Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
The concept of bouillon was created by a French butcher, Pierre-Louis Duval, in 1855 who got the idea to serve simple and affordable meals in the bustling Les Halles, in the center of Paris, with broth (bouillon in French) being the base component. In the past few years, this concept saw a revival with many restaurants flourishing across France. There, classic French dishes are served, not all in broth, with a very simple presentation and still good prices. For instance, the popular oeuf-mayonnaise that is similar to deviled eggs is simply a cooked egg split in half, with a dollop of mayo on it. When we were in Grenoble, we tried the one in the city center called Bouillon Archers and got the following dishes:
Escargots (12 for 12 Eur):
Escargots at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Lentils salad (3 Eur):
Lentils salad at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Paris mushrooms in garlic and vinegar (4 Eur):
Paris mushrooms in garlic and vinegar at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Deviled eggs (3 Eur):
Deviled eggs at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Top round with butter and fries (13:50 Eur):
Top round and fries at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Side of fries (4 Eur):
Fries at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Baba au rum (6:50 Eur):
Baba au rum at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Chocolate mousse (4 Eur):
Chocolate mousse at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Shot of green chartreuse (6 Eur):
Green chartreuse at Bouillon Archers in Grenoble, France
Everything was quite good. Simple but good and having all this food for less than 60 Eur is pretty incredible. The only negative was maybe the escargots that. were small and it was a bit difficult to extract the snail from the shell (I enjoyed dipping the bread in the butter sauce by the way…). The biggest surprise, besides the price, was how good the steak was: it was tender, juicy and perfectly cooked medium-rare. Also, all the desserts are homemade and the baba was delicious, well soaked in rum, with homemade whipped cream, and the chocolate mousse was also perfectly made, not overly dense and slightly airy. Both are must have. I love this concept of simple classic dishes and hope it will come to the US at some point, French restaurants being definitely on the pricey side.
Enjoy (I did)!
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Bouillon Archers - 2 Rue Dr Bally, 38000 Grenoble, France
