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/

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

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 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.

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

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

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

Bistrot Favart

A classical and very correct bistro; simple, based on good products; a so called cuisine du marche. With a more standard Parisian bar in the ground floor, the restaurant is on the first floor with the kitchen. Good wines. Friendly ambiance. Very reasonably priced.

www.bistrotfavart.com

Aux Deux Amis

This place is a strange mix between a noisy bar and a classy neo-bistrot. For those who prefer things quiet and nicely wrapped in, this might be a bit to much. For the rest of us, the place is excellent for tasting a series of interesting and well prepared dishes. Although the noyeau is French, some twists of Mediterranean kitchen are to be expected. Excellent wines. Very much Oberkamf. 

Frenchie - bar a vin

Frenchie is an excellent wine bar serving bistronomy in a cosy and intriguing ambiance. Located in a small alley, on a side street from Rue des Petits Carreaux and Montorgueil, this place. The tables are small, so if the place is full, you're likely to be placed at the table of other guests. Normally for the better, but if you can find a corner, hold on to it. The food comes in small, well prepared, elegant, tasteful servings, allowing for real dining as well as curious snacking. 

Jaja

JaJa labels themselves as a restaurant of "sympathetic kitchen and wine". Located in the very heart of Marais, the place is most often crowded and lively, full of people. Although the crowd is often rather touristy, some locals also drop by to add to the authenticity. The place is designed to be unpretentiously good, and do deliver on this, somewhat, overall. The wines are good, but too expensive for the food. A small court yard terrace adds to the charm, both summer and winter.

www.jaja-resto.com

La Chasse Gardee

La Chasse Gardee is a Batignolles adventure... a small, funny bar with a warm but kitsch deco, mixing deer hunting with a library cocktail bar. The food is traditional, very decent and well priced. The wines are ok, and you easily forgive them that instead of a wine menu, you just go and have a look at whats stocked in the wine rack. The staff is nice and cool. The ambience is also good, relaxed, although moving somewhat unpredictably. But you should go there, not because of the above, but solely to explore just what might happen, when the dinner is over and the hunting starts...

Des Gars dans la Cuisine

Guys in the kitchen. And for the better. A nice and cosy place in the heart of Marais. A simple and intuitive kitchen with appealing dishes, decently delivered. Rue Vieille du Temple is the like heartbeat of the neighborhood, and the restaurant hits the unpretentious and laid back vibe it intends to. The intentions are all good and the results is not bad. The servants are accommodating and you feel welcome chez les gars.

www.desgarsdanslacuisine.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