Restaurants in Paris
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Aux Trois Éléphants
In a street where each restaurant is more original than the next, ‘At the Three Elephants’ takes the tart. Customers – a very mixed bag – are plunged into a highly exotic world where the extravagant ‘hostesses’ are equal to the dishes on offer. The subtle flavours of the yum plameuk (squid salad) and the homok pla (steamed fish served in a banana leaf; €10) are both excellent choices.
reviewed
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L’As du Felafel
The lunchtime queue stretching halfway down the street from this place says it all! This Parisian favourite, 100% worth the inevitable wait, is the address for kosher, perfectly deep-fried chickpea balls and turkey or lamb shwarma sandwiches. Do as every Parisian does and takeaway.
reviewed
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Pozzetto
Urban myth says this gelato maker opened when a group of friends from northern Italy couldn’t find their favourite ice cream in Paris so they imported the ingredients to create it from scratch. Twelve flavours – spatula’d, not scooped – include gianduia torinese (hazelnut chocolate from Turin) and zabaione, made from egg yolks, sugar and sweet Marsala wine, along with the more usual peach, pistachio and poire William. Great Italian coffee, too.
reviewed
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Pho 67 Restaurant Vietnam
Tuck into Vietnamese dishes such as fried boned eel, crusty lacquered duck, rare tender goat with ginger, sweetened pork and North Vietnamese soup amid the burgundy walls and suspended rattan lamps of this unpretentious gem. Pho's hidden in a little backstreet of the Latin Quarter, but is fortunately away from the over-touristy little maze of restaurants surrounding rue de la Huchette.
reviewed
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Berthillon
Berthillon is to ice cream what Château Lafite Rothschild is to wine and Valhrona is to chocolate. And with nigh on 70 flavours to choose from, you’ll be spoiled for choice.
While the fruit-flavoured sorbets (cassis, blackberry etc) produced by this celebrated glacier (ice-cream maker) are renowned, the chocolate, coffee, marrons glacés (candied chestnuts), Agenaise (Armagnac and prunes), noisette (hazelnut) and nougat au miel (honey nougat) are richer. Eat in or grab a cone with one/two/three/four small scoops (€2.30/3.60/4.90/6.20) to takeaway.
reviewed
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Blue Elephant
This is Paris’ most famous upmarket Thai restaurant and part of an international chain, with a dozen branches in cities round the world from Brussels to Beirut. Although it has become a little too successful for its own good (it also sells its own branded knick-knacks and gift items), the indoor tropical rainforest and well-prepared spicy dishes (look for the one, two or three elephant symbols on the menu) are still worth the inflated prices. Sunday buffet (noon to 3pm) is good value at €39.
reviewed
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Crèmerie Restaurant Polidor
A meal at this quintessentially Parisian crèmerie-restaurant is like a trip to Victor Hugo’s Paris: the restaurant and its décor date from 1845 and everyone knows about it (read: touristy). Still, menus of tasty, family-style French cuisine ensure a never-ending stream of punters eager to sample bœuf bourguignon, blanquette de veau à l’ancienne (veal in white sauce) and the most famous tarte Tatin in Paris! Expect to wait. No credit cards.
reviewed
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Pink Flamingo
Not another pizza place? Mais non, chérie! Once the weather warms up, the Flamingo unveils its secret weapon – pink helium balloons that the delivery guy uses to locate you and your perfect canal-side picnic spot (GPS not needed).
Order a Poulidor (duck, apple and chèvre) or a Basquiat (gorgonzola, figs and cured ham), pop into Le Verre Volé across the canal for the perfect bottle of vino and you’re set.
reviewed
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Le Cambodge
Hidden in a quiet street between the gargantuan Hôpital St-Louis and Canal St-Martin, this favourite spot among students serves enormous spring rolls and the ever-popular pique-nique Angkorien (rice vermicelli and sautéed beef, which you wrap up in lettuce leaves). The food tastes home-made (if not especially authentic) and the vegetarian options are especially good.
reviewed
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Breakfast in America
No reservations meaning pretty much you’ll have to queue, especially on weekends, to get into this busy American-style diner with red banquettes, Formica surfaces, chicken wings and bottomless mugs of coffee. BIA is also in the Latin Quarter.
reviewed
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Hôtel du Nord
The setting for the eponymous 1938 film starring Louis Jouvet and Arletty, the dining room and bar at this vintage venue by the Canal St-Martin feel as if they were stuck in a time warp with their Art Deco posters, zinc counter and old piano. The food is correct if not mind-blowing; stick with basics like the jumbo hamburger (€16) and its trimmings and you’ll be fine. The plat du jour is usually €10.
reviewed
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Tashi Delek
Cheap, tasty Tibetan fare spans from tsampa (vegetable and barley soup) to delicious daril seu (meatballs with garlic, ginger and rice) or tselmok (cheese and vegetable ravioli). Wash it down with traditional or salted-butter tea. Don’t forget to say tashi delek upon entering – it means bonjour in Tibetan.
reviewed
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Le Grand Appétit
No eggs, no sugar, no dairy products, no meat and no preprepared products is the culinary mantra of this végétalienne lunch address, with an excellent organic and macrobiotic shop next door selling vegan food products. Pick from a petite or grande veggie plate, a miso soup, or an inventive bol garni (bowl) of rice, organic cereals, seaweed and vegetables.
The sushi-style norimaki (seaweed-wrapped rice rolls with veg and tofu) are delicious.
reviewed
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Les Dix Vins
This tiny restaurant, on the far side of Montparnasse, is so popular that you will probably have to wait at the bar even if you've booked. Not such a bad thing, of course, in a temple devoted to Bacchus, as you'll be able to sample one of the carefully chosen wines while you wait. Excellent value, good service and stylish decor combine to form a true winner.
reviewed
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Au Pied de Fouet
Wholly classic bistro dishes such as entrecôte (steak), confit de canard (duck cooked slowly its own fat) and foie de volailles sauté (pan-fried chicken livers) at this busy bistro are astonishingly good value. Round off your meal with a tarte Tatin, wine-soaked prunes or bowl of fromage blanc (a cross between yoghurt, sour cream and cream cheese).
reviewed
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La Chine Masséna
This enormous restaurant specialising in Cantonese and Chiu Chow cuisine is a real favourite in Chinatown. The dim sum is especially good and women still go around the dining area with trolleys calling out their wares.
reviewed
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Chez Toinette
The atmosphere of this convivial restaurant is rivalled only by its fine cuisine. In the heart of one of the capital’s most touristy neighbourhoods, Chez Toinette has kept alive the tradition of old Montmartre with its simplicity and culinary expertise.
reviewed
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Café Marly
This chic venue facing the Louvre’s inner courtyard serves contemporary French fare throughout the day under the palace colonnades. Views of the glass pyramid are priceless.
reviewed
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Les Caves St-Gilles
This Spanish wine bar a short distance northeast of place des Vosges is the most authentic place on the Right Bank for tapas, paella (at the weekend only; €19) and sangria (€28 for 1.4cL). If you’re unsure, just ask the Spanish expats who arrive here in droves.
reviewed
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Gérard Mulot
Fruit tarts (peach, lemon, apple), tarte normande (apple cake) and clafoutis (cherry flan) are among this celebrated patisserie’s specialties.
reviewed
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Ladurée
One of the oldest patisseries in Paris, Ladurée has been around since 1862 and was the original creator of the lighter-than-air macaron. The tearoom here is the classiest spot to indulge your sweet tooth on the Champs; alternatively, pick up some pastries to go – from croissants to its trademark macarons, it’s all quite heavenly.
reviewed
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Chez Marianne
Absolutely heaving at lunchtime, Chez Marianne translates as elbow-to-elbow eating beneath age-old beams on copious portions of falafel, hummus, purées of aubergine and chickpeas, and 25-odd other zakouski (hors d’œuvres; €12/14/16 for plate of 4/5/6). Fare is Sephardic rather than Ashkenazi (the norm at most Pletzl eateries), not Beth Din kosher, and a hole-in-the-wall window sells falafel in pita (€6) to munch on the move.
reviewed
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Crêperie Bretonne Fleurie de l'Épouse du Marin
Head to the ‘Sailor’s Wife’ if you fancy savoury buckwheat galettes – try the ham, cheese and egg complète – or a sweet crêpe and wash it down with dry cidre de Rance (Rance cider; €6.50 for 50cL) served in a teacup (as is traditional). The Breton paraphernalia and B&W photos will keep you occupied if there’s a lull in the chatter.
reviewed
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Au Pied de Cochon
This venerable establishment, which once satisfied the appetites of both market porters and theatre-goers with its famous onion soup and pieds de cochon (grilled pig’s trotters), has become more uniformly upmarket and touristy since Les Halles was moved to the suburbs.
But it still opens round the clock seven days a week as it has since the end of WWII, and its pig’s trotters, tails, ears and snouts are definitely worth writing a postcard home about. Children’s menu €7.90.
reviewed
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Chef Michelangelo
Chef Michelangelo takes the meaning of one-man show to new extremes. The shopping, the chopping, the table-waiting, the cooking, the sitting down with guests for a glass of wine while the pasta is boiling… Michelangelo does it all. Dining here in fact is tantamount to being invited to a Sicilian chef’s house for dinner. There are things to know, of course: 1) there are only 14 chairs (everyone eats at a long table in front of the open kitchen) so reservations are mandatory; 2) Michelangelo chooses the menu (three courses, about €25, cash only), so be prepared to eat anything; and 3) all the products – the olive oil, the wine (from €28 per bottle), the cheese – come from…
reviewed