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50 best dishes in Paris

The 50 best dishes in Paris

Tried and tested: our favourite things to eat in the French capital

Written by
Time Out editors
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There may be a fair few snails, slabs of red meat and curious bits of offal in our selection of the 50 best dishes in Paris, but there are also things that will surprise fans of French cooking. Cannelloni? Ramen? Cari from Réunion? Sauerkraut? Today, Paris's timeless bistros and brasseries rub shoulders comfortably with hundreds of restaurants, cafés and canteens serving food from all over France and from around the world. This snapshot of just 50 dishes out of thousands of possibilities gives an image of cooking and eating in Paris at its best: full of tradition and invention, talent and enthusiasm, generosity and greed.

These are our editors' favourite dishes (and the restaurants that serve them) in that they're what we consider essential to getting a rounded sense of the city 's food scene. Have we missed one of your favourite Parisian dishes? Think you know a better version than the one we've chosen? Join the conversation in the comments box below. 

Classic cooking

Classic cooking

Honoring classic dishes that have been served by lamplight in the oldest Parisian canteens. Simple, filling and comforting dishes: snails, steak tartare, eggs...

Bistro favourites

Bistro favourites

The best Parisian bistro food is in a class of its own, both unique and characteristic; and it always manages to stay ahead of trends, as bistro menus are...

Regional cooking

Regional cooking

You can eat your way around the gastronomic inventions of France’s different regions from the comfort of a few choice restaurants in Paris, from deepest...

International cuisines

International cuisines

A tour of cusines from around the world that have only added to Paris’s gastronomic richness. All aboard for Japan, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Vietnam,...

Desserts

Desserts

There is nothing as sweetly satisfying as a good dessert to round off a meal in style – though even in Paris, that slice of carrot cake, lemon tart, rum...

The restaurants: Classic cooking

L'Ecailler du Bistrot

L'Ecailler du Bistrot

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 3 of 4

An excellent Parisian seafood venue with a lovely selection of oysters in a sprightly atmosphere.

Le Petit Vendôme

Le Petit Vendôme

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 1 of 4

An authentic neighbourhood joint in the middle of a stuffy quartier, Le Petit Vendôme serves one of the best sandwiches in Paris.

The restaurants: Bistro favourites

La Gauloise

La Gauloise

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 2 of 4

La Gaulouise is an institution. Becoming more and more modern, it offers excellent seasonal cooking at reasonable prices.

Jadis

Jadis

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 2 of 4

Young chef Guillaume Delage revisits classic dishes with a light and contemporary touch.

The restaurants: Regional cooking

Breizh Café

Breizh Café

  • 5 out of 5 stars

With its modern interior of pale wood and its choice of 15 artisanal ciders, this outpost of a restaurant in Cancale, Brittany, is a world away from the...

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

L'Ambassade d'Auvergne

  • 5 out of 5 stars

This rustic-style auberge is a fitting embassy for the hearty fare of central France. An order of cured ham comes as two hefty, plate-filling slices, and the...

The restaurants: International cuisine

Urfa Dürüm

Urfa Dürüm

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 1 of 4

Kurdish wraps with meat or vegetables.

Big Fernand

Big Fernand

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • price 1 of 4

A brilliant little burger joint, revisiting American burgers with French ingredients.

The restaurants: Desserts

Le Comptoir du Relais

Le Comptoir du Relais

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • price 2 of 4

Brasserie cooking at lunchtimes and a unique menu in the evening, all orchstrated by Yves Camdeborde.

Chez Michel

Chez Michel

  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • price 3 of 4

A solid menu, which allows its classic dishes a few audacious moves.