Awesome Restaurant Review in France App: La Fourchette.com

But fortunately, there is now a great site to help you make an informed choice: lafourchette.com.

A Great Way to Get Restaurant Discounts in France

La Fourchette belongs to TripAdvisor, and works pretty much the same way: the restaurants are rated by the customers, so it’s really reliable.

A great bonus: “La Fourchette” offers discounts to some restaurants if you book through their site. Read the fine prints though, the discount is usually if you order “le menu” (the fixed choice offering) and not on the whole restaurant menu (“la carte”, I know, how confusing). Also, be aware that the discount could only be for lunch time…

Super Useful Especially in Paris

I first used “La Fourchette” when my husband, daughter and myself were in Paris, standing in front of a tiny Japanese restaurant, lost next to the André Citroën Park.

It was 11:30 AM, the restaurant was empty, and I was already hungry (well…. I’m always hungry). Sushi is a rarity in the part of Bretagne where we now live, but we used to have it all the time when we were in Boston. Ahhhh, the take-out food in Boston…………..

Anyhow… I don’t venture easily into an unknown Japanese restaurant. I like my sushi fresh and my rice well cooked.

Olivier was not convinced either, and I could feel I would soon be sushi-frustrated as Olivier was already lurking at a distant Indian restaurant (yes, we don’t eat much French food in Paris… again, we are Ethnic food deprived in Paimpol).

Before our trip, I had stumbled upon “la fourchette.com” (ouch) when I had been looking for reviews on a fancy restaurant we were contemplating.

I thought the site was smart, and I had forwarded it to Olivier who had downloaded the free apps for his iPhone (also available for Droid).

So we checked to see if our restaurant was in there: and it was, with grand reviews! How satisfying :-)

By 12:30, the place was packed and serving fresh sushi and an excellent Japanese buffet. Yeahhhh !!!

The feature I like the best about “La fourchette” is that it has a ‘by subway station” search: you type in your Paris subway station, and get the list of restaurants in walking distance. Great feature for Paris!