Just don’t lick the plate or ask for a doggie bag. These restaurants aren’t cheap but you’ll push yourself away from the table and feel you’ve gotten full value. If you’ve come to Paris to eat as well as see the sights, here are some suggestions to start you salivating.
Le Reminet
3, rue des Grands-75000
Phone: 01 44 07 04 24
http://www.lereminet.com/
Located just behind the quay Montebello facing the Ile de la Cite and Notre Dame, Reminet is a charming little bistro which combines a regular clientele and stray tourists. In the historic district, the restaurant has retained its charm and authenticity.
Budget: 30-60 € / Menu 13 €, 17 € and 50 €
La Cuisine de Philippe, 25 Rue Servandoni, Metro: St Sulpice, 75006, 143297637
In this retro little bistro that looks out onto the Jardin du Luxembourg, diners enjoy generous traditional dishes. The house speciality is the soufflé, savoury and sweet (guacamole and smoked salmon; hazelnut etc). Good value.
Lunch 23€ incl. drinks – 32€ (dinner) – 38€
Restaurant Mariette
24 Rue Bosquet, 75007
01 45 51 78 82
Specializes in refined French cuisine, infused with tastes from the Iberian peninsula. Chef learned the ropes from his mother then from Bocuse, Constant, Guy Martin.
http://www.restaurant-mariette.com/
samples from the menu:
Soft-boiled egg, Crab meat with spinach cream, 19 €
Duck “Foie Gras” raviolis with Sweet Potato, 18 €
MAIN COURSE
Turbot roasted over a mushrooms and coriander white butter sauce, 30 €
Loin of lamb stuffeded with chorizo Bellota, garnished with roasted leeks with butter, 29 €
Farm Chicken ‘Label Rouge’ with foie gras served with Camargue black rice), 30 €
DESSERT
Chocolate sorbet profiteroles with an Espelette pepper chocolate sauce, 11 €
AVERAGE À LA CARTE PRICES: 45 €
Le Bistrot Lorette
43 Rue Notre Dame de Lorette | 75009
01 42 81 13 87
Reservations required: less than 30 seats. Be on time or the table will be assigned to someone else. Fast service but have not been pressed to leave so far so the seat could be turned over. € 26 for a main course + dessert. Onlget veal sauce, basil goat, guinea fowl pastilla sauce with spices and roasted figs. Dessert: baked apple crumble with ice cream and caramel salted butter.
La Bonne Excuse
48 Rue de Verneuil, 75007
01 42 61 50 21
Located just a few blocks from the Musée d’Orsay, this charming bistro makes a wonderful spot to grab lunch or dinner on either side of a museum visit. The restaurant is very much in the tradition of the neo-bistro, a small place owned by a chef with expert training and an entrepreneurial streak. The menu (dinner entrees start at €24) changes often. Try the pork with green beans and preserved lemon, the langoustines, and the monkfish medallions.
Au Bon Coin, 21,rue de la Collegial, 5th Arrondissement
http://www.auboncoin-bistrot.com/en
The kind of bistro every tourist hopes to find in Paris: Out-of-the way (and therefore affordable), accessible, and serving classic French food with enough of a twist to surprise. Chef Emmanuel Chanois pairs foie gras terrine with toasted brioche and gingerbread sauce and does a beautiful sea bass with risotto so creamy it’s like a savory rice pudding.
Starter + main course + dessert : 32€
Starter + main course or Main course + dessert : 26€
Hours : 11h-15h & 19h-23h