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.

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.

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

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.

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. 

This well-loved address is frequented by trendy locals, shoppers hunting down a particular type of cheese and tourists who've managed to make it this far from the Eiffel Tower. Le Café du Marché really is a hub of neighbourhood activity. Its pichets of decent house plonk always go down a treat, and mention must be made of the food - such as the huge house salad featuring lashings of foie gras and parma ham.

Bobo, yes, but still lovely. Insulated from the honking horns of the city, this place is a true oasis in central Paris. This small, organic canteen is warm and welcoming, a tavern for weary urban travellers in the heart of the Enfants Rouges market. Though somewhat difficult to find, it is far from secret – especially in summer when the colourful chairs come out to allow customers to enjoy the aromas of the market. Brunch is served on Saturdays and Sundays, and the ‘traditional’ menu (€20) is hearty and original. In addition to hot drinks and organic apple juice, take your pick from scrambled eggs, salad, assorted cheeses and cold cuts, fruit salad, cottage cheese, scones and jam. A plate full of variety and good products, it competes with the ‘fish menu’, which, for an extra €2, replaces the sausage and cheese with smoked salmon, herring, mackerel and taramasalata.

Expect queues at this Montmartre bakery, winner in March 2010 of the 17th Grand Prix de la Baguette de Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris. As well as gaining plenty of new customers, Baker Djibril Bodian also picked up a cash prize of €4,000 and a contract to keep ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy in bread for a year.

Paris’s oldest sweet shop has been in its original location for 250 years. While there are now other branches throughout the city, this grand old store, with its tiled floor à l’ancienne and its vintage pendant lights like glassy gumdrops, is still the place to call home sweet home. The smart, orange-labelled gift boxes of candy and chocolates are always a pleasure, as are the retro treats of times gone by: butterscotch roudoudous eaten out of a shell, marshmallow ropes, pretty violet bonbons for sucking on. Word has it that dancers from the Folies Bergère up the street used to come here for a sweet treat in between shows at the famed music hall. With the selection of candied chestnuts and delicate golden-paper boxes of candied orange peel to be had, it’s no surprise they were kicking up their heels in delight.

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. .