La Petite Sirène de Copenhague

This small gem is located in the middle of the vibrant and lively 9th district, where good restaurants are popping up almost on a weekly basis. However, the Danish patron is here to stay. In fact, he already has for more than a decade. And he does it quite well. The kitchen is surely recognizably Danish, although the location in Paris has not passed without affecting the style slightly. And be aware, this is not the place to encouter the new Scandinavian kitchen, the style is light and elegant, although still mainly traditional, which probably also why it remains so popular in Paris. Although focus is on seafood particularly, all dishes are well-prepared and well-presented servings with clear Danish origins. Most definitely worth a visit.

lapetitesireneparis.com/index.php/en/

Le Pantruche

Le Pantruche is an excellent new charming bistro, located in a small side street, right off the vibrant Rue des Martyrs. Discrete, but warmly decorated, and with perhaps just as many tables inside as you could imagine. As both guests and staff are nice, open and accommodating; the proximity of a large number of potential friends just adds to the vibe of the place. The kitchen is inventive, but solidly grounded. Particularly worth exploring is the excellent application of fish and sea food, for example in oyster tartare, mackerel, or the likes. Wines are good - some even very good - and available for a bargain. Most definitely worth the visit - again...

lepantruche.com

Benoit

One of the institutions on the Parisian bistro scene, now taken over by Ducasse, but still emphasizing the tradition in the cuisine francaise. The menu is not surprising and does not aim to be so either. The interior very charming and more welcoming than indicated by the pulsating location in Rue Saint-Martin, not too far away from Les Halles. Waiters are impeccably dressed, and even behaved, and English is noticeably customary for a classical French bistro. So the food... obviously overpriced. And perhaps the chef's attention to elaborate collations is higher than on the less fancy but hearty bistro food.  A number of dishes are nicely presented and very tasty (although still to the classical and very heavy side), but others less so, ending up being pretentious and trivial. A plain countryside dish such as cassoulet could be heavenly, but is simply not. Wines are well selected, but the price-value ratio is not decent and considerably below average. All in all, a decent experience, but you'll find better bistros in Paris for half the price...

www.benoit-paris.com

Evi Evane

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

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. 

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

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.

La Baignoire

This restaurant happens to be located less than 30 meters from my apartment. In itself, this does of course not lead to any kind of bias in this assessment... still: This is really un resto du quarter. An unpretentious, better than very decent, place. With small funny bath tubs, taps and other stuff decorating the relaxed - read, not over styled - deco, the place greets you with a direct view to the large kitchen (although this sometimes reminds you that occasionally, you do fry things in a kitchen). If you decide to come early, know that the restaurant is filled later than most places in Paris - and usually with a rather young and lively crowd. The wine list is not overwhelming, but it does the job. And no wines cost more than 40 euros, in itself a clear indication of a preference to serve food to the locals, rather than becoming bobo'ised. And the food is simply good. A plain entrecôte, comme il faut. Good potatoes, by the book. Nicely done cod tartare, fresh and appetizing. And a very nice and warm staff. Friendly. The place you are really glad to have around the corner.

www.labaignoire-paris18.com

Chez Moustache

We are at a beardy place. And as strange as this may sound, it feels good. Bistrot Rigolo as they call it themselves. We are in the 11th, on the corner of Amelot and J-P Timbaud, where this new cool resto de tendance is welcoming you. A huge and usually quite crowded bar desk is at the entrance, until you're skillfully guided towards the back of the two rooms where tables are somewhat randomly organized. The staff is cool, friendly and attentive. The food is a good, not necessarily highly inventive, but a well grounded, creative cuisine de marche; things are well prepared, nicely served, and simply taste very good. An excellent place. Although the wines are a bit pricy for the quality, the place is highly recommended, particularly for the cool ambiance and the overall experience. Good cocktails too. For example in case you've actually left the table but somehow feel the need to chill for a second or two as the bar greets you again, just before reaching the exit...

www.chezmoustache.com

La Quincaillerie

La Quincaillerie is yet another hip-cool kind of place in the still filthy-greasy, but now even more than ever up-and-coming area in Faubourg-Saint Denis. Lively, good ambience, this half bar, half restaurant is laid back and makes you feel instantly at home (except for a few bewildered banana flies). The staff is kind of laid back - perhaps even a bit too much - but always very friendly and nice. With an ambitious chef in the kitchen, eager to get the finalized servings out where they belong in due time, this is kind of funny to watch. Decent wines on the glass, and some interesting, tasty and well prepared servings in the lower end of the bobo-bistrot price range. Go there because its always lively. Or go there before you're having some drinks somewhere else in the area. Or just go there because it's all in all a good experience.

www.facebook.com/LaQuincaillerie10?fref=ts

Au Comptoir de Brice

Inside one of the covered market places of the 10th district in Paris, you'll find a crowded, long, wooden counter, covering up an open kitchen. Good things are happening here. The place is rather unusual, a French restaurant serving excellent food from 12 to 18 all week days - that is, no semi-fascistoid time constraints implemented with provoking rigor, with lunch being served only between 12.30 and 13.15 or something similar... well, anyway. Although considerably more sophisticated than a mere market place counter, the place has the local ambiance, the high standards of quality, and the charming feel-good cosiness that just makes you want to stick around for yet another round of excellent food. Although the menu is limited, it's good - from the tasty and juicy cheese burgers to the delicate and well cooked veal liver. A few, but well selected, good wines by the glass; and a small crowd of warm staff, running around, smiling, despite even the more busy weekend buzz. A perfect Saturday afternoon hideout.

www.aucomptoirdebrice.com

Le Severo

Le Severo is located in one of the more charming corners around the generally quite uninteresting Tour de Montparnasse area. The place is small and the tables close. Le patron is a little bit everywhere, and as a former butcher, he feels absolutely free to tell his guests to keep their voices down if their jokes are bad, or if he just does not feel they behave as they're supposed to. Very French in the somewhat funny way. Several wines are excellent, although you will also need to pay for them. The major force of this place is definitely the meat. It is just really, really good. 

Racines - Marchand de Vin

Racines - or roots - is an excellent restaurant located in yet another one of Paris' many charming passages. The old wine shop is modestly decorated; empty bottles greet you welcome in the windows and the kitchen is open, practically hidden behind the bar. The guests are couples, business people with a need to charm their clients, or simply wine enthusiastic friends. There is no wine menu as such. The wines for sale are show cased randomly at shelves around the restaurant, which unavoidably forces you interact with the other guests around the small tables. Unless of course, you take the easy short cut, and get some good advice from the open and warm guys running the place. The wines are mostly natural. The kitchen is unpretentious, focused; the food is very well prepared, and the products well selected. Not a place for a comprehensive menu, but the place where the two or three main dishes they serve a good. Comme il faut. A very nice and cosy place.

Coinstot

Coinstot is a crowded and always lively wine bar, located at the end of the charming Passage des Panoramas near the Grands Boulevards. The wines - mostly natural - are excellent and well selected. The choice of producers reflect that natural wines can and should be not only an ideological choice, but also and mainly about finding the good wines. And not necessarily from the more well know appellations. Also the food is well selected, from the oysters, the charcuterie plates to the well treated meat. It's all good. The prices are most certainly reasonable; this is a place where you can easily spend a good evening accompanied by a soul full kitchen. 

www.coinstot-vino.com

Marche des enfants rouges

An good but small, partly covered market, where the bobos of Paris check each other out and hang out.  An excellent cheese shop, and an equally good butcher is just outside the market at Rue de Bretagne. Inside, there are several small wine bars and very good lunch restaurants. A bit expensive, but generally good quality products. 

In Champagne - Damien Wilmet in Reims

Located near the old market place (will the restoration ever end?) in a beautiful light butcher house, you'll find this elegant and sparkling bar, bistro and wine shop. Well carpentered wooden tables. An appropriate number of Champagnes on the glass. An unpretentious lunch kitchen serves exactly what you need. Everything is here. Just relax, sit down, and let it come to you. And hope that you have not planned any visites de cave within the short future.

Le Dorcia

Is is really named after the American Psycho restaurant, where reservations always required a bit more than usual? It is not clear. The decor is low lit, creamy elegant, as posh as wooden panels get. The kitchen is very classical, the menu is narrow but good, and the food is very well prepared. The servings are inventive, despite the classical point of departure. Good selection of wines. A bit too pricy though, but if not, most definitely a good meal.

www.ledorcia.fr

Le Bistrot du Sud-Ouest a Paris

A cuisine de terroir from the South. A traditional and not very Parisian place. The place to have well served duck and goose in all the ways you can imagine. An easy going restaurant, almost stagnant. With well-made duck...

www.sudestetcie.com

Closerie des Lilas - brasserie

A Boulevard institution. And the place does not seem to oxidate. You feel the vibe from when you enter. From the harmless mice running on the floor in the entrance to the drunk piano player with a craving for Elvis and Calvados. A bar, sharp and to the point. It's all there. And of course, a very decent kitchen, although today perhaps rather overpriced - also in the brasserie.

www.closeriedeslilas.fr