The best brunches in Paris
Discover the best Paris restaurants and cafés for breakfast and brunch
'Bruncher' is an established verb in Paris, which should give you an idea of the enthusiasm with which the French capital has adopted this American institution. The city seems to be made for long, indulgent weekend meals washed down with coffee, cocktails and a generous dose of people-watching. Here, we've selected our favourite Paris brunch restaurants serving moreish bacon and eggs, gluten-free goodness and simple all-you-can-eat blowouts. Think we've missed a great Paris brunch? Let us know in the comments below.
Discover the best brunches in Paris
Cheap Paris brunches
While we all love a good weekend brunch blowout with all the carbs, fat and protein we can get on a plate (or several, if we're talking all-you-can-eat), the Paris brunch fetish means they don't all come cheap. These venues all feature in our city round-up of the best brunches in Paris, and they all serve fantastic slap-up meals for the princely sum of €20 or less. La classe!
The top ten Paris brunches
These Paris brunches have everything – location, atmosphere, gourmet smarts and menus that require two days of advance starvation. You might need a bit of military planning to score a table, but trust us – it'll be worth it. Be it crumbly, moreish pastries to go with the best coffee in town or a syrup-soaked eggs-and-bacon extravaganza, we've got you covered. Think there's a better Paris brunch out there that we've missed? Let us know in the comments box below.
Our top picks for Paris brunches
Liberté Ménilmontant
Pastry chef Benoît Castel set up Liberté in a boulangerie that was once owned by a winner of ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’, the prestigious award for culinary arts. Surrounded by the huge bay window, big traditional ovens and stacked wooden shelves, it’s a warm and welcoming space, and the weekend buffet brunch (€27) is a wonderful thing – high-end charcuterie (chorizo, saucisson, Paris ham), roast chicken with new potatoes, pizzas, pasta salads, boiled eggs, quiches, crêpes, fresh fruit, puddings, pastries and raw milk cheeses.
La Chambre aux Oiseaux
Despite having to book a week in advance for Hervé Labarre and Léna Balacco’s Sunday brunch, it’s worth the wait. We love the grandmother’s sitting room décor, with old-school porcelain and flowered wallpaper and big armchairs. Then there’s the cooking, generous and full of flavour. For €19, the brunch brings you a selection of crusty breads, fresh fruit juice and a hot drink, plus tabbouleh, turkey and cucumber salad, boiled eggs and a sweet, creamy tiramisu with red berries.
Le Pavillon des Canaux
A pretty café-restaurant, Le Pavillon des Canaux is another great project with an artistic edge and a stimulating community feel to it. Set in an old two-storey house overlooking the Canal de l’Ourq and its houseboats, Le Pavillon is bright, colourful and peaceful. Ring the doorbell and smiling staff welcome you into a large living room with a doll’s house feel to it – all plush armchairs, mismatched furniture, floorboards, teapots, plants and even a birdcage. Large wooden tables are great for a big group, or you can head upstairs and dine in the living room, the pink bedroom or even the bathroom. On a sunny day, you can sit outside at a table by the water. The lunch menu offers salads, soups, curries and quiche slices – on our visit we tried a colourful plate of quinoa, grapefruit, avocado, rocket and crayfish salad (€8) and a generous serving of the chicken korma (€10). The dessert menu includes a delicious moist carrot cake (€5), scones, cookies or banana and pecan cake. Drinks include freshly squeezed orange juice, beer and wine, coffee by Café Lomi, chai latte and herb teas... As well as food and drink, the house offers plenty of workshops, art projects and cooking classes. Not only is the staff friendly and the food pleasing, but the setting unique. It’s just a shame that the rooms aren’t for rent.
Biglove Caffè
Pour qui ? Ceux qui veulent prendre leur petit dej toute la journée.Le plat culte ? Le kickass pancake aux grosses myrtilles et à la ricotta de bufflonne. Ca devient une habitude : la bande de Big Mamma vient d’ouvrir un resto : ancora ! A la place de l’ancien Rose Bakery rue Debeylleme dans le 3e, se trouve donc maintenant le BigLove Caffè, avec ses étagères en bois qui débordent de produits italiens, conserves de citrons confits, sachets d’épices, noisettes, ses banquettes en cuir orangé, son grand comptoir dans l’entrée. Cette quatrième adresse est sans doute celle qui se démarque le plus de ses grandes sœurs en proposant une longue liste de plats sans gluten (comme les pizzas aux farines de maïs, sarrasin et riz), mais surtout, chose très rare, un brunch toute la journée. Brunch aux accents italiens évidemment. Per sgranocchiare* donc des pantagruéliques pancakes à la myrtille et à la ricotta de bufflonne à arroser de sirop d’érable, mœlleux, savoureux et avouons-le complétement décadents, des plats à base d’œufs comme ces eggs & balls, poivrons farcis de polpette – boulettes de viande – mozzarella fondue et surmontés de basilic ou encore un avocado toast spicy posé sur un pain sans gluten de Chambelland. Per bere* ? Evidemment les espressos et autres lattes mais aussi des choses moins classiques comme ce Bicerin Gianduja, un shot de café avec dans le fond une pointe de gianduja, « miamesque ». Comme toutes les adresses de Big Mamma, tout est bien pensé, joli et bon. E
Bal Café
While you're here, enjoy an exhibit at the BAL, the Parisian temple of the documentary image. The team is young, cheerful and cosmopolitan; the décor is warm and the food delicious. The cooks here cut their teeth at the lauded Rose Bakery and all the ingredients are carefully chosen. For brunch, porridge, scones, bacon and other UK-inspired dishes jostle for space on the menu. But be careful: space is limited and reservations are not accepted. Of course, if you have to wait for a table, you can always check out one of the excellent exhibits at the BAL, Paris’s museum of documentary photography, film and new media – or leaf through one of the works in the arty bookshop next door. Or maybe it’s best just to get there early.
Les Enfants Perdus
Les Enfants Perdus is a discreet, chic fine-dining restaurant frequented by the bobos of the Canal Saint-Martin. Fast for a day beforehand in order to take full advantage of the gigantic, delicious weekend brunch prepared by a Michelin-starred chef. €25 includes three platters; mini-viennoiseries, house orange juice and hot drinks of your choosing; eggs, cake, a beautiful slice of organic salmon with salad and. Then finally an enormous platter of vegetable soup, grapes, ham and cheese.
Chez Casimir
Chez Casimir lays on ‘le Traou Mad’ (meaning ‘good things’ in Breton), from 10am to 7pm. Fill your plate with delicious fare, starting simply with salted butter on exceptional country bread, and moving on to just about everything else: charcuterie, seafood, boudin, smoked salmon, salads, omelettes… then casseroles of flaked cod, beef bourguignon and other similarly hearty dishes. Still hungry? Head towards the ‘grandmother-style’ dessert buffet. The atmosphere is noisy but convivial and the price (€26) is incredible in light of the quality.
Koff
Run by a friendly young couple, Jade and David Koff, in a street that winds between the Trois Frères and the Abbesses, Koff is a lovely New York style deli. It's been entirely renovated from its previous incarnation as Living B’art, with an elegant DIY décor – even the pictures on the walls are the work of the owner, artist Resnik. It creates a cosy atmosphere that’s the ideal setting for the menu's bagels, burgers, Ashkenazi specialties and Russian dishes. Koff attracts the Montmartre set with its hearty brunch for €21 including coffee or tea, orange juice, muffins, scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and smoked salmon. Plus, the desserts are spectacular, like the delicious homemade cheesecake and banoffee pie.
L'Estaminet des Enfants Rouges
Insulated from the honking horns of the city, this place is a true oasis in central Paris. Brunch is served on weekends, and the ‘traditional’ menu (€20) is hearty and original. In addition to hot drinks and organic apple juice, expect scrambled eggs, salad, assorted cheeses and cold cuts, fruit salad, cottage cheese, scones and jam. The ‘fish menu’, for an extra €2, replaces the sausage and cheese with smoked salmon, herring, mackerel and taramasalata.
Nolita
A seriously-swanky address facing the Champs-Elysées with an Eiffel Tower view - Nolita goes full throttle for its upscale status. Its unrivalled ‘brunch à l’italienne’ (€39) is a lavish, Latin buffet: melting mozzarella, carpaccio of swordfish, Parmesan shavings on a bed of bresaola, soft sliced octopus, subtly marinated vegetables and sundried tomatoes. There’s a healthy spread of desserts too: tiramisu, panna cotta, fresh fruit and cornetti (croissants filled with cream or jam). Space is limited so don’t forget to book.
Un Dimanche à Paris
This cocoa-focused concept store does an upscale Sunday brunch with only premium products: Poîlane bread, Bordier butter and Iberian ham. As part of the €55 menu, you also get foie gras with pear and crème de cassis and a glass of Champagne instead of juice. Expect madeleines, mini-éclairs and cake –which go perfectly with one of the best hot chocolates in Paris, made with real melted chocolate, milk, a little cream and a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.
Holybelly
Arriving for brunch at Holybelly, you get a warm welcome from the tattooed, beanie-wearing staff. On the menu, expect fig and caramelised hazelnut pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup (€11.50), or pancakes with fried eggs and bacon. There are also tempting savoury dishes like poached eggs with bacon, black pudding or Brebis cheese (€11.50). Coffee come from a new local roaster in Belleville, and goes brilliantly with one of their freshly-baked, soft and chewy daily cookie specials.
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