After three years of over-indulgence, Wim and I have put together the following list of affordable, charming restaurants in Paris. We haven’t included the numerous Michelin restaurants which are obviously outstanding (though a couple do get an honorary mention on this list). There are so many great restaurants, but these are the ones we kept going back to - our personal favourites. They are not in any particular order.
(1) Chez l’ami Jean – 27 Rue Malar, 7th Arrondissement, 01 47 05 86 89 - this little Basque restaurant’s tired décor is deceptive. The restaurant was opened by a Basque nationalist in 1931, and its Basque cuisine and setting are the most authentic on the Left Bank. Dishes include Bayonne ham; herb-laden Béarn-influenced vegetable soups; confit of duck, the gamiest game during the game season; in springtime, look for a specialty rarely found elsewhere: saumon de l'Adour (Adour salmon) with béarnaise sauce. The food is sensational and better than most of the Michelin restaurants we have tried. It is our very favourite restaurant in Paris. The menu, however, is very challenging (I never ventured into this establishment without a dictionary).
(2) Ze Kitchen Gallerie – Modern, trendy with an interesting, Asian-influenced menu with a solid French base (so it is fusion rather than confusion). The owner and head chef of this restaurant, William Ledeuil, trained in haute Parisian gastronomy under culinary legend Guy Savoy. The setting is a colorful loft space in an antique building, with an open-to-view showcase kitchen. We loved this restaurant. Good place for rep events. 4 Rue des Grands-Augustins. Metro St Michel. Phone no 01 44 32 00 32
(3) Violin D’ingres – 135 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007. Tel: 01 45 55 15 05 Part of the Christian Constant empire of restaurants on Saint Dominique, this is his more up market restaurant on the block. For the quality of food and the ambience, this one star restaurant is still very affordable. Try the vanilla –caramel soufflé. Good place for rep evens.
(4) Café Constant – part of the Christian Constant Empire, a buzzing bistro - what the French call un petit troquet. Affordable way to sample Constant’s cuisine. But not for special occasions – this is more a casual eatery 139 Rue St Dominique Tel 01 47 53 73 34.
(5) Les Cocottes and Fables de la Fontaine - Also on St Dominique. The first is still owned by Constant - a fashionable French version of an American diner. Slick dining room. Sarko is said to frequent this place. No bookings. Excellent wine. The second restaurant, a “fish bistro”, is no longer owned by Constant, but he keeps a watchful eye over the young chef. Fables de la Fontaine is a good rep venue (close to MFA) 131 Rue St Dominique, 01 44 18 37 55.
(6) La Tour d’Argent – 01 43 54 23 31 for the famous pressed duck. It is quacking. The Tour has its own farm on which it raises its ducks. Diners ordering the duck receive a postcard with the serial number and autograph of the duck. (Ok, maybe not the autograph). The restaurant also offers a wine cellar containing more than half a million bottles of wine, one of the biggest and oldest in Paris. The dining room features an excellent view of the river and Notre Dame. Ask for a tour of the wine cellar after lunch (75 euro lunch).
(7) Epi Dupin. 11 Rue Dupin, 6th Arrondissement (near the Bon Marché). 01 42 22 6456. We stumbled upon this one. Noisy and always full but the food is traditional French prepared in an original way, occasionally with a Basque influence. The dining room with its stone walls and exposed beams dating from the 18th Century is very charming. Excellent wine list.
(8) Al Ajami - Best Lebanese in town. Upmarket (full of Middle Eastern princesses), but affordable with Excellent mezze plates, good grills and the best Eastern desserts I have ever tasted. Halal. Address: 1 Rue Lincoln, Paris 75008, France Phone: 08 99 69 05 47
(9) Lao Lane Xang 2– The best Thai/Lao/Vietnamese restaurant in Paris, without a doubt. 105 avenue d'Ivry, Paris 75013, France Tel: 01 45 85 19 23 I love the lacquered duck breast in a chilli-nuoc cham sauce, served on a generous bed of sautéed gai lan and pak choi and the steamed bar (with lime, ginger, garlic – heavenly).
(10) Le Bernica - Wim and I loved this place for its simplicity. Family-run establishment, offering traditional family fare from Reunion and the Caribbean. This is spicy island food (my personal favourites are the goat curry and the Flaming daurade). But make sure to book as it is ALWAYS packed. Good place to go to after a movie or theatre at Montparnasse. 4, Impasse De La Gaité,75014 Paris Téléphone : 01 43 20 39 02
(11) Au Petit Marghery – 9 Boulevard de Port Royal. 01 43 31 58 59. Traditional French cuisine and our favourite game restaurant – definitely the best grouse, partridge, venison (both biche and chevreuil), Colvert and lievre royale in Paris. Needless to say, best to go to this one during gaming season starting Nov.
(12) L’os a Moelle – 3 Rue Vasco-de-Gama, Tel 01 45 57 27 27. A good deal in the 15th arrondissement – 38 euros for a 5 course meal. Small, unfussy restaurant. Thierry Faucher worked with the brilliant Christian Constant, and the quality shows—the restaurant is fully booked most nights. The dishes change according to the markets. There is a cave (cave de l’os a moelle) across the road owned by the same people. Great wine selection
(13) Les Papilles – People come here for the wine which neatly lines the walls, creating a very appealing ambience. You are offered a set seasonal menu and the opportunity to choose a wine from the huge selection surrounding you. While the food is excellent, you do not get a choice. The chef selects a menu based on his market selection that day (“retour du marché). There is also a delicatessen here.30, rue Gay-LassacRER: LuxembourgTél: 01 43 25 20 79
(14) Meiji – affordable Japanese. 24, Rue Marbeuf75008 +33 1 45 62 30 14. I don’t know why we loved this Japanese place, but we did. Paris is not known for Japanese cuisine and there are so many mediocre Japanese restaurants. But this little place in the golden triangle – usually an epicentre of awful restaurants – is actually quite good. We love the Black miso cod.
(15) But for truly gourmet Japanese, Benko in the Novotel-Tour Eiffel is really very good but expensive also. Great views over the river and excellent sushi and tepanyaki. Hotel Novotel,61 Quai de Grenelle, 15th arrondissement. 01 40 58 21 26.
(16) Ozu – inside the Aquarium down the road from the embassy at the trocadero. Jacques Cousteau goes to Japan at this quirky restaurant. Hard to describe – so unusual in its design. Tables are flanked by a huge fish tank, the blond wood dining room fills with Versace-clad couples and Japanese globe-trotters who dine on beautifully-presented but generous dishes of soft-shelled crab, monkfish, black cod, tuna, apple-infused eel. Service is slow, but the food is really very good and the décor a talking point. Avenue des Nations Unies75016 16ème Arrondissement Paris, +33 1 40 69 23 90
(17) Le Passiflore – 33, rue de Longchamp, 16thTelephone: 01 47 04 96 81- elegant, One Michelin star – but affordable. Good for representational events. Not that exciting (and I wasn’t sure whether to include it here), but I would not hesitate to recommend it for rep functions.
(18) Au Bon Accueil – classic, elegant bistro close to embassy in the 7th arrondissement. Excellent for rep functions and for visitors (sit outside for view of Eiffel Tower). 14 rue de Monttessuy, 7th Phone: 01-47-05-46-11
(19) Jules Verne - second floor Eiffel Tower. They only take reservations on-line. The 85 Euro lunch menu is well worth it for the experience. Needless to say, the views are sensational and you are able to access the viewing deck after your meal.
(20) And (21) Maceo and Willi’s Wine Bar - neighbouring each other, either are a good choice after theatre at Comedie Francaise or the opera. Both offer excellent wine selection. The wine list features over 250 references, strongly representing the wines of the Rhone but also Bandol, languedoc, Sherry, etc Maceo is a little more elegant than Willi (the restaurant is very modern but has kept its 18th Century façade from its days as a famous brothel. 13-15 rue des Petits-Champs, Ist (01 42 97 53 85). Willi’s Wine Bar is less formal. It has retained its art deco façade. We discovered this place when we first arrived. An oaky bouquet hits you as you enter the restaurant. The food, while not to the standard of the wine, but still very good (except for one mediocre dish once).
(21) Le Volant – Ok, this one has a special place in my heart because of the famous nonagenarian racing car driver who would greet you at the door and offer you a quivering hand shake. He passed away recently but the new owners have preserved his memory with photos of the Volant with French luminaries wall-papering the bistro. They have also kept the same menu. The restaurant offers generous servings of traditional fare. Good cuts of meat, friendly service. Close to embassy. Adresse:13, rue Béatrix Dussane, short walk from embassy.Téléphone : 01 45 75 27 67
(22) La Gitane, 53 bis, Avenue de la Motte-Picquet – 75015
01 47 34 6 2 92. Reliable, family-run place close to the embassy. Traditional French cuisine. Best Cassoulet I had in Paris.
A few more honorary mentions
Creperies
Best Crepes in town: Crêperie Contemporaine59 rue Saint-Charles - 75015 (of course)Métro Charles Michels ou Dupleix. A Lisa and Toby discovery. Again, Sarko and Carla have been there twice in recent times (according to owner).
Or any creperie on Rue Montparnasse, or Rue Odessa in Montparnasse (metro Edgar Quinet)
Indian/Sri Lankan
Sri Lankan: Café Bharath (67, rue Louis Blanc, La Chapelle, Little Jaffna of Paris. This is not an elegant restaurant, but the real McCoy (Hoppers, Kothu Roti, Jaffna curries etc etc).
Passage Brady, with its countless Indo-Pakistani restaurants fiercely competing in close quarters.
For a romantic Indian dinner, Ratn (strange name) , 9 Rue de la Tremoille, near Marbeuf st. Not the best Indian food I have tried in Paris, but enchanting décor with hundreds of candles, flowers and tea lights.
For better Indian food, try Ghandi Opera, 66 Rue St-Anne, near opera 01 42 60 59 60
- good Northern Indian food.
.African
Entoto, Ethiopian restaurant on our metro line (glaciere), 145, Rue Léon Maurice Nordmann, 75013 Paris, France - 01 45 87 08 51
Moroccan/Algerian
For good cous cous and celebrity-spotting – Chez Omar 47 rue de BretagneParis, France01 42 72 36 26
Restaurant 404, 69 Rue Gravilliers, Marais. 01 42 74 57 81
Très Branché, full of beautiful Parisians. Good tagine. Very crowded and waiters have attitude but good food.
Paris Mosque, lovely place for a Moroccan Lunch on weekends.
Brunch
Le Fumoir – 6 Rue de l’amiral colligny, 8th Arrondissement, 01 42 92 0024, opposite le Louvre, slow service, but very ambient. Good brunch.
Yum cha – Tricotin – in Chinatown, 15 Avenue de Choisy, 13th arrondissement, 01 45 84 74 44
Other restaurants for visitors
Finally, a couple of restaurants that are crowd- and visitor – pleasers near the embassy:
(1) Café de l’homme, in the Musée de l’Homme. Good views, Quite a nice ambiance.
(2) Les Ombres, upstairs in the Musée du Quai Branley – upmarket, but an affordable lunch, again with nice views.
(3) Bistro Suffren and au dernier metro, and also le gitan (on Motte-piquet, not the one on Boulevard Grenelle) are the hardy perennials of bistro eating in our neighbourhood, and definitely the most popular. Both open until very late, we found they passed the visitor test.
(4) To escape the smog and traffic of Paris, we also liked a little restaurant in the middle of a lake in the Bois de Bologne – le Chalet des Isles de Bois de Bologne, Chemin Ceinture du Lac Inférieure, RER: Avenue Henri Martin. O1 45 25 44 01. Pleasant boat ride to get to restaurant.
