Mini-Shout Out: La Lucha Libre

La Lucha Libre
10 Rue de la montagne Sainte Geneviève
75005 Paris
Tel: 01 43 29 59 86

Sometimes in the course of my non-Wednesday life, I do visit new bars, and for various reasons, I know I won't return for an official Wednesday Cocktail Adventure. But, that doesn't mean all good, bad & ugly of 'em don't deserve a little mention on 52 Martinis. And, so we have the case of La Lucha Libre. This unusual night spot has been on my radar for awhile, but I just never got around to it. I got an additional nudge to try it by Paris food blogger, Adrian, via egullet.

Melanie and I stopped into the festively colorful La Lucha Libre a few weeks back on the hunt for some tastily-bad-for-you bar food and margaritas. The 8 - 10 Euros cocktail menu features about 20 choices - including 'bling bling' cocktails and an assortment of flavoured mojitos. I opted for a margarita and Melanie had the Kunilingus (yeah, I know, I rolled my eyes at the name of this fruity vodka concoction, too. But it was much more amusing to me when some guy offered to buy Melanie another drink & asked her what she was having). Our 17 Euros assorted tapas platter came bearing jalapeno poppers, chicken wings and various other deep fried tasties. And, the guys running the show here are extremely friendly.

While not bad, neither the drinks nor the food would get me across town for an official cocktail trial. But, as far as bars go, these guys have something going on that you won't find anywhere else in Paris. La Lucha Libre hosts nightly wrestling matches downstairs (televised in the upstairs bar) and their fun kitschy decor reflects this theme. Normally wrestling wouldn't get me across town, either. But, seriously, the hard-core fun of the "open to all" Thursday nights where combatants face off wearing giant padded sumo suits is worth at least one visit. Think about it: where else could you go that - no matter how many potent margaritas you knock back - you can still be fairly certain that someone else is going to do something sillier than you. (unless, of course, you decide to don the fat suit yourself and try your luck in the ring!)

Mini-Shout Out: La Gazetta

La Gazetta
29, Rue De Cotte
75012 Paris
Tel: 01 43 47 47 05

Good restaurant bars can be hard to find, but La Gazetta just might offer up something worthwhile on the drinking front. Although I didn't do a full cocktail-recon, we had a round of pre-dinner drinks at the bar before tucking into their enjoyable five course tasting menu.

La Gazetta is linked with the Fumoir & the former China Club (not the current one, which looks exactly the same.) Yet the cocktails here pleased me more than those at the Fumoir. My martini was well-made with NP and Tanqueray. While Tanqueray is not my first choice for a martini, it's a good one and much better than Gordon's, which you'll get in many Paris bars. Nicky had a very well executed margarita. A bowl of olives accompanied our order. I believe the prices were around 9 Euros.

The small bar area is clean, pretty & jovial and I think it definitely merits a closer look. I will and get back there in the future to sample more but would love to hear any comments on in it in the meantime.