If you really want to go out for Greek food when in Paris, where to go? Evi Evane is one of the places. Despite the very central location around Saint Germain and Mabillion, the place is very reasonably priced and things are good. Like in Greece: Not sophisticated or extravagant, just simple and well prepared. A very nice and cosy place. Challenge yourself and try the greek wine - it's actually quite decent.
Huitres et Saumons de Passy
A really good place. As the name indicate, they serve oysters and salmon. Plain and simple. But good. No non-sense, simply just fresh seafood. In one of the small side streets from the bourgeois Passy area, you find this hole small place, practically not much more than a hole in the wall, a small serving kitchen behind a counter - and that's basically it. A perfect spot for a round of oysters or a fresh ceviche. Good and very reasonably priced wines.
www.huitres-et-saumons-de-passy.com
www.huitres-et-saumons-de-passy.com
La raLLonge
La RaLLonge is just next to another excellent restaurant by the same patron, la Table d'Eugene (see http://pariseur.blogspot.fr/2012/12/la-table-deugene.html). La RaLLonge is a modern looking tapas bar with excellent jamon iberico, cheeses, a variety of seafood, small elegant and well prepared dishes; this place is an excellent to pass an evening. No reservations are possible in order to keep guests mainly local - and so the crowd is. From half past seven the tables are getting full, and hopeful newcomers quickly fill out the space in between. The food is well thought out and generally very good - although some dishes work less well and a few faults are spotted in the execution. But a very cool and place. Exellent wines.
Bouillon Racine
Bouillon Racine is in the category of old style classically elegant boulevard brasseries of the rive gauche. Very decorative, and despite some kaleidoscopical interior design anachronisms, the place is most definitely charming. The staff is friendly and attentive, perhaps because the number of american tourists raise the average tips to something way way beyond the quite moderate Parisian standards. The menu is classical, but not quite as well executes as it should be.
www.bouillonracine.com
www.bouillonracine.com
Marcel
This modern looking cafe serves well-prepared breakfast and brunch all days from 10 and throughout the day. A cool, young team, preparing and selling good stuff, creates an excellent vibe du quartier. On a charming corner of the upper back side of Montmartre, the place has an ease and calm that would make you come back, also even if the Eggs Benedict were not irresistible (they are...).
www.marcelmarcel.fr
www.marcelmarcel.fr
Le cafe lomi
How strange indeed that Paris, with its countless cafes, have so few places where you can get a decent cup of coffee... Cafe Lomi, however, is one of these few places. Remotely placed in the 18th, on the boarder of the hipster'ish area behind Montmartre and the not quite so area around Porte de la Chapelle, the place has some particular vibe of its own. New York style interior and most often crowded with people. And good, freshly roasted coffee, both single estates and their own blends. One of the better coffee dealers in the northern part of Paris.
Les cocottes
A cocotte is a kind of stew pan used for simmer food. Les cocottes is one in a line of three restaurants from Christian Constant, located just next to each other (see also http://pariseur.blogspot.fr/2013/01/cafe-constant.html). The place is warm and has a good ambience, although the well known chef also here implies a quite touristy and international vibe. You dine at high chairs and tables and in the long and cool looking wooden bar. The wine selection is of course very good, and the food also delivers to some extent, although the concept of basic recipes in cocottes is less preparations a la grand mere and more a kind of stunt in the servings. Which actually is a bit a shame. A bit pricy too. A good experience, although you're left with the feeling of missing out on something.
maisonconstant.com
maisonconstant.com
Milord
Context is everything: Imagine that the sun is shining warmly on the first sunny spring day in Paris. You are wandering carelessly on the butte de Montmatre enjoying the weather, the people and the extraordinary places on your way. You feel like a brunch. This place appears in front of you, covering the pavement with uneven tables on the mounting street. People are passing by, saying hi, telling stories, passing by again, walking their dogs, their wives or even their mistresses. And you're enjoying your brunch. Very simple although overwhelming and not expensive (the word cheap doesn't really sound nice). So you can simply chill in the afternoon sun while enjoying the generous plates. Feels good.
La Cave Marcadet
A very local wine bar. So local that there is a back entrance from my stairs... in other words, convenience is high. However, the place does not serve wine alone (as this requires another kind of license, as I'm patiently explained) - it serves wine with small plates of cheese or charcuterie. And it sells wines. And cheeses. And other kinds of nice stuff. Wines are to a large extent organic or natural, although a little bit pricey (which is probably only for the better from a very personal perspective, considering the location). The cheeses are excellent. A cosy place for a local feel, for a talk with nice people dedicated to their shop, or for tasting a glass of a new interesting wines you've never heard of before.
Le Daily Syrien
Le Daily Syrien combines a small deli with a newspaper kiosk. With quite a large selection of interesting papers and magazines, it serves good, well-prepared Syrian food, such as hommos, taboule, shawarmas, falafels, and the likes. Not to forget, the mandatory the a la menthe. Simply good, and definitely more appetizing than similar offerings in the surrounding neighborhood.
Les coulisses vintage
Do not go there. To put it very simple. Ca colle pas du tout. The Greeks have an expression: Mas piasan ton kolo (something along "they took us on the ass"). Way too expensive. And simply bad. In the conceptualization as in the execution. Too pretentious. Simply a ridiculous way to spend even just a few hours of your life. Enough said. Even when you cannot get a table elsewhere, it's not worth it. Try harder.
Le Tout Petit
In the heart of the friendly neighborhood around Batignolles, you'll find a small square, somewhat in between a little decorative parisian park and a white painted church. In the midst of all the cafes and bars generously welcoming its visitors, a tiny restaurant has been squeezed in between its neighbors, Le Tout Petit. The ambiance is cosy, it's almost always crowded, particularly outside during the summer time. The prices are very reasonable, or even, regardless of your pick, you can be almost sure that it's a good buy. The food is very decent, but simple; salads, plates with cheese or charcuterie, and a single hot dish of the day. It's not sophisticated, but the staff is very friendly and relaxed. A fair selection of wines too.
l'épicuriste
L'épicuriste is easy to oversee on the large Boulevard Pasteur close to Montparnasse. However, once you've been there, you will most certainly remember. This place is simply how good bistros should be: Cousy but still sufficiently elegant, laid-back with out being easy-going, and friendly while maintaining classical deeds. The kitchen seems basque inspired without making a fuss about it, but elegantly masters different kinds of fish, pimientos and of course a bunch of other stuff. The food is excellent, very well-prepared, to the point, and everything on your dish serves a purpose. The selection of wines is rich and well done, and the value for money is good. Staff is friendly and accomodating, and the chef knows what he's talking about. Epicurism is about seeking pleasure and greatness through modesty. Spot on.
Pierre Sang
On the corner of the vibrant Rue Oberkampf in the 11th district, you will find a cool place called Pierre Sang. You enter a most often crowded and lively place where something that looks like the mother of all bar counter works as a an epicenter, the place where everyone is seated, mixing up people and companies, adding up to the good ambiance of the place. From here you can fully oversee what's happening in the kitchen - or you can just chat up people next by... For those interested in neither, the more calmer room downstairs, accompanying the numerous bottles of the cellar, would also be an option.
The kitchen is French-Korean, and although the food is very well-prepared, the idea behind the mixing up of the different elements is not always clear. Tasty and elegant, ambitious, but still not fully successful. However, the place is cool, nice, and the staff is very friendly and accommodating. Wines are mostly nature, and they actually do a pretty good job here. Reasonably priced within the difficult genre of neo-bistrots tendances.
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