Restaurants in Paris
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Le Temple
Here be witches, we were told, and it does feel like a fortune-teller’s parlour, this place, with its masks and heads and faux leopard skin throughout. A very friendly eatery specialising in traditional Corsican mets (victuals, for lack of a better term), the tripes de sanglier à la corse (Corsica-style boar tripe) may not tickle your fancy but the cannelloni stuffed with fresh brocciu cheese, the grilled figatelli ham and the chestnut cake surely will. We shall return – for sure.
reviewed
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Au Petit Monsieur
We’re still out to lunch, as it were, on this new avatar of the much missed C’Amelot, but ‘At the Little Guy’ looks like it might win some hearts with starters like risotto aux deux artichaux, caviar de tomates confites (risotto with two types of artichokes with glazed tomato) and mains like millefeuille de rouget et sa ratatouillle (red mullet in flaky pastry with Mediterranean vegetable ‘stew’). The atmosphere is less staid than C’Amelot was too.
reviewed
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Ossek Garden
Things Korean – especially films – seem to be taking the world by storm these days and Paris is no exception. This place not far from place de la République has excellent barbecues on offer, but we particularly like the bibimbab (€12 to €18), rice served in a sizzling pot topped with thinly sliced beef (or other meat) and cooked with preserved vegetables, then bound by a raw egg and flavoured with chilli-laced soy paste. Staff, in traditional Korean dress, are welcoming.
reviewed
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Drouant
A Mecca for literary groupies, this is where the Prix Goncourt, France’s equivalent of the Booker or Pulitzer, is awarded each year. Packed out with business suits at lunchtime, it’s one of those timeless Parisian addresses with a classical interior, great-value plat du jour (€18) and superb tapas-style dishes prepared by Alsatian chef Antoine Westerman.
reviewed
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Le Dôme
A 1930s art deco extravaganza, Le Dôme is a monumental place for a meal service of the formal white-tablecloth and bow-tied waiter variety. It’s one of the swishest places around for shellfish platters piled high with fresh oysters, king prawns, crab claws and so on, followed by traditional creamy home-made millefeuille for dessert, wheeled in on a trolley and cut in front of you.
The brasserie is awash with history: so the stories go, it was here that Gertrude Stein allegedly convinced Henri Matisse to open his artists’ academy – only for Matisse to later add his voice to the Testimony against Gertrude Stein pamphlet, published in 1935, condemning Stein’s…
reviewed
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Le Soleil Gourmand
This cheery boutique and restaurant exudes the south of France with its warm décor and simple dishes like salads, savoury tarts and baked bricks (stuffed fritters). Treat yourself to the tarte aux tomates confites (glazed tomato tart) or the (tarte aux oignons, poivrons, raisins et pignons grillés (tart with onion, green peppers, grapes and grilled pine nuts) and any of the wonderful ice creams. The plat du jour is priced between €10.50 and €12.50.
reviewed
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Comme Cochons
You may not be attracted by the name but the excellent cuisine du terroir (country cooking) and the sunny terrace at ‘Like Pigs’ will undoubtedly change your mind. This bistro is like a page out of the past – only the contemporary paintings on the wall by local artists will keep you in the present. Among the specialities are potted pleurotte mushrooms with foie gras and potée limousine côte de cochon (pork and vegetable ‘stew’ cooked in a clay pot). There’s live jazz some nights.
reviewed
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Aux Lyonnais
This is where top French chef Alain Ducasse (who’s got three Michelin stars at his restaurant over at the Plaza Athénée) and his followers ‘slum’ it. The venue is an art nouveau masterpiece that feels more real than movie set and the food is perfectly restructured Lyonnais classics.
reviewed
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Café de l’Esplanade
An address to impress (so dress to impress), the hobnobbing Café de l’Esplanade is the only cafe-restaurant on the magnificent Esplanade des Invalides. No menus – just à la carte.
reviewed
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Le Train Bleu
In all probability you’ve never – ever – seen a railway station restaurant as sumptuous as this heritage-listed belle époque showpiece. This is a top-end spot to dine on such fare as foie gras with a confiture of red onions, grapes and hazelnuts, Charolles beef steak tartare and chips, and the house-made baba au rhum.
Sunday brunch is from 11.30am to 2.30pm, which leaves just enough time to board that train to the sunny south.
reviewed
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Da Rosa
Gourmets can spend a little or a lot at this modern épicerie (delicatessen) and cantine (hip, casual eating place), a real foodie address with its vast array of savoury hams, salamis, pâtés, caviars, cheeses and other unique savoury products from France; Spain, Portugal and Italy. Be it foie gras, smoked salmon, Iberian ham or marble-cooled lardo di colonnata from Carrara, ‘only the best’ is very much the philosophy at Da Rosa. Everything on the menu can be bought to take home.
reviewed
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Le Miroir
This unassuming modern bistro is smack in the middle of the Montmartre tourist trail, yet it remains a local favourite. There are lots of delightful pâtés and rillettes to start off with – guinea hen with dates, duck with mushrooms, haddock and lemon – followed by well-prepared standards like stuffed veal shoulder.
The lunch special includes a glass of wine, coffee and dessert; the Sunday brunch also gets the thumbs up. Afterwards, pop into its wine shop across the street.
reviewed
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L’Agrume
Snagging a table at L’Agrume – meaning ‘Citrus Fruit’ – is tough; reserve several days ahead. The reward is watching chefs work with seasonal products in the open kitchen while you dine – at a table, bar stool or comptoir (counter) – at this pocket-sized contemporary bistro on a little-known street on the Latin Quarter’s southern fringe.
Lunching is magnificent value and a real gourmet experience. Evening dining is an exquisite, no-choice dégustation (tasting) melody of five courses, different every day.
reviewed
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L’Os à Moëlle
Marrowbone chef Thierry Faucher’s affordable menus embrace delicacies like scallops with coriander, sea bass in cumin butter or half a quail with endives and chestnuts, and his chocolate quenelle (dumpling) with saffron cream is award-winning. Should you fail to snag a table, try his neighbouring wine bar, La Cave de L’Os à Moëlle.
reviewed
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Cul de Poule
With plastic orange cafeteria seats outside, you probably wouldn’t wander into the Cul de Poule by accident. But the light-hearted spirit (yes, there is a mounted chicken’s derrière on the wall) is deceiving; this is one of the best and most affordable kitchens in the Pigalle neighbourhood, with excellent neo-bistro fare that emphasises quality ingredients from the French countryside.
reviewed
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Madame Shawn
The Mme started out in a humble French cafe that was deftly transformed into a sophisticated Thai restaurant. The heat may be turned down a few degrees, but you can still taste the flavours of Chiang Mai in the tôm yam soup, invigorating green curries and…chocolate nem for dessert?
reviewed
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Bar à Soupes et Quenelles Giraudet
This soup-and-dumpling bar is a perfect spot in shop-busy St-Germain to rest legs on a bar stool and tuck into a light ‘n’ tasty lunch. Soups are thick, creamy, seasonal, organic and packed with unusual combinations – pear and litchi, chestnut or cardoon perhaps? But it is the typical Lyonnais quenelles (pike-perch dumplings) topped with a sauce of your choice that steal the show. Buy some to eat at home afterwards from the nearby Boutique Giraudet.
reviewed
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Le Foyer du Vietnam
The ‘Vietnam Club’, with its self-proclaimed ambiance familiale (family atmosphere), might be nothing more than a long room with peeling walls and tables covered in oilcloths and plastic flowers, but everyone flocks here to feast on its hearty house specialities, ‘Saigon’ or ‘Hanoi’ soup (noodles, soya beans and pork flavoured with lemon grass, coriander and chives) included.
Dishes come in medium or large portions and the price to quality ratio is astonishing.
reviewed
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Le Vaudeville
This stunning brasserie opposite the stock exchange is to art deco what the Left Bank’s Bouillon Racine is to art nouveau. OK, the food – steaks, fish, oysters – might be something of an afterthought at this branch of the Flo chain, but at least you can be guaranteed a certain standard. Come for the fabulous décor – engraved glass, extravagant lighting, domed ceiling and intricate ironwork – designed in the 1920s by the Solvet brothers, who also did La Coupole.
reviewed
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Le Cristal De Sel
The raved-about stage of young rising chef Karl Lopez, this modern bistro has a distinct kitchen feel with its small brightly lit white walls and white-painted beams. The only decorative feature is a candle-lit crystal of rose-tinted salt on each table – a sure sign that food is what the ‘Salt Crystal’ is all about.
Lopez’s langoustine ravioli is luscious, and his tarte à la bergamote fraîche meringuée (lemon meringue pie) has to be the zestiest in Paris.
reviewed
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Bistroy Les Papilles
This hybrid bistro, wine cellar and épicerie with sunflower-yellow facade is one of those fabulous dining experiences that packs out the place (reserve a few days in advance to guarantee a table). Dining is at simply dressed tables wedged beneath bottle-lined walls, and fare is market-driven: each weekday cooks up a different marmite du marché (€16). But what really sets it apart is its exceptional wine list. Taste over lunch then stock your own cave (wine cellar) at Les Papilles’ cave à vin.
reviewed
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Le Chéri Bibi
Taking its name from the series of detective novels by Gaston Leroux (1868–1927), this odd little place can be found on a little-visited side of the Butte de Montmartre. There’s no sign outside, so just look for the thick black drapes in the shopfront window and enter what feels like the 1950s, with its postwar decor and excellent ‘family’ cooking.
reviewed
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Mayju
Wedged between the Sorbonne and Paris University, Mayju is a Zen retreat in a frenetic part of Paris. Pink and black are clearly the favourite colours of the interior designer – love the gargantuan pink rose, darling – whose modish mezzanine area oozes style. Pick from four starters, four plats (mains) alongside four savoury tartes (€6) and no guessing how many desserts. ‘ Saveurs du monde’ (world flavours) is the culinary theme.
reviewed
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Chez Hanafousa
Sit around a steely-topped U-shaped ‘hot table’ and watch fish, meat, spices, vegetables and herbs chopped, sliced, ground and flamed teppanjaki-style before your eyes, and end the show with a flaming vanilla ice-cream fritter or wasabi ice-cream.
reviewed
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Al Wady
It’s not so much the decor as the incredibly warm welcome complemented by a cuisine well above average that has made this Lebanese restaurant much-loved over the years. Around for a couple of decades, Parisians flock here to gorge on meal-sized platters of mixed hot and cold mezzes, grilled meats and unbeatable-value lunchtime menus. Among the handful of Al Wady specialities is moutabal, a typical Lebanese aubergine dip spiced with walnut and pomegranate.
reviewed