Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
The 30 best restaurants in Paris. Gastronomic restaurants. Affordable restaurants. Eiffel Tower or city view. Art Nouveau restaurants. Our selection out of the 13 000 restaurants in the City of Lights. Paris restaurant map. Trip to Paris.
There are 13 000 French and international restaurants in town. Paris is the place to taste world famous French cuisine. We have selected 30 top French restaurants that we know well and consider the best against four criteria:
* Affordable restaurants in Paris: stick to set menu, drink tap water, pay around 25 euros at these top quality restaurants.
* Art nouveau restaurants: the most beautiful Art Nouveau and Art Deco restaurants serving quality food.
* Paris restaurants with a view: a few restaurants combine good French food with a spectacular view of Paris.
* Gastronomic restaurants in Paris: taste nouvelle cuisine, fusion food and traditional French gastronomy at their best.
Restaurants are often closed on Sundays or Mondays, on December 25th and January 1st. Many of them are closed fully or partly in August. Paris brasseries are open seven days a week and on holidays. Most restaurants have a set menu for lunch on weekdays that is much cheaper than à la carte. It is free and quite common to drink tap water in Paris.
You are looking for a restaurant in town to propose, celebrate a wedding anniversary or another great event.
Take the spectacular private lift of the restaurant to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. At 125 meters, enjoy the breathtaking view. The restaurant is managed by cook Frédéric Anton, 3 star with Pré Catelan in Bois de Boulogne. The overall experience - lift, view, cuisine and service - positions the Jules Verne as the best choice in town for one time travellers, specially at lunchtime on weekdays.
The more affordable Ciel de Paris, another great restaurant, has a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower. Check our selection of the top restaurants with a view of Paris.
The city has affordable restaurants. Most of them are Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese or Italian. Many Parisians eat daily in French restaurants or brasseries that have dish of the day (plat du jour) or set menus at affordable prices. A few miraculously serve the best food you can have in town. Try Le Petit Marguery in the left bank, Des Gars dans la cuisine in Le Marais, Le Petit Olivier in the left bank or Café de la Tourelle near Notre-Dame. Top affordable restaurants in Paris.
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.
The city has a rich legacy of beautiful Art Nouveau restaurants. A few combine beauty with good food.
We love Mollard, an affordable brasserie near Saint-Lazare train station, the Opéra Garnier and the department stores. The seashells, sauerkraut and the famous Omelette Norvegienne make up a delicious meal. Drink beer from the tap or Alsatian white wine. We are regulars.
In between the Seine River and Saint-Germain-des-Près on the left bank, Relais Louis XIII is housed in a 17th century house, featuring old stones, noble wooden beams, engravings, stained glass windows and antique chairs.
Very attached to traditional French cuisine, Manuel Martinez, the cook, revisits it and brings an elegant modernity to his classical dishes. The cook is obsessed with finding the truth in flavors, through a meticulous produce selection process. Great gastronomy. 85 euro signature menu at lunch time.
William Ledeuil is a talented French cook. His fusion food is so tasty you will remember it for ever. His cuisine is derived from his passion for Asia and his respect for French cuisine tradition. The ingredients and the flavors are decisive. He combines them in total freedom, depending on his inspiration.
William Ledeuil runs two restaurants in the left bank, some of the bests in town. Set menu start from 29 (KitchenTer(re)) to 41 euros (Ze Kitchen Gallery) at lunchtime. We are regulars.
At the edge of the lovely Parc Montsouris, south of the city, Pavillon Montsouris has a beautiful dining room in winter and a terrace right in the park when the weather is good. Service and food are excellent. Prices are moderate for this quality. The metro station is Cité Universitaire on RER B, 10' from Notre Dame. A really good experience.
French food has iconic dishes such as Soupe à l'oignon and Boeuf Bourguignon. The recipe of Boeuf Bourguignon helps explain why French cuisine is so good.
Select first class chuck. The chuck is cooked in red wine (10 liters for 5 kg of meat) for 5 to 6 hours until the latter reduces by half. The meat is then marinated during 24 hours with carrots, onions and garlic. Then the meat and vegetables are colored separately in the pan, before being cooked again between 5 and 7 hours. Celery, peppercorns, cloves and tomato paste are added to reduce the acidity of the wine. Mushrooms, bacon and carrots are cooked separately. Then all is annealed, warmed up minute and served.
One of the best Boeuf Bourguignon in town is served at Café des Musées in Le Marais.
A legendary address near Opéra Garnier, the Café de la Paix boasts its famous Napoléon III décor. Inaugurated in 1862, at the same time as the Grand Hôtel which shares its premises, this iconic restaurant has always been at the heart of Parisian art and art de vivre.
We appreciate the friendliness of the service, the quietness and space and the perfectly prepared French cuisine. The set menu is served at lunch and dinner time.
Since 1942, Lasserre provides fine dining in an utmost elegant environment. Like most top end restaurants in Paris, Lasserre is a lifetime experience. The excellent service matches the dish superb taste and aesthetics.
Lasserre is certainly one of the most famous restaurants in Paris today. Lassere is located in the heart of the famous golden triangle near the Champs-Elysées. From the moment you enter, you are treated as a personal guest. An elevator brings you to the intimate and elegant dining room. There, a spectacular roof opening permits dining under a canopy of sky and stars. The Chef, Michel Roth, is preparing a French gastronomic cuisine. Be part of the legend. Many famous people have dined at Lasserre including Salvador Dalí, Romy Schneider, Marc Chagall, Audrey Hepburn, Brigitte Bardot and Robert De Niro. Set menu at lunchtime costs 170 euros. One Michelin star.
Paris metro: Champs-Elysees Clemenceau, line 1,13. Map.
