My Paris

If you’re coming to Paris, here are some of my favorite places to get something really good to eat. Most are not fancy, but are more places where you’ll find a good mix of Parisians with a few visitors as well. Most of them are moderately priced, except where noted.

It’s always wise call ahead to make sure they’re open and make a reservation. Restaurants like to know who’s coming in that evening and unlike major cities in the US, you can usually get a table the same week, unless the restaurant is particularly well-known. If you can’t make it, canceling your reservation is very much appreciated.

Angora

240, rue de Charenton, tel: 01 44 87 02 08, (M: Dugommier). Open each day except Sunday. Totally out of the way, but worth the schlep for their extraordinary lamb kabobs.

A La Biche au Bois

45, Av Ledru Rollin, tel: 01 43 43 34 38, (M: Gare de Lyon), about 2 blocks from the Gare de Lyon train station. Not fancy but a lot of fun, and great food. Order one of the fixed menus and save room for the cheese course. For starters, try to get through a gargantuan salade Perigordine, topped with a big chunk of foie gras. Many game dishes depending on the season. Closed weekends.

Au Trou Gascon

40, rue Tain, tel: 01 43 44 34 26, (M: Daumesnil). Gascon cooking at its best. A recent meal included a crisp confit of goose that was the best I’ve ever had. And I’ve eaten a lot. Dessert was perfectly-thin slices of caramelized warm apple tart with flaky Gascon pastry. Somewhat of a splurge, but lunchtime features a fixed-price menu.

Bellota-Bellota

18, rue Jean-Nicot, tel: 01 53 59 96 96, (M: Invalides, or La Tour-Maubourg). Great tapas-style bar, more upscale than anything in Spain, with fabulous hams from wild acorn-fed pigs. For dessert, stop down the street at Poujaran bakery for an almond-scented financier.

Breizh Café

109, rue Vieille du Temple, tel: 01 42 72 13 77, (M: St. Paul or St. Sébastian Froissart). Terrific crêpes and buckwheat galettes, right in the middle of the bustling Marais. Using organic buckwheat and Bordier butter, wash your meal down with sparklingi apple cider or lait ribot; Breton buttermilk.

Chez Michel

10, rue Belzunce, tel: 01 44 53 06 20, (M: Gare de Nord). During the winter, there’s a chalkboard with “hunters specials”, which features superbly fresh game. On my last visit, I had a mound of tiny scallops piled up in their shells, drizzles with luscious Brittany butter and herbs, then a succulent wild pigeon with foie gras, ending with an unfortunate chocolate soufflé with little flavor. Now I never leave without ending a meal with a classic Breton kouign aman which oozes and butter and caramel from every delectable crusty layer. Reservations essential.

Cuisine de Bar

8, rue Cherche-Midi, tel: 01 45 48 45 69, (M: Sevres-Babylon). Open-faced tartines, or sandwiches, served on pain Poîlane, the famed bakery next door. I am addicted to the sardines and olive oil with crushed salt as well as the sliced chicken with garlic mayonnaise and capers. If the French had come up with the sushi-bar, it would be like this. No reservations.

Da Rosa

62, rue de Seine, tel: 01 40 51 00 09, (M: Mabillon or Odeon). A favorite place to sit and have a lunch or dinner, grazing on the best Spanish hams, simple salads, and the best olives and wines from France, Italy, and Spain. Be sure to pick up a bag of Pimandes and chocolate-covered sauternes-soaked raisins, too.

Dishny

25, rue Cail, tel: 01 42 05 44 04, (M: La Chapelle). The only Indian food I’ve ever liked. I go early since I love to explore the wondrous ethnic food markets in this lively, slightly-funky neighborhood before dinner.

La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais

19, quai de la Tournelle, tel: 01 43 54 17 47, (M: Sully Morland or Cardinale Lemoine). Spit-roasted meats spin continuously, at this Seine-side restaurant. Roasted game and chicken are good bets. Open Sunday.

L’As du Falafel

34, rue des Rosiers (M: St. Paul), closed Friday pm and Saturday. The best falafel anywhere! Join the crowd clamoring at the window while they prepare your falafel with lightning-fast speed. Certainly a dive, and definitely a must.

L’Atlas

12, St. Germaine-des-Prés, tel: 01 44 07 23 66, (M: Maubert-Mutualité). Superb Moroccan food; think couscous and tagines. Not too fancy nor pricey considering the lovely tile work, good food, and gracious service just across from the fabulous Institute du Monde Arabe. Vegetarians will love the variety of seafood tagines when they’ve become tired of feeling short-changed by the meat-heavy menus in Paris.

Le Bambou

70, rue Baudricourt, tel: 01 45 70 91 75, (M: Tolbiac or Maison Blanche). A favorite spot for Vietnamese food. Inexpensive and authentic, expect your find yourself jammed elbow-to-elbow with fellow diners. Closed Monday.

Le Rubis

10, rue du Marche Saint-Honoré, (M: Tuilleries). Authentic Parisian wine bar and a great place for a rustic lunch or simple sandwich at the counter, washed down with a glass (or two) of wine. I like to stop in late afternoon for a sip or two, accompanied with a most generous plate of their good charcuterie.

Le Timbre

3, rue Sainte Beuve, tel: 01 45 49 10 40, (M: Notre Dame-des-Champs). Compact restaurant serving excellent cuisine traditionnelle, using the freshest of ingredients.

Ma Bourgogne

19, place des Vosges, tel: 01 42 78 44 64, (M: Bastille). Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday, this is a great spot to sit under the arches of the gorgeous place des Vosges. Standard French fare (the fixed menu is your best bet), generous salads, and Berthillon ice cream. No reservations or credit cards.

Thoumieux

79, rue St. Dominique, tel: 01 47 05 49 75, (M: Invalides or La Tour-Maubourg). Classic French bistro cooking, not too pricey and with less fanfare than the more well-visited bistros of Paris. Good cassoulet. Don’t let the cranky servers intimidate you; they’re actually quite funny once you realize they’re quite just being, um, French. Good bet for Sunday night supper.

Some of my recommended Paris dining and travel guides:

For information and listings of my top places for chocolate in Paris, I’ve devoted an entire chapter to those listings including addresses and specialties in my book, The Great Book of Chocolate, and more of my favorite Paris guides are listed here.

Dining Tips in Paris

Visiting and dining in Paris all boils down to one rule: How You Get Treated is Directly Proportional to the Way that you Behave and Present Yourself.

It’s taken me a few years to get used to the fact that I can’t run to the corner bakery for bread wearing sweatpants and flipflops, nor can I wolf down pastries on the métro without getting disapproving stares. So don’t be afraid to dress a bit better than you would at home and to practice a few words of your high-school French. Believe me, even the feeblest attempt at a little French will take you much further than you can imagine in Paris.

Here are some tips and answers to many commonly asked questions:

Water and Wine

It’s never required that you order a pricey bottle of water. Be like the French and ask for a carafe d’eau. If you want to order a bottle of water, ask for gazeuse (with gas) or plat (flat, without gas). Be sure to specify when you order. Would you go into a restaurant in the United States and tell a waiter “I’ll have a soda”?

Ice is rarely given, although if you’re lucky, you may get a cube. Asking for a lot of ice will generally means an extra cube.

Drinking wine by the carafe is normally good and inexpensive in Paris. Unlike in the US, the wine in the carafe is usually of good quality, which is why many French people order carafes. When in doubt, ordering Côte du Rhône is reliably good red wine.

Ordering

If you order two appetizers, or a bowl of soup for a main course, the waiter may be taken aback. Don’t take it as an insult; it’s just not done in restaurants (it’s something you could do in a café without raising eyebrows). Proper dining in France is taken seriously, but if you’d rather eat lightly, just explain to the waiter you’ve had so many delicious pastries that day, you need something lighter. That, my friends, they’ll understand.

Meat

Ordering meat rare, or bleu means that you like raw meat, hardly cooked, which is how many French people eat beef. Saignante is close to medium-rare. A point (to the point) is medium, and bien cuit or semelle (shoe leather) is well-done—or as we say in the restaurant business, “at your own risk”. If you like your steak well-done, due to the high quality of the beef, a restaurant that specializes in beef may not allow you to order it that was so don’t be surprised.

Waiters

Don’t assume your waiter is rude just because he doesn’t introduce himself by name and tell you his life story and rush over to refill your water after each sip. Unlike American restaurants with large staffs, restaurants in Paris often only have one or two people serving an entire dining room with no busboys. They are really busy! And when they have to deal with English speakers or people figuring out menus, that slows down their entire process. Don’t think they’re necessarily impolite. Realize that dining in France is important so relax and enjoy your meal.

You are also considered a guest in France when you go to a restaurant, not just a customer. So you should act like you’re in someone’s home, and being demanding or bossy won’t get you very far. If you have a special request, asking nicely and apologizing is your best bet. It’s not being obsequious, it’s normal. Special requests and food allergies seem to be rare in France and they’re simply not used to adjusting menus for special dietary preferences.

Impoliteness

There is a perception the French are rude which is probably because you never come across anyone rude in America. In Paris, it’s imperative to say ‘Bonjour Madame/Monsieur’ when entering a shop or restaurant, and ‘Merci Madame/Monsieur’ when leaving. There is an equally incorrect perception that Americans are impolite since they don’t acknowledge the salesclerks in their shops, which is like being invited into someone’s home and stepping inside without saying hello.

Bread and Butter

Only in fine dining rooms will you be given a bread plate. Normally you place your bread on the tabletop, not on your plate. Butter is rarely served with bread, but it’s usually okay to ask for it. This may answer your question, “How do the French stay so thin?”

Ordering Mistakes

Once you place your order in a restaurant, I advise not making any changes, which disrupts the flow of things. For some reason, once that ticket is submitted to the kitchen, you’re pretty much committed to what you’ve ordered.

At least once, you will order some unimaginable organ by mistake. When it happens to me I think of it as an instant French lesson. You will also probably get served a steak that’s not cooked exactly the way you expect it, fish will be served with the head on and bones in (taking them out before cooking dries the fish out, they rightly say), and other foibles. If something is obviously wrong, like your ordered a rare steak in a nice restaurant and it comes out gray inside, or the soup or cheese is ice-cold, you should bring it to the attention of the waiter. In lower-priced restaurants and cafés, you should keep your expectations equally modest, though.

Talking vs. Shouting

Americans talk LOUDLY. If you don’t believe it, watch cable television “news” for a few minutes. It’s gotten so that restaurant reviews in the United States now include ‘sound’ ratings to denote the volume in restaurants. Many of us are used to speaking loudly, especially when we get into groups. If you’ve ever tried to have a peaceful dinner next to a table celebrating their annual office party, you know what I’m talking about. In Paris, people will modulate their voices so as not to disturb other diners; keeping your voice down will endear you to the locals much better.

Coffee

Except during the morning hours, each time you order café, you will be served a small cup of dark, espresso-like coffee. If you want coffee with milk, when ordering ask for a café crème, not after they bring it. You may get a funny look if you ask for a café au lait, which is coffee with milk served in a bowl, always at home, for breakfast. Café noisette is an espresso with a touch of milk.

No one will automatically bring milk with coffee. If you don’t understand why, assume it’s the same reason that McDonald’s in the United States don’t serve wine. If you want milk with your coffee, you need to specify each time to each waiter in each restaurant. There’s no master-file on how each visitor to France takes their coffee. (Although come to think of it, with the famous French bureaucracy and staggering paperwork, perhaps they’d be willing to take that on.)

Here’s a list of my recommended places for drinking coffee in Paris.

Tips

After dining, you’ll need to ask for the check when you want it, called ‘l’addition’—it’s considered very impolite to give a guest the check before they’ve asked for it.

Tips are always included in the amount shown on the check. In Paris, it’s fine to round-up in smaller restaurants, such as if the check is 19€, it’s okay to leave 1€ extra if you get very good service, but never required. In general, it’s acceptable to leave up to 5% extra for very attentive service. But some Parisians get upset that Americans leave generous tips, rightfully fearing it will lead to future earnings expectations.

Relax!

If I could tell visitors to Paris one thing that’ll improve their dining experience, it’s to chill out. Yes, you might get some odd sausage instead of the soup you were expecting, or the steak may be cooked a bit more than you’re used to. (And the tables will to too close together, the service may be pokey, and you’ll have to ask at least twice for water.) But dining in France is not meant to be rushed and you don’t travel to experience things to be like back home, do you?

So take advantage of the leisurely service, inexpensive wine, and multiple courses and relax and enjoy yourself.

Smoking

As of January 1, 2008, all restaurants, bars, and cafés in France are non-smoking. Smoking is allowed only outdoors.

On a final note…

My favorite travel tip is to scan your passport and email it to yourself. That way if you lose your passport, you can print out a copy from any cybercafé in the world.