the quality has suffered, in my opinion.

For one meal in Paris, I would definitely try something else that will wow you. I don%26#39;t know of anyone who has been wowed at either of these places in some time.

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We used to go to Balzar but the last time we considered it the maitre d%26#39; was somebody that used to work at Lipp. And he was a jerk.

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Thanks everyone for your replies.Looks like we should be thinking about an alternative restaurant.

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