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

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 

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. 

www.cafelomi.com

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

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.

http://pierresangboyer.com

Les Vins des Dames

No matter how much how you appreciate the two ingredients in the name of Les Vins des Dames, you are quite likely to be disappointed. The place looks very cosy from the outside, and most certainly also is nice once you get in. But the wines are bad handled for a wine bar - hot and not freshly opened - and the food is simply not good enough. So although it looks nice, and although it remains somewhat all right or at least harmless after all, at least don't say I didn't warn you. And Rue des Dames holds plenty of other nice places...

Hope

Hope is a small organic, ex-surfer/skater hangout around the Lamarck-Caulaincourt. During summer you'll find sun on the pavement in front of you. Although the love and feel good ambience does not comes fully through in all the dishes, the place is a great weekend-hangout. Nice, chilled people all over. Excellent fruit and vegetable juices, and served just as you wish. For most of it, quite decent stuff, made with honest products.

www.hope-cafe.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

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