Restaurants

Latin quarter | The Marais and eastern Paris | St Germain and Montparnasse | Tuilleries and Opéra | Pigalle and Montmartre | Champs-Elysées

Le Bistrot Paul Bert

The Marais, Bastille and Eastern Paris
404
NORTH AFRICAN GEM
This good-humoured Moroccan den will most likely have you leaping off your pouf and dancing on the table by the end of the night. Tagines and couscous are expertly made, cocktails even more so. Andy Wahloo, the 404’s bar next door, serves meze in the cobbled courtyard.
404, 69 rue des Gravilliers, 3rd (00 33 1 42 74 57 81) Métro Arts et Métiers. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90.

Le Ambassade d’Auvergne
Among the handful of Paris bistros that never seem to change, L’Ambassade d’Auvergne is one of the most soul-warming. The speciality here is the rustic food of central France, as in lentil salad with bacon and goose fat, sausages with aligot (cheesy mashed potatoes) and a terrine of chocolate mousse.
Le Ambassade d’Auvergne, 22 rue du Grenier St-Lazare, 3rd (00 33 1 42 72 31 22/ www.ambassade-auvergne.com) Métro Rambuteau. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80.

Le Baratin
Renowned pastry chef Pierre Hermé visits this little bistro high up in Belleville at least once every two weeks to fill up on Raquel Carena’s homely cooking with the occasional exotic twist (tuna tartare with cherries, Argentinian hazelnut pudding). If the food weren’t so fantastic, it would still be worth coming here for the mostly organic wines.
Le Baratin, 3 rue Jouye Rouve, 20th (00 33 1 43 49 39 70) Métro Pyrénées. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80. Feature continues

Le Bistrot Paul Bert
Its out-of-the-way location in eastern Paris hasn’t stopped this ten-year-old bistro from becoming the darling of the French and foreign press in recent months. Nothing has changed, except that the pre-war décor, lovingly prepared bistro grub and extensive wine list have become something of a rarity in Paris.
Le Bistrot Paul Bert, 18 rue Paul Bert, 11th (00 33 1 43 72 24 01) Métro Faidherbe-Chaligny. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90.

Le Boeuf Couronné
La Villette no longer houses the city’s abattoirs, but this temple to beef remains. Parisians come from far and wide for the 16 cuts of beef and bone marrow on toast served at this classy brasserie founded in 1865.
Le Boeuf Couronné, 188 av Jean Jaurès, 19th (00 33 1 70 61 52 27) Métro Faidherbe-Chaligny. Meal for two with wine and service: around €120.

Breizh Café
Only the finest ingredients go into the buckwheat galettes and dessert crêpes at this airy offshoot of a crêperie in Cancale, Brittany: think free-range eggs, cultured Breton butter, farmer’s crème fraîche and Valrhona chocolate. There are some 20 ciders to choose from, plus oysters from Cancale.
Breizh Café, 109 rue Vieille du Temple, 3rd (00 33 1 42 72 13 77/www.breizhcafe.com) Métro Saint Sébastien-Froissart. Meal for two with wine and service: around €60.

Chez Hanna
FAMOUS FALAFELS
‘Often imitated, never equalled’ is the motto of the world-famous L’As du Fallafel down the street, but Chez Hanna proves otherwise with its falafel sandwiches bursting with crunchy chickpea-and-herb balls, vegetables and tahini sauce. You can order them to take away or grab a seat at one of the wooden tables.
Chez Hanna, 54 rue des Rosiers, 4th (00 33 1 42 74 74 99) Métro St-Paul. Meal for two with wine and service: around €50.

Chez Omar
Long a haunt of the fashion pack, this upmarket couscous joint keeps everyone coming back with its faded French bistro setting, democratic welcome, fair prices and gargantuan lamb méchoui. No reservations.
Chez Omar, 47 rue de Bretagne, 3rd (00 33 1 42 72 36 26) Métro Temple. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80.

Georget
Few tourists venture behind the red-and-white checked curtain of this old-fashioned little bistro smack in the middle of the Marais. Within, juicy slabs of beef roast over an open fire while elderly staff putter between the wooden tables keeping everyone supplied with roast potatoes. It’s hard to believe that such simplicity still exists.
Georget, 64 rue Vieille du Temple, 4th (00 33 1 42 78 55 89) Métro Chemin Vert. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80.

Julien
On the slightly seedy Faubourg St-Denis, this splendid art nouveau brasserie with a mosaic floor and painted glass panels stands out. Run by the Flo group, it serves seafood and steak-frites alongside more adventurous dishes such as roasted cod with foie gras and spinach. The nearby theatres guarantee an entertaining crowd.
Julien, 16 rue du Faubourg St-Denis, 10th (00 33 1 47 70 12 06/www.flobrasseries.com) Métro Strasbourg St-Denis. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90.

Le Repaire de Cartouche
GOOD VALUE PRIX FIXE
Rodolphe Paquin has little need for the media spotlight, given that the quality of his neo-bistro cooking and the impressively stocked wine cellar keep the country-style dining room packed. At lunch, a bargain prix fixe is served in the cheery upstairs room.
Le Repaire de Cartouche, 8 bd des Filles du Calvaire, 11th (00 33 1 47 00 25 86) Métro St-Sébastien-Froissart. Meal for two with wine and service: around €100.

Latin quarter | The Marais and eastern Paris | St Germain and Montparnasse | Tuilleries and Opéra | Pigalle and Montmartre | Champs-Elysées