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

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

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.

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

Le Refuge des Moines

Le Refuge des Moines is a warm and cosy wine bar with a simple and traditional, yet well-made, French kitchen. The wine menu is broad and reasonably priced. As simple as that.

www.baravinlerefugedesmoines.com

La Gauloise

A charming place, with is low key, understated interior. And a good address in the 15th. La Gauloise is a small pocket in time, taking you back the grandeur of the political France since de Gaulle. The place still has a good vibe, and the waiters are dressed just as immaculately as the plates they serve. A classical Parisian bistro.

Chez Prune

Chez prune is basically one of the cafes or bistros that the life around the canals is turning around. They do actually serve very decent food. Classical bistro food, with no pretensions of being more. But of course, this is not why you come here. You come here for the vibe, because you're strolling around the canals. You come here for the lively ambiance, to have fun, and go out. Rightly.

Au bon coin

Another good corner of Paris! in the 17th, on the cosy Rue Lemercier, you will find this nice, warm-ambianced, and well turned classical bistrot. The kitchen might be in the less ambitious end, but the final results are certainly decent, stretching from the well prepared "the day after" burger, or more serious, classical French kitchen. The wines are good, and the place is often crowded in the late evenings or when the locals gather in the weekends.

Les Enfants Perdus

After a long, but soothing walk at the Canal Saint-Martin Sunday evening, this place is just there when you need it the most. With its dragging charm, it is welcoming and easy going. The bar alludes a somewhat classical scenery, where the child of the waiter/tender is dining quietly, gets picked up by his mother (the wife of the barman), after which the mistress takes over the scene. Or something like that. This parallel universe, however charming it might be, does not speed up the service. But it is something. And the food is good, very well prepared; the menu is tempting and holds its promises. The style is inventive, and seems yet firmly grounded in the classical virtues.

www.les-enfants-perdus.com