Restaurants

Despite a fashion boutique opening in its basement, Maison Bertaux remains an essential stop for café nostalgics and connoisseurs of lost afternoon melancholy. Behind a couple of pavement tables, display cases proffer mainly cream-based pastries: ours was a choux pastry of cream, kiwi fruit, strawberries, even a hidden grape and nectarine slice. Of the few savouries on offer, ‘Dijon slice’ is a kind of cold croque monsieur, with mustard trying to cut through the greasy cheese; broccoli quiche was also pretty stolid, although the veg was snappily fresh. Place your order with the swift-speaking and charmingly fierce matriarch at the counter, then find a seat – perhaps up the tight staircase where soothing jazz plays amid temporary exhibitions of modern art. The ground floor is smaller and quite lovely, with a piano almost disappearing beneath flowers. At the foot of the stairs we spied two wonderful-looking cakes, high out of reach on their cooling racks, just the kind of detail appreciated by a clientele of suited gents and a growing fanbase of fashionable Japanese kids young enough to know exactly what they like.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008