Jeanne B. (Rue Lepic) in the 18th: Astonishing Food at These Prices; the Astier Brand Lives.

6.2 Jeanne B., 61, rue Lepic in the 18th (Metro: ah... maybe Absesses, better the # 80 or 95 bus), open 7/7, 01.42.51.17.53 has been open about a month and is in the middle of tourist heaven, but for those of us who live nearby, it's a wonderful thing.  In many ways, it adheres to the Astier winning formula/brand; good eats, good product, reasonably priced and great wines.  Unlike Astier and Jeanne A. it is not elbow-to-elbow, indeed, it is a huge place with rooms facing the street, the back and I think on the second floor (I forgot to go up) - at least 30 seats and perhaps more; like Jeanne A. it has a large display of lots of stuff to take out.  And the welcome, service and decor were first rate although we did have a wait between 1st and mains.

At lunch (even on weekends), and as opposed to Jeanne A. it has (hallelujah) no brunch and two dishes are 19 E and three are 23 E (at night 23 and 27 E respectively).  And the wine list is printed on a magnum that is totally cool.

Amazingly none of the three of us wanted the same things; thus we ordered acoss the board and were very happy indeed.  For firsts, I had what I thought was one of the best, no, I take that back, the best lobster bisque I've ever had - creamy, flavorful+ and full of taste sensations; J. had what was called hummus of chick peas and frogs' parts - oh boy!; and R. had a standard, a very good standard I admit, but still a standard - artichoke a la vapeur with sauce.  At this point I figured we were ahead of the game, it would have to go downhill.  But no!

Mains consisted of generous slices of a gigot (milk-fed Spring Easter's on its way) lamb, undercooked as it should be, with a weird sauce and forgetable potatoes; an indescribable "all vegetable" tart sort of thing; and slices of lobster called a croque homard de Jeanne (OK, if that's how you want to call it.)  All three of us were purring.

At this point my two pals from distant Arr's bowed out, but I thought it good to try a cafe gourmand, but as opposed to the usual assortment of mini-desserts Jeanne A. is famous for, Jeanne B's consisted simply of 3 chocolates, good ones mind you, but pretty standard.

Our bill, ah let's see, with a decanted 75 cl of Bourgeuil (all wines are from magnums) and glass of Chablis, both very decent, one Coke and 1/2 of sparkling water (R. was suffering from an over-indulgence of cassoulet and sangria hier [a combo guaranteed to put one out]) and a 4 E supplement for the lobster, our bill was 112 E for three, thus 74.66 E a couple.  Noise level went from 65-75 dB.

Go?  Indeed.  But don't expect just locals; already fellow Yankees and our friends from the East have been tipped.  And you MUST reserve, the list of reservations was already tipped when I entered at 12h28.  There's a table d'hote, but as you know I'm antisocial.