Took me a long time to finally write a review for this brasserie since I could not remember the name of the place until I searched here. How can I search the place if I do not know the name of the place? Well, I might not know the name but I know exactly where it was. Let me explain how I can remember the location and not the name of the establishment. Last August of 2011 when I went to Paris, armed with only a Metro ticket, a ten Euro bill and my iphone (to track my run) I went on an adventure run. My adventure run consists of running in the streets of Paris with no particular destination in mind. I just run in the direction where I think something might be interesting. First I ran along the River Seine, in the direction going towards Bastille, then I just look for a Metro (the subway system in Paris) sign just so I get an idea where I am. I must have ran a good 8 miles until I had enough and stopped. The purpose of the run was to get the sights of Paris that you only get by walking, in my case running. I had been in Paris for over a week now in this trip and still not sure where to go and eat, I was getting tired of the touristy brasserie that I was frequenting near the hotel I stayed at, that is until I found this gem. Judging by the good amount of people waiting for a table I had a hunch that Chez Prosper was going to be good. The people in line were not tourists mind you, they were Parisians, how can I tell? It's because I'm pretty good at guessing if a person is local or not, I can tell these people were locals ;-) . Since I just finished running, I did not want to come in all sweaty and grungy, so I looked for . Luckily it was pretty close nearest to Nation Metro Station. It took one transfer to get to my hotel. Getting around Paris in the Metro subway system in Paris is easy once you get a hang of it. So after a quick shower, we headed back to the restaurant. There were still a good amount of people waiting for a table when we got there but the turnover was pretty quick, so we were seated in no time. Besides the wait was not that bad, we got to chit chat with the locals, I was right they were locals. The patrons and the staff were very friendly even with my very limited French. The waiter had made an excellent recommendation of lamb stew, I really like lamb so it was a no brainer for me, lamb it was. The food was great, the service was excellent, the other customers were very friendly, it was an very satisfying experience to say the least. Oh I almost forgot to mention, We even got a table outside in one of those small round table and after my meal we were sipping on my espresso in one of those little cups.
So, because I literally ran the streets of Paris to discover this place, I know exactly where it is and which Metro station is the closest station. Next time I'm in Paris I will surely come back to this place and maybe I'll run farther or run in the opposite direction, who knows maybe I'll find another local gem. read more