Out of all the countries I've visited in Europe, I can say that some of the best food I've tried was in Paris - apart from Rome, that is.

When I was in Paris, I was eating so well. Instead of resorting to fast food, I ate mostly at restaurants and went out of my comfort zone to try some dishes that were unfamiliar to me. On my first night in the city, I went to a restaurant called Terrrasse Saint-Lazare.

It's not a popular restaurant and the reason I chose to dine here was that it was close to my hotel. Coming from a nearly 8-hour bus ride from Amsterdam, I was starving and the last thing I wanted to do that night was spend too much time deciding on where to eat. So naturally, I went to the closest non-fast food restaurant to my hotel.

And it didn't disappoint.

Terrasse Saint-Lazare in Paris
pan-seared steak tartare with fries and salad

There were a lot of choices on the menu but ultimately, I decided to order the steak tartare, which is a raw ground beef dish that's originally attributed to French cuisine. 

While it's traditionally served raw through and through, I decided to have it pan-seared, which is something that the restaurant offers so the outside is a bit crusty but the inside is still raw. I thought this was a good move as I didn't want to dive headfirst into it and just eat raw beef. Surprisingly, it was quite good and the drizzle of Worcestershire sauce added some flavor.

I ordered it with a side of fries and salad but the restaurant also gave me a basket of bread, which was free. Although I think this is the norm of Parisian restaurants, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Regarding the restaurant's service, it was also good. Before traveling to Paris, I watched travel vlogs and according to them, customer service at Parisian restaurants isn't that good because the servers aren't too friendly and accommodating. So I was expecting just that and to my surprise, everyone who worked at that restaurant seemed nice. Sure, they weren't chatty, which is understandable because of the language barrier but the people were nicer than I expected.

For my first dinner in Paris, I had a really good experience and the food was delicious.