From funky international café-bars to classic bistro cooking via some of Paris's favourite vegetarian food, the streets around République and Oberkampf are bristling with good dining options. The restaurants below are some of our favourites in the area, with something for all budgets.
At l’Ilot, you don’t have to pay Parisian prices for the best catch of the day. The venue is tiny but beautiful, with big slate menus, earthenware pots and white parquet, a bay window, a few photos on the walls and a terrace for nice days – it all has a solid, comfortable charm...
Proprietors Sol and Victor welcome their customers with broad smiles at La Prune Folle [the crazy plum]. Opened in April 2012, this café-bar elegantly encapsulates the trend for vintage twee with a few Formica tables, random second hand Chinese lamps, family photos and period wallpaper...
This unpretentious family-run restaurant located near the Carreau du Temple offers fusion cooking mixing French, English and Tunisian styles. Sitting at one of the few tables in the small, brightly-coloured room feels a bit like being in a hippie aunt's collection of rugs, braided wood lamps, blown glass, copper artefacts and jewels, but it all comes together in an agreeable jumble...
A vegetarian restaurant with an excellent and well-deserved reputation, Soya Cantine Bio offers a fantastic salad bar (tabbouleh, humus, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, beetroot) and hot dishes including things like vegetarian lasagna, Lebanese-style chickpeas, warm spring rolls, seaweed dumplings, potatoes with vanilla and cakes in small ramekins...
You just have to look at the regulars’ crimson faces to know you’re onto a good thing at Astier. Red-and-white chequered tablecloths and rustic wooden panelling make up the retro setting for chef Christophe Kestler vintage revivals like smoked herrings with warm potato salad, grilled Charolais beef in anchovy butter, and scrumptious vanilla cream (think crème brûlée without the brûlée)...
One of the first outfits in Paris to sell pizza by weight, now a popular practice, Al Taglio is an understated canteen with chic overtones; big wooden high tables are scattered throughout the venue, lit by metallic lamps. Its popularity extends beyond the neighbourhood, so be prepared to queue, and enjoy the show while you do – the constant bustle and to-ing and fro-ing of hurried waiters delivering pizzas at lightning speed...
L’Echappée is primarily a lovely spa, whose stark modern façade stands out amid the dishevelled grandeur of the Rue de la Folie Méricourt. But regulars know you can also come here for brunch on weekends from noon to 3pm in the bright upstairs rooms. Make sure you arrive early to grab the armchairs at one of the big coffee tables – they’re criminally comfy...
Be warned: don’t rock up at Aux Deux Amis on a Friday night expecting to sit down. If, like most people, you haven’t reserved, you’ll be staking out a few square centimetres at the bar. Here you can chat with your neighbours while good-naturedly knocking into each other, wines and beers in hand. Then, it’s time to eat. The melting ‘Tortilla de Janine’, the princely acorn-fed ham with grilled almonds, the brilliant house mozzarella…
Burgers have been big business in Paris for some time, but American Bistro was one of the forerunners. This famous diner is like something straight out of Beverly Hills: cheery atmosphere, warm welcome, walls covered in old rock records from the 50s and 60s, a big Smeg fridge, red vinyl couches and a rockabilly soundtrack. Start with a Perfect Duff Beer or a cocktail (€5 or €8), while sizing up the enormous menu...
This is the place to get fed and watered before heading to Nouveau Casino or to L’International for a gig, and to see the film crews gathered in the corner who have made this their official canteen. The food isn’t half bad either, the quality of the ingredients and cooking lifting the kitchen above the level of the bar’s neighbourhood dive feel...
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