Lille cafés (accessible, at least with my portable ramp)
My favourite dish in Lille is slow-cooked beef stew in wine. There are lots of mussels about. Almost the only fish seems to be Salmon. Another signature dish around Lille is a thing called “Welsch”, which is a French variant on “Welsh Rarebit”. It involves toast and cheese with an egg on top. One legend claims local son General Charles de Gaulle encouraged it. There are also a few sushi restaurants about with ludicrous prices compared to Melbourne. Fish is hard to find, except for the ubiquitous salmon.
Just on Notre Dame square we found a nice french bistro/bar called Le Parvis de la Treille at 26 rue Bartholomé Masurel. Our host Stephane was interesting and friendly. He has lots of tattoos, including Pink Floyd, the Stones and an ex lover. The café is accessible, the table was comfy with room for my legs, and the food was hearty french fare. Windows look out onto Notre Dame.
There is an aspirational burger joint called Buns bazaar at 45 Rue Lepelletier with reasonable food. We sat in the street and ate the fish burger, which had good fries and a nice fishy taste. Pretty expensive though, and not up to Melbourne hipster burger standards.
There is an accessible Italian joint called Fuxia l’Epicerie just south of Notre Dame in 19 Rue Bartholomé Masurel.
We looked inside but we didn’t eat there. I estimate it would be just adequate.
This lovely little square called “Place aux Oignons” along the charming Rue des Vieux Murs near Notre Dame has cafés with outside tables. We has a kir at the restaurant “Estaminet Au Vieux de la Vieille”. Jill said the food looked good there.
We had an aperitif at the Australian bar “Café OZ” in 33 Place Louise de Bettignies. It is incredibly popular with locals. Jill said “g’day” to the barman but he didn’t understand. It has Fosters, you know, that British beer. The view towards Notre Dame across the park is extraordinary.
The bistro “Les Compagnons de la Grappe” is down a walkway off 26 Rue Lepelletier.
The interior has two large steps but the outside area is good for wheelies. There are gas burners to create warmth and atmosphere, as well as blankets for your knees! We had a beef and a lamb stew, both warming and authentic. Actually the beef stew was great!
Dinner at Le Petit Table in 9 Rue de la Monnaie.
A tiny place with tiny tables (obviously) but I sidled into the window spot by removing a footplate. I had Duck tagliatelle which was so so. Jill had chicken in cream with yummy rustic style thin french fries which was better. The price was about €14 for a main. The usual “Welsch” was on the menu, but no frogs, snails or creme brûlée, sadly, as it has aspirations towards Italian.
We dropped in to the Brasserie “La Cloche” (the Bell) out of laziness one evening. It’s on the corner of the large opera square (13 Pl. du Théâtre) and has tables outside under umbrellas as well as cosier ones inside. We took the table behind the door at the front window. Very nice aspect. I had the usual beef stew. It was adequate. A disinterested tourist joint really.
There are a huge number of tourist barns in Place du Général de Gaulle south of the opera. We avoided them but the location is interesting.