Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
Affordable restaurants are highly in demand in Paris. It is possible to have a good meal in the city at reasonable price. The majority of cheap restaurants in touristic districts are Asian. There are few affordable restaurants near the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Elysées. Taste French cuisine in affordable restaurants such as Café du Commerce near Eiffel Tower and l'Alsace in the Champs-Elysées. Go for lunch. Order set menu, drink tap water and the house wine. Affordable set menus are generally served at lunchtime, so that lunch is often much cheaper than dinner. Paris restaurant map. Restaurants in Paris.
Café du Commerce is an affordable and spacious three floor restaurant, serving traditional French cuisine. Café du Commerce is located on a lively and distinctive street of the 15th arrondissement, two metro stops from the Eiffel Tower.
The Café du Commerce serves a selection of authentic recipes for you to discover including their poireau vinaigrette (leeks in vinaigrette), oeuf mayonnaise (eggs and mayonnaise) and of course, their quality Limousine meat.
Around 30 euros. 19.6 euros two set menu + café at lunch time. Metro: Motte Piquet Grenelle. Two metro stops from Eiffel tower. Map.
The Champs-Elysées have few affordable restaurants and the value for money is usually low. It is therefore worth mentioning l'Alsace, a brasserie that serves an affordable set menu despite the astronomic rents. Like all brasseries in town, l'Alsace serves sauerkraut, seafood, beer and Alsace wines. The restaurant is open 24/7 seven days a week. The two course menu at 19.90 euros is served for lunch and dinner and the quality is excellent. There is also plenty of choice à la carte, but it will naturally cost extra money.
At walking distance from Champs-Elysées, rue de Ponthieu has takeouts and affordable restaurants stormed by young white collars at lunchtime. The value for money is much better there than in Champs-Elysées. Locate rue de Ponthieu on Paris map. Metro: Franklin-Roosevelt station on line 1 and 9.
L'Italien is a rare, tasty and affordable Italian restaurant near Champs-ELysées.
Weito is a new affordable japanese restaurant with interesting set menus at lunch and dinner times.
As in many large cities around the world, most very affordable restaurants in town are Asian or oriental. They change rapidly making it hard to propose a selection.
Rue Sainte-Anne (map) close to Le Louvre, has many good and cheap Japanese restaurants.
There are many good and affordable vietnamese and chinese restaurants around avenue d'Ivry (map) in the 13th arrondissement chinese neighbourhood.
We are regulars of Les Pâtes Vivantes (46, rue du Faubourg Montmartre and 3 rue de Turbigo) specialized in Chinese noodles and Mian Fan (124, boulevard du Montparnasse, 20 rue Mogador, 15 Bvd Montmartre, 40, rue Saint-Georges) serving tasty Asian fusion food.
There are many affordable greek and lebanese restaurants around rue Saint-Séverin (map) near Notre-Dame Cathedral and Rue Mouffetard near Le Panthéon.
Higuma is a well known institution in town. Two very cheap restaurants near Louvre Museum and Opéra Garnier, serving traditional Japanese food, such as ramen, donburi, itamemono, gyozas and ramen. No sushis or sashimis.
The ramen are excellent: bowl of broth made from soybean paste with fresh pasta, bamboo shoots, pork, bean sprouts or bowl of salt based broth with fresh pasta, lots of various vegetables. The stir-fries (itamemono) are delicious, especially the large bowl of rice covered with pork, squid, various vegetables in Japanese sauce.
Try the often busy Higuma rue Sainte-Anne, near Le Louvre, in the Japanese restaurant street. No bookings.
There are few affordable restaurants with a view in Paris. A good choice is the Marina lunch cruise. At 58 euros, it combines an excellent French lunch with a sighseeing cruise.
The Marian Seine lunch cruise is a one and a half hour cruise. It let you admire Notre-Dame, Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre Museum and the Eiffel Tower. During the cruise, a three course gastronomic lunch is served.
Most affordable French gastronomic restaurants have a set menu at lunch time, but dinner is much more expensive. Le Petit Marguery is one of very few French gastronomic restaurants serving the set meny at dinner time.
The menu is renewed every day with products sourced in Rungis fresh products market. The traditional French specialties follow the seasons. The famous Grand-Marnier soufflé is always on the menu. The wine list showcases selected estates in France. Pierre-André Choisnett is a great young cook and Youssoupha Tabouré makes up for a warm and efficient service.
Three course set menu at lunch and dinner time costs 36 euros. Unbeatable two course menu with café at 22 euros at lunch and dinner time.
Parisians like us can miss La Tourelle for years. The local who recommended it to us hesitated. If more people know the place, it could change the wrong way. No web site. No thrills. They focus on food the old way and serve delicious home made French dishes at more than affordable prices for this district. The two course set menu costs 19 euro.
For more than 100 years, Café de la Tourelle has been a neighborhood restaurant for working Parisians. While the place has changed hands a few times, most recently in 2000, nothing much has changed. There is nothing hip about La Tourelle. No trendy menu, no cute server, no floral arrangement. Even the address, though in a highly touristic district near Notre-Dame, is on a quiet side street off the busy Boulevard Saint-Michel. Get in and try it. Metro: Saint Michel line 4. Map. Close to Notre-Dame.
Bouillon Racine represents over 100 years of culinary history close to the Sorbonne University in the heart of the left bank.
It was created in 1906 as a bouillon, the ancestors of Parisian brasseries serving food to working people. Its Art Nouveau setting made of carved wood, ceramics, mirrors and glass paintings, is one of the most beautiful in town.
Now listed as an historical monument, Bouillon Racine offers an immersion in the Paris of the 1900s. Where food is concerned, the chef Alexandre Belthoise has selected a subtle blend of modern day and more traditional dishes. Two course set menu at lunchtime during week for 19.5 euros. 3 course menu at 35 euros for lunch and dinner. Lunch review.
Paris metro: Cluny La Sorbonne metro station of Luxembourg metro station. Map.
Boualem and Yakob just opened le Petit Plaisir restaurant in the left bank a few metro stops away from Montparnasse and Saint-Germain-des-Près. These very welcoming brothers perpetuate the tradition of affordable restaurants for locals. Good cuisine made from fresh products, good French wine, very affordable set menu at lunch time, Parisian atmosphere.
If you would like to take your time and go off the beaten tourist track, rush to Le Petit Plaisir. This is Paris at its best.
Paris metro: Plaisance line 4. Map.
We would like to be able to recommend many Le Petit Olivier, but there are few in central districts. In the lovely, trendy and expensive rue du Cherche-midi, this tiny and packed restaurant serves a good dish of the day and a desert for 10 euros. The chef, who also does the service, cooks traditional French disches, like baked sardines, smoked sausage and lentils or black pudding as daily specials. On the service side, no fuss. The best way to choose your dessert? “You get up, you look in the fridge. “Indeed, on the other side of a small corridor, banana chocolate fondants and speculoos mousse are waiting for gourmets. "The spoons are next," calls out the chef. For a bit, we would almost ask the neighbors if they want us to bring them something. Unbeatable. No web site. No reservation.
In the heart of Le Marais, close to Picasso Museum, innovative and fresh French food with affordable set menu at lunch for 21.50 euros. Good wine glasses. Pictures.
The chef, Gil Rosinha, creates the dishes himself depending on the products which are available. The dishes are all thought out and diverse. They vary from a simple salad and soup of the day to fois gras in the style of pot au feu, passing by roasted duck breast with vanilla potato puree accompanied by a mango and ginger ratatouille, to a winter root vegetable selection cooked in butter, or a black angus burger. The wine list is huge, including a good range of reds, whites, sparkling wines and roses. Most are French, with the exception of a few specially selected Spanish wines. Metro: Hotel, de Ville station, line 1. Map.
In between Le Marais and Opéra Bastille both at walking distance, Bofinger is one of the best Paris brasseries.
The history of Bofinger dates back to 1864, when Frédéric Bofinger opened this brewery. It was the first Parisian establishment where draft beer was served, hence its name Brasserie. In 1919, Brasserie Bofinger adorned itself with an exceptional Art Nouveau setting.
Bofinger serves exemplary seafood, one of the best sauerkraut in Paris, and other tasty dishes and desserts. Extensive wine list from Alsace and all regions of France. Courteous and efficient service.
Menu at 33 euros and formula at 19.90 euros at lunch.
Paris restaurants with a view | Nouvelle cuisine in Paris | Art Nouveau restaurants in Paris | Paris restaurant map
The lunch cruise is affordable
