Websites

Recently I’ve tried a few places from Paris by Mouth1 and they’ve been good.

In the 1st

Les Fines Gueules, 43 rue Croix des Petits Champs, 75001.

Although one could just come here for a drink, I think it’s firmly on the food side of the restaurant/wine-bar divide. Happily that’s because the food is good rather than the wine substandard!

One minor nit: my saignant steak was decidedly à point if not bien cuit!

August 2014 update: A fine dinner: nice wine, and a memorably good tuna tartare.

May 2017 update: Still well up to scratch!

For more details visit their website,2 or see Google Maps.3

Last visited May 2017.

Spring, 6 rue Bailleul, 75001.

Not a bad place, tucked away in a little side-street a stone’s throw from le Louvre.

I sat at the downstairs bar, which obviously can’t match the ambience upstairs, but it’s still nice enough. They have the zero-choice menu gimmick, which works well enough, but sadly have used this excuse to serve a gazillion small dishes: I think that in almost all cases things would be improved were they to reduce the number, increase the size, and polish things a little further.

Oddly the main meat course, some fine veal, was rather large and got rather cold by the time I’d finished it: less meat or a hotter plate please.

Such nits aside, stuff is cooked with flair and precision, and the quality of the ingredients struck me as good to great.

For more details visit their website,4 or see Google Maps.5

Pirouette, 5 rue de Mondétour, 75001.

A laid back restaurant whose quasi-casual appearance belies seriously good food. Excellent, affordable wine too.

April 2022 update: Still lovely!

For more details, visit their website,6 or see Google Maps.7

Last visited April 2022.

In the 4th

Café Beaubourg, 43 rue Saint-Merri, 75004.

I’ve been coming here for decades, and come to value the good food, the fine atmosphere, and its unchanging nature. I suspect that I pay a visit on most of my trips to Paris.

For more details visit their website,8 or see Google Maps.9

Last visited April 2022.

In the 5th

Le Reminet, 3 rue des Grands Degrés, 75005.

A delightful little bistrot, which serves marvellous food.

March 2015 update: I am delighted to say that things here are at least as good as they were in the past.

For more details visit their website,10 or see Google Maps.11

Last visited March 2015.

L'Agrume, 15, rue des Fossés St-Marcel, 75005.

A small, simple restaurant serving excellent food. I had a memorably good pigeon breast with mushrooms.

For more details visit their website,12 or see Google Maps.13

Last visited May 2017.

In the 6th

L’Atelier du Joël Robuchon, 5, rue de Montalebert, 75006.

I’ve been meaning to try this place for ages, and I finally found myself in roughly the right place at roughly the right time—6:30pm.

As so often in fine restaurants, the starter was the best bit: exquisitely cooked scallops with truffles. One of the best dishes I’ve eaten anywhere.

If I had to find fault it would be with the dessert: an elegant chocolate sphere which was both food and magic-trick. Although perfectly constructed, the waiter stole the prestige—it would have been much more fun had I discovered the surprise for myself.

Warmly recommended though!

For more details visit their website,14 or see Google Maps.15

Last visited November 2010.

Les Bouquinistes, 53 quai des Grands Augustins, 75006.

As of March 2015, I no longer recommend this place.

I’ve been lucky to dine here many times over the years and the food’s always between good and great.

The highlight on my last visit was the dessert: a riff on apples cooked in different ways which, I was told, won an award a few years’ ago.

They also serve a crazy French whisky which although obvious related to a fine Scottish malt is altogether more ethereal. It’s nice about once a year, which by happy coincidence is about the interval between my visits to Paris.

October 2011 update: sadly I think the desserts were a bit pedestrian this time, and the current ‛Pomme’ is a pale immitation of last year’s apple-based delight. On the plus side I had a stunningly good tuna starter, and a wonderfully gamey hare.

March 2015 update: Oh dear! Whilst the food here is still quite reasonable, the service was dreadful. Rather than enjoying the ambience and atmosphere, I felt so rushed that by the end of the meal I was as glad to leave as they apparently were to get rid of me. Walking back to the apartment, I felt deeply saddened by the whole affair. Good lamb though!

March 2016 update: Although I wouldn’t think of going in, I did walk past and saw the place almost empty.

For more details visit their website,16 or Google Maps.17

Last visited March 2015.

Moustache, 3 rue Ste Beuve, 75006.

A fine restaurant, serving high-quality French fare with a subtle Asian twist. A fine ambience too: subtle lighting and simple furnishings.

Both starter and main course were excellent, whilst the dessert—a splendid Valrhona mousse–was positively sinful!

July 2017 update: fewer Asian influences, but still lovely.

For more details visit their website,18 or see Google Maps.19

Last visited July 2017.

Pouic Pouic, 9 rue Lobineau, 75006.

Update: Sadly their website now announces «Pouic Pouic a fermé ses portes.»

Just lovely! Fine french food in a classic setting.

I had the most lovely starter here: foie gras and a 63℃ egg on a bed of lentils, with tiny croutons for extra texture. The rest of the meal was perfect too: go and see for yourself.

For more details visit their website,20 Or Google Maps.21

Last visited March 2015.

Ze Kitchen Galerie, 4, Rue des Grands Augustins, 75006.

A fine modern restaurant next door to Les Bouqinistes, which I used to love but now can’t recommend.

It’s always nice to find a new restaurant which breaks free from convention, and relies on the chef to combine fine ingredients in unusual ways. By and large, Ze Kitchen Galerie succeeds. Their dishes don’t have that sense of being obviously right—but only after you’ve tried them—but there’s clearly thought and talent of high-order at work.

March 2016 update: Absolutely great cooking: imaginative, well executed, and beautiful. Just amazing!

For more details see their website,22 or see Google Maps.23

Last visited March 2016.

le Relais de l'Entrcôte, 20 rue Saint-Benoît, 75006.

The place scores highly in numerous ‘best steak frites’ lists, but I’ve not tried it before. They offer a pleasingly simple menu: you need only pick your cuisson and wine. I suspect 5-bits suffice even without compression.

Happily the quality is great, though not without gimmicks. One of these seems sensible though: you effectively get two identical courses, so both steak and frites stay hot.

For more details see their website,24 see Google Maps.25

Last visited March 2016.

Le Christine, 1 rue Christine, 75006.

Elegant food in an elegant setting. Warmly recommended.

For more details see their website,26 or see Google Maps.27

Last visited April 2022.

Blueberry Maki Bar, 6 Rue du Sabot, 75006.

I am not a sushi expert but I thought this was absolutely fabulous. Really nice fish, imaginatively presented.

For more details see their website,28 see Google Maps.29

In the 8th

L’Envue, 39 rue Boissy d’Anglas, 75008.

A slightly crazy, bohemian place near Place de Madeline, warmly recommended as a fun place to eat. The food’s usually good, and always presented with flair and sparkle.

For more details visit their website,30 or see Google Maps.31

Last visited December 2008.

Le Mini Palais, Grand Palais, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008.

A fine place for dinner, particularly in summer, hidden on a terrace in the Grand Palais.

The terrace affords a fine view of both people and architecture. The food and drink don’t disappoint either.

For more details, visit their website,32 or see Google Maps.33

Last visited August 2014.

In the 10th

Terminus Nord, 23 rue de Dunkerque, 75010.

Restaurants outside railway stations are obviously convenient, but that always makes me worry about the quality. No such issues here though: Terminus Nord is an ideal place to wait for Eurostar, and food is good.

For more details visit their website,34 or see Google Maps.35

In the 14th

Crêperie de Josselin, 67 rue de Montparnasse, 75014.

In a street full of crêperies this one boasted the finest array of Zagat awards and the like.

Inside it’s small, densely packed, and serves excellent galettes and crêpes! What more could you ask of it ?

For more details phone them on +33 1 43 20 93 50, or see Google Maps.36

Last visited October 2012.

La Coupole, 102 Boulevard du Montparnasse, 75014.

Such famous places always seem likely to fade into a mere tourist-trap, and in some sense one feels that La Coupole did that many years back. However the food's still good and the ambience quite unique.

I had a nice breast of duck, served with what amounted to a toasted fruit sandwich: poached apples and peaches served between two pieces of white bread.

For more details visit their website,37 or see Google Maps.38

Last visited March 2015.

Swann et Vincent, 22 place Denfert-Rochereau, 75014.

A good place for a quick lunch, obviously popular with people who work nearby. I had some splendid pork in a cream sauce, and left full and happy.

For more details visit their website,39 or see Google Maps.40

Last visited March 2015.

In the 15th

L’atome Café, 29 Boulevard de Grenelle, 75015.

There are times in life when all one really wants is a decent confit de canard, and I warmly recommend this place for such times.

For more details see Google Maps.41

Last visited November 2009.

In the 17th

Les Fougeres, 10 rue Villebois-Mareuil, 75017.

Simply exquisite. Refined and elegant cooking in refined and elegant surroundings.

Just one caveat: I was told that the restaurant is about to close because the chef, Stéphane Duchiron, is opening a larger place.

For more details visit their website,42 or see Google Maps.43

Last visited October 2012.

Mamma Primi, 71, Rue des Dames, 75017.

A fine, vibrant, Italian trattoria. The menu is full of the usual fare: interesting pasta, good pizza, random antipasti. However the execution is at least good and sometimes great: I can still smell the truffles from a simple pâtes â la truffe.

They have a no-reservation policy: instead people queue hopefully and hungrily along the street. Doors open at 7pm, but from a small sample I guess you need to be there soon after 6:30. No idea what happens if it’s raining though!

For more details visit their website,44 or see Google Maps.45

Last visited July 2017.

In the 18th

Au Virage Lepic, 61 Rue Lepic, 75018.

A fine bistro in Montmartre. There’s little more to be said: take an appetite and enthusiasm for good food, and you’ll come away delightfully sated.

For more details call them on 01 42 52 46 79, or see Google Maps.46

Last visited December 2008.

Le Moulin de la Galette, 83 Rue Lepic, 75018.

I think any restaurant in Montmartre runs the risk of turning into a tourist trap, and this seems all the more likely if its blessed with its own windmill,47 and portraits by Van Gogh,48 and Renoir.49

However, it looks great from the outside, and the menu seems understated enough to be written for mouths rather than cameras. Happily these impressions are right: I had lunch here on a beautiful summer’s day, enjoying green gazpacho then a perfect steak on a quiet, calm, patio. Good desserts too!

Objectively, I suspect it’s a little on the pricey side, but subjectively I was happy to pay for good food in such nice surroundings.

For more details visit their website,50 or see Google Maps.51

Last visited July 2017.