Restaurants

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

Boucherie Roulière

St Germain, Eiffel Tower and Montparnasse
Afaria
Not just another Basque bistro chef, Julien Duboué takes a globetrotting approach with dishes such as oysters on lemony tabbouleh with houmous or raw tuna with Haitian sauce. Duck breast with balsamic-fig vinegar, served on a roof tile, could satisfy the hungriest caveman. Tapas are served at a long table near the entrance.
Afaria, 15 rue Desnouettes, 15th (00 33 1 48 56 15 36) Métro Convention. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90.

L’Agassin
In a slightly stark cream and brown space, seasoned chef André Le Letty cooks up food worthy of a vintage bistro: sautéed wild mushrooms in cream sauce, skate with browned butter and capers, prune clafoutis. Tables are thoughtfully spaced, service is attentive and prices are fair.
L’Agassin, 8 rue Malar, 7th (00 33 1 47 05 94 27) Métro Latour Maubourg. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90.

L’Ami Jean
The tables are packed together and the atmosphere is boisterous in this bastion of Basque cooking. People come here to talk rugby but the main draw is the hearty bistro food with a haute cuisine touch, whether you opt for three generous courses for €30 or ten small plates for €60.
L’Ami Jean, 27 rue Malar, 7th (00 33 1 47 05 86 89) Métro Latour Maubourg. Meal for two with wine and service: around €90. Feature continues

L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
LIKE LONDON, BUT CHEAPER
Joël Robuchon’s Ateliers are popping up like mushrooms in major world cities, but the original Paris version has a personality of its own thanks to its clientele of Left Bank publishers and international food lovers. Whether you order ‘la langoustine’ for a sobering €18 or full-sized dishes such as his classic merlan Colbert (fried whiting), the quality never falters.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, 5 rue Montalembert, 7th (00 33 1 42 22 56 56/ www.joel-robuchon.com) Métro Rue du Bac. Meal for two with wine and service: around €200.

Au Bon Accueil
GREAT VALUE SET LUNCH
Au Bon Accueil started life as a bistro but has since morphed into a chic contemporary restaurant in cream and dark wood with crisp white tablecloths. The €27 lunch menu is incredible value given the precision and flair of chef Naobuni Sasaki’s cooking. The pavement terrace has an Eiffel Tower view.
Au Bon Accueil, 14 rue Monttessuy, 7th (00 33 1 47 05 46 11) Métro Ecole Militaire. Meal for two with wine and service: around €130.

Boucherie Roulière
The Roulière family has been in the meat business for five generations and opened its first restaurant in Tours in 1877. This is the place to feast on bone marrow and the finest French beef in a nostalgic bistro setting of checkerboard floor tiles and cream walls lined with photos from the early 1900s.
Boucherie Roulière, 24 rue des Canettes, 6th (00 33 1 43 26 25 70) Métro Mabillon. Meal for two with wine and service: around €100.

Chez Dumonet-Josephine
CLASSIC BISTRO
Boeuf bourguignon, steak tartare, cassoulet: all of these serious food cravings can be satisfied in this art deco bistro with authentically nicotine-stained walls. Prices are a little higher than average, but so is the quality of the food and wine. Some dishes come in generous half-portions.
Chez Dumonet-Josephine, 117 rue du Cherche-Midi, 6th (00 33 1 42 22 81 19) Métro Duroc. Meal for two with wine and service: around €120.

Chez Lulu – L’Assiette
This residential part of Montparnasse is not where you expect to find French politicians and celebrities tucking their napkins into their shirts. Lulu (known for her beret and cigar) has reigned over this discreet canteen for the past 20 years, using only the freshest produce to turn out motherly bistro cooking such as roast chicken with potato purée and crème caramel.
Chez Lulu – L’Assiette,181 rue du Château, 14th (00 33 1 43 22 64 86/www.chezlulu.fr) Métro Pernéty. Meal for two with wine and service: around €130.

Les Cocottes de Christian Constant
BRILLIANT BREAKFAST SPOT
The latest addition to chef Christian Constant’s string of successful restaurants in this street, Les Cocottes serves updated bistro cooking non-stop at a long counter: choose from cocottes (hot dishes served in cast-iron pots), verrines (starters served in tapas glasses), soups, salads and homely desserts, all at democratic prices. It’s open for breakfast, too.
Les Cocottes de Christian Constant, 135 rue St-Dominique, 7th (no phone) Métro Ecole Militaire. Meal for two with wine and service: around €75.

Le Comptoir du Relais
This 25-seat bistro’s cult international following makes a dinner reservation here a nearly hopeless undertaking. The chances of nabbing a table are much better at lunch and on weekends, when Basque-born chef Yves Camdeborde doesn’t take reservations and serves a simpler, café-style menu. Aim for a spot on the pavement terrace, if you don’t mind being with the smokers.
Le Comptoir du Relais, 9 carrefour de l’Odéon, 6th (00 33 1 44 27 07 97) Métro Odéon. Meal for two with wine and service: around €110.

D’Chez Eux
Arm yourself with stamina for a meal at this jovial southwestern auberge. First come the help-yourself ‘salads’ (beetroot, lentils, celeriac rémoulade, ratatouille et al), before hearty main dishes such as cassoulet or calf’s liver with sherry vinegar. The heaving dessert cart will ensure that you waddle out overfed but happy.
D’Chez Eux, 2 av Lowendal, 7th (00 33 1 45 55 87 79/www.chezeux.com) Métro Ecole Militaire. Meal for two with wine and service: around €150.

Fish la Boissonnerie
The name of this New Zealand-run wine bar-bistro with a painted tile façade refers to its former incarnation as a fishmonger and to drinking like a fish. The owners also have a wine shop nearby, guaranteeing a broad selection of bottles from small producers to accompany the southern-accented food.
Fish la Boissonnerie, 69 rue de Seine, 6th (00 33 1 43 54 34 69) Métro Mabillon. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80.

Huîtrerie Régis
OYSTER BAR
At a handful of tables in a pristine dining room, Régis brings a breath of salty air to St-Germain. Skilfully opened oysters from the Marennes-Oléron are just about the only thing on the menu, served with crisp white Muscadet or Sancerre.
Huîtrerie Régis, 3 rue de Montfaucon, 6th (00 33 1 44 41 10 07/www.huitrerieregis.com) Métro Mabillon. Meal for two with wine and service: around €70.

Le Soleil
Furnished like a courtyard garden, Le Soleil is about as close as you’ll come in Paris to the French Riviera. Dishes such as rabbit terrine with sanguin mushrooms and plump scallops with sautéed artichokes are thoroughly convincing, as is the sunny service.
Le Soleil, 153 rue de Grenelle, 7th (00 33 1 45 51 54 12/www.restaurantlesoleil.com) Métro Latour Maubourg. Meal for two with wine and service: around €120.

Le Timbre
Manchester native Chris Wright isn’t afraid to poke fun at the French by naming his cheese course ‘le vrai et le faux fromage’ (with Montgomery cheddar representing the ‘real’ and a goat’s cheese from the Ardèche the ‘fake’). Otherwise, his simple but refined cooking is in the pure neo-bistro tradition, with a brief market-inspired menu that changes often.
Le Timbre, 3 rue Ste-Beuve, 6th (00 33 1 45 49 10 40/www.restaurantletimbre.com) Métro Vavin. Meal for two with wine and service: around €80.

Le Troquet
CLASSIC BISTRO
Just the local bistro you hope to find in Paris, Le Troquet serves updated country cooking in a down-to-earth setting. The menu changes often, but you’ll always find a few Basque classics such as charcuterie, axoa de veau (veal stew with bell peppers and Espelette chilli) and ewe’s cheese with cherry jam. Save room for the spectacular vanilla soufflé.
Le Troquet, 21 rue François Bonvin, 15th (00 33 1 45 66 89 00) Métro Sèvres-Lecourbe or Volontaires. Meal for two with wine and service: around €85.

Le Voltaire
The price of the hard-boiled egg with mayonnaise (90 cents) hasn’t changed since Le Voltaire opened, but this is otherwise one of the priciest bistros in town. It’s worth it to tuck into stellar steak-frites or golden sole meunière among the area’s bourgeois residents, in a building where Voltaire himself once lived.
Le Voltaire, 74 quai des Orfvères, 1st (00 33 1 46 33 69 75) Métro Pont Neuf or Louvre-Rivoli. Meal for two with wine and service: around €150.

Ze Kitchen Galerie
William LeDeuil has channelled his passion for southeast Asian food into a new style of French cooking, exemplified by dishes such as milk-fed lamb à la plancha with tamarind-miso condiment and Thai curry jus. Contemporary art brightens the walls in this airy, loft-like space.
Ze Kitchen Galerie, 4 rue des Grands-Augustins, 6th (00 33 1 44 32 00 32/ www.zekitchengalerie.fr) Métro St-Michel. Meal for two with wine and service: around €120.

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