La Balançoire

Back in April I took a lovely walking tour of Montmartre and called my favorite dining companion to see if he wanted to meet me for lunch.  He did a quick internet search and found that I was just a few blocks away from La Balançoire, which had great reviews on TripAdvisor.  He made a quick reservation and we walked into the lovely small restaurant.

They have magic silverware.

The menu was limited for lunch, though the Dinner menu on the wall appeared to have a lot more options, many Gluten Free.  We asked the server to verify with the Chef which options were GF and he happily went to the kitchen to ask.  We were given options, including the offer to alter recipes (which is unusual for Paris).  Love that.

I chose the sweet pea soup (which bordered on the thickness of a purée) garnished with tender carrots and a drizzle of fruity olive oil.  Warm and satisfying.

My dining companion had the terrine with caramelized onions.  Also GF, but who wants to have a terrine without bread?  I don't.  

The cut of meat wasn't my favorite, but it was well cooked.  The potatoes were crispy and the sun dried tomato compound butter flavorful.

The cod with pesto was a tad overcooked, but tender and a large portion for lunch.  The green beans were well seasoned and satisfyingly crispy.  And plentiful!

Overall it was a great find considering it was a last minute choice.  Usually I make it a habit of calling ahead to advise the staff that I have a special dietary requirement to give them a chance to prepare if need be, so it was nice to find such accommodating staff.  

I would definitely go back.  

La Balançoire
6, rue Aristide Bruant - 75018 Paris
Phone: 01.42.23.70.83
Métro: Blanche (Line 2)

Hours (as of January 2014)
Open Tuesday - Saturday
Lunch 12h00 - 14h30
Dinner 19h00 - 23h00

Forgive Me

Life has gotten in the way of my goal for this blog.  

I originally envisioned myself eating my way through the restaurants of Paris, delighting in all the options available to someone needing to eat Gluten Free.  Hmmmm.  Not so much.  Eating Gluten Free in Paris is hard.  Even harder if you're trying to avoid Cow's Milk Dairy too.  (Which I've figured out is also giving me problems.  Hooray.)  

I got discouraged.  I got mad.  I stopped eating out.  Looking at the posts that were waiting to be published made me sad.  I JUST WANT TO EAT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE DOES.  I felt like that for quite a few months, but I'm over it now.  Am I over that I can't eat what is on my neighbor's plate that looks ridiculously AWESOME?  Not really, but I've come to terms with the fact that if I want to be happy and healthy I need to eat according to what my body needs, and not what my eyes crave.  I know this process will continue to be hard, but I can handle it.  I have to. 

Please forgive me for neglecting this blog.  I've forgiven myself.  And please join me on reliving some great meals of the last year!