Family-friendly restaurants and cafés

With its modern interior of pale wood and choice of 15 artisanal ciders, this outpost of a restaurant in Cancale, Brittany, is a world away from the average crêperie. Perhaps because it’s owned by a Breton who once lived in Japan. For the complete faux-seaside experience, you might start with a plate of creuse oysters from Cancale before indulging in an inventive buckwheat galette such as the Cancalaise, made with potato, smoked herring from Brittany and herring roe or the Charentaise with goats cheese, honey and salad. All ingredients are of high quality – such as Valrhona chocolate with 70% cocoa solids, Guéméné andouille sausage and seaweed and yuzu Bordier butter. One to keep in mind for Sundays, when many other restaurants in the Marais are shut. Make sure to call ahead to book. This restaurant serves one of Time Out's 50 best dishes in Paris. Click here to see the full list.

Open 22 hours out of every 24, Café Mabillon is a lounge bar in the heart of Saint-Germain that's generally populated by well-heeled locals. In the daytime, the large terrace attracts passers-by in search of a rest stop in the sun. A glass of Chablis in hand, sunglasses in place whatever the weather, one is here to see and be seen. When happy hour commences, the golden youth take over the leather banquettes to sip cocktails. For those wanting a light snack, you can get a croque-monsieur or a salade de chèvre chaud or cheeseburger at any time, even if for rather overinflated prices. It is one of the few places still open at 4am in the morning so it’s an excellent refuge for a place to fill up after a big night out.

Just a few steps from Alésia metro station is Les Saveurs du Sichuan, a temple to the traditional dishes and flavours of China’s Sichuan region. The luxe décor is a contrast the wallet-friendly prices: €16 for a three-course lunch, including vegetarian spring rolls and Sichuanese beef ragu. For those who want to order à la carte, there are other regional specialities like mapo tofu (€13), Sichuan pepper prawns (€18.50) and steamed fish straight from the market. .

19th-century composer Jacques Offenbach isn’t usually associated with cutting-edge digital art, but after a 10-year revamp, Offenbach’s former Belle Époque Gaïté Lyrique theatre has been turned into Paris’s first ever digital cultural centre - a 7 floor, multidisciplinary concert hall cum gallery that thrusts visitors deep into the realms of digital art, music, graphics, film, fashion, design and video games. It’s not the first time the building has undergone transformation: After being a haut-lieu of operetta and Russian ballet, it was pillaged by the Nazis, only to become a circus school in the 1970s and a mini theme park in the 1980s. But this time its interior, which combines the original Belle Epoque foyer with starkly modern spaces signed architect Manuelle Gautrand, is set to become a permanent fixture on the city’s cultural scene. Its programme explores the relatively unchartered territory of digital art, and the role of technology in artistic expression with electronic music concerts by cutting-edge acts; live multimedia performances; guest appearances by famous international artists and DJs; and film projections. You can even just pop into the funky surroundings for a decent cup of coffee and a flit through the magazines.

Continually hailed as the best ice cream in Paris, you can recognise the Berthillon ice-cream parlour and tearoom from the queues of people outside, except (somewhat strangely) in summer when the shop is closed! The flavours change throughout the seasons, but if it’s available don’t miss the strawberry sorbet, or the bitter chocolate sorbet made without and dairy products. In winter Berthillon offers delicious hot chocolate, made from melted chocolate and cream, and – perhaps even naughtier – a chocolate ‘affogato’ (a ball of vanilla ice-cream, served in a white porcelain mug with hot chocolate poured on top and topped with praline cream). Don't be put off by the queues - they're rarely for the tearoom itself.

Angelina is home to Paris's most lip-smackingly scrumptious desserts - all served in the faded grandeur of a belle époque salon just steps from the Louvre. The hot chocolate is pure decadence; try the speciality 'African', a velvety potion so thick that you need a spoon to consume it. Epicurean delights include the Mont Blanc dessert, a ball of meringue covered in whipped cream and sweet chestnut, and, for those with a waistline to watch, a brand new sugar- and butter-free brioche aux fruits rouges. The place heaves at weekends, so be prepared to queue.

This former family ice cream parlour, founded in 1947, was bought in 2008 and converted into a salon de thé. Fortunately, the new owners keep the old Raimo spirit alive by making delicious ice creams and sorbets (according to traditional 19th century recipes) from only natural, seasonal ingredients. As well as time-honoured varieties like vanilla, praline or blackcurrant, there are quirkier varieties like orange flower and violet; if you really can’t make up your mind, choose the ‘palette de couleurs Raimo’, which lets you try eight different flavoured scoops.

You come to purple and white Gelati d’Alberto for two things: the delicious ice cream and to watch the employees turn your scoops into a flower-shaped work of art before your very eyes. Once you’ve tasted the classic flavours, try the Nutella, green tea or even the vodka Red Bull varieties. The more flavours you choose, the prettier your ice cream flower becomes. On a sunny day, rows of expectant ice cream buyers snake their way along Rue Mouffetard, so be prepared to queue. 

Even in Paris, the city of haute cuisine and knock-your-socks-off Brasserie fare, there comes a time when nothing but bacon, fried eggs, juicy burgers and fluffy pancakes drizzled in maple syrup will do. For those moments, Breakfast in America (known lovingly amongst regulars as B.I.A) offers bona fide American diner surroundings, all-day breakfasts and artery clogging delights like sticky pecan pie, washed down with bottomless mugs o’ Joe.  Needless to say it’s a hit with the brunch crowd who come in droves so large they queue up outside, rain or shine. Fortunately turn over is quite fast, so you rarely have to wait more than half-an-hour. The €15.95 brunch menu gets you comfort staples like sausages and eggs (over-easy, sunny-side up or scrambled) with toast and fries or a generous Connecticut ham and cheese omelet and a squidgy chocolate muffin. B.I.A won’t take reservations, but there’s a second branch in the Marais, so if Latin Quarter students have hogged all the tables, you can try your luck on the Right Bank.

Enjoy a stress-free family feast - with Time Out's guide to Paris's child-friendly restaurants and cafés...