Cafe de Paris on Rue Mont Blanc

Last night we walked out the house leaving the nanny to put the kids to bed. Our conversion to Genevoisie is progressing well it seems. The sun was still out, it was warm and the whole experience felt really quite civilised. We had a movie to see at 8.15, which turned out to be one of those terrible "an idea I got reading A Brief History of Time" SciFi stories. Still it was entertaining enough, and we happened to pick the right restaurant to get a bite to eat from before hand.

We sat outside Cafe de Paris, in a neat little area in the middle of the pedestrianised Rue du Mont Blanc. I could see the awning that extends of the front of the cafe, apparently the place has been open since 1929. It's neighbours, Starbucks, McDonalds and, across the street, Istanbul Kebab, in its Starbucks rip-off livery, obviously can't claim such heritage on this street, which kind of made me wonder why Cafe de Paris hasn't moved, and then, when our steak came, I was glad it never had.
The sun was still shining down the street as we got to the cafe, the waiter who seated us was very polite, and until near the very end gave good, if not exceptional, service. It did finally take ten minutes, and three requests, to get the bill, but perhaps because we arrived early we left at a busy time for him: the tables outside were still filling up as we left for the flicks. We sat outside and watched the end of the day crowds milling up and down the busy street. We could watch the students and travellers sat outside Fivebucks with their coffee, and others lugging bags down towards Paquis from the train station, looking for a hotel.
Ordering at the Cafe de Paris is very simple, and pretty much as it should be. It might be the case that French are famous for their food, I'm no foodie, I can't tell talent from taste, but the one thing I've always found, is that the French do good steak and frites. If you order steak and frites and your aren't happy with it, then you probably aren't in France, or somewhere that speaks French.
The waiter asked us, how would you like it? Saignant I say, medium offers Sarah, and after a light green salad we are confronted with two perfectly cooked pieces of beef, sitting in a delicious buttery sauce, kept warm on a little gel stove.
The frites were good too, especially when dipped in the sauce. I'm still getting used to the fact that when you order French steak you don't get mustard, you get instead these delicious sauces, that basically knock spots of the idea of eating it with Colemans!
Despite the tardiness of the waiter in bringing the bill, the location, which is weirdly high street for a cafe that actually has something really good going for it, clearly some of the people there were repeat custom, it was a brilliant place for dinner and we really enjoyed. The meal was 41 CHF each, and the steak was simply wonderful. I'd definitely recommend it, and it's easy to find from the train station.