Eating in Paris can be hit and miss… Parisian restaurants can range from the sublime to the very ordinary. Generally I find that the very smart, Michelin starred and hard-to-get-into are pretty much what you expect… incredible food, amazing service, sophisticated decors and tantalising prices. These restaurants are not for every night… more for a special occasion… unless you are on a voyage of food discovery… When I am in Paris, I like to eat at smaller, less known restaurants… where the food is simpler and the experience is more relaxed. Last week I managed to eat in some very cute restaurants in different parts of the city… ( These photos are to set the scene rather than show you the restaurants… by the time I sat down most evenings… the camera had gone to sleep… I loved the colour combination of the red and the grey-green at this brasserie in Montmartre… and if it had been time for lunch or dinner, I would definitely have gone in… )
I am a big fan of Asian food… particularly Vietnamese and Cambodian… so last week I tried Le Petit Cambodge… a canteen style, no bookings restaurant near the Canal Saint Martin in the 10th arrondissement. The no reservation thing is a bit of a nuisance if you are in a group but as I was only 2 it was easy. This is a place to arrive early, it’s extremely popular and the queues grow long after about 7:30pm… The food is delicious… fresh, light and with the right amount of tang… It’s full of gorgeous young things, so Le Petit Cambodge is a great place to people watch as you munch your way through the Bo Bun Nem or the Rouleaux du Printemps ….
In total contrast to this restaurant is Grazie, a pizzeria restaurant and cocktail bar in the 3rd arrondissement operated by the clever people who have created the wonderful emporium, Merci... and it’s just down the road… A little browsing… a little pizza… a winning combination I thought… The pizzas are excellent… not too thick… not to thin… not too cheesy… proper pizzas with just the right amount of tomato sauce. The restaurant has a New York vibe… if there is such a thing in Paris… and again the people watching is pretty fab… xv
For your Parisian Notebook…
Monday to Saturdays… 11:00 – 23:00
20, rue Alibert
750010 Paris
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Daily 12-15:30, 19:30-23
91 boulevard Beaumarchais
(by rue des Arquebusiers)
75003 Paris
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For more of my Parisian recommendations visit my ‘Paris’ page here
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The Best Guides on where to eat in Paris…
Paris Restaurants … for your Kindle…
Gourmet Bistros and Restaurants
and my trusty standby… Zagat Paris Restaurants…
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Wonderful colours in the first photo and I agree with all that you say about restaurants in Paris. Thank you for these recommendations – I’m quite fussy about pizzas and the Grazie ones sound just perfect to me!
http://missbbobochic.blogspot.co.uk/
Bonjour ma belle!
This is great information my dear for I plan on getting back to Paris next year. When we were there, I could NOT get enough North African fare and we tried a new restaurant every night. They were all wonderful but the best one was definitely the smaller more unassuming establishment. I have to say however, that my best eating experience was in SARLAT, where we discovered one of the best open-air markets. I must have eaten my way through all the stalls, sauf the fish market, but everything was tested and given the seal of my approval!!!!!!
Enjoy your day ma chère! Anita
Thank you Vicki…we’re going to Paris later this year…I will take your recommendations with me
Have a lovely day.
Catherine
xx
Very interesting, maybe I will return to Momtmartre
once again. I loved it there. Great tips for travelers.
Hope you are having a great Summer. I am using a cane now and hope to be walking good again.
yvonne
Sur le chemin du retour il faut vous arrêter chez moi à Lyon et venir dîner dans un vrai bouchon Lyonnais… Là aussi il faut faire attention, beaucoup de nouveaux bouchons se sont installés, mais ils n’ont rien à voir avec les traditionnels petits bouchons tels “les fédérations” rue major Martin dans le 1er arrondissement ou chez “Hugon” à côté de l’Hôtel de Ville ou encore le Bouchon de l’Opéra…
Se méfier de ceux qui se trouvent dans le vieux Lyon.
Tout comme vous j’adore la cuisine asiatique. La cambodgienne ou la vietnamienne est la plus raffinée et la plus digeste. Merci pour les bonnes adresses.
Gros bisous et merci pour cette excellente publication.
Great tips for Visitors to Paris especially when they wish to avoid the tourist trap eateries. Merci!
My favorite food is vietnamese, I must write down the address for my few days in Paris in september
I shall keep these tucked away for my next trip to Paris. I have family there so I will ask them if they frequent either spots.
Sounds lovely.
pve
I had already heard good things about Grazie but Le Petit Cambodge is even more interesting to me–I LOVE good South-East Asian. I saw an address that I would like to try for my next time in Paris that might interest you: La Coloniale, 25 rue Mazarine in the 6th. Family-run Cambodian with a you guessed it, colonial decor. I saw it on My Little Paris…
I love the colour combinations/contrasts in the photographs. There is so much to be said for the aesthetics of how something looks before you reach the stage of putting food into your mouth…creating that ambiance is an essential. I’ve never been to Paris (never been to France … sadly…) but in my mind, this is how a charming restaurant would look. And that menu…I can see why had it been closer to lunch or dinner you would have given it a try! Now you’ll excuse me, you’ve made me hungry and it’s only just breakfast hour here!
I will have to bookmark this, Vicki. Thank you for sharing.
Teresa
xoxo
I love it when you open your address book to us Vicki! That first photo of the red and green café is great
Sharon
xx
Thank you. I am not a food snob,but I am sure particular about wanting to eat good food,at home and when abroad.
Have a great day!
Yes Pamela,
I also like to eat at simpler & much less known restaurants. Especially where the food is simple and the experience is more relaxed.
- Herman Swan
Great post as usual, lovely picture. Vicki, I’ve given up keeping lists as I was making myself crazy. I played around a bit with your blog and found that if I typed restaurants in “search”, all your suggestions came up. This is VERY VERY good. It doesn’t work this way for many bloggers. I too use Zagat but I’m do believe it’s hard to get a bad meal in Paris. I like “common” food so something unimaginative is fine. I also like the occasional glam meal as well. The people watching is better in the former, I think. My best experiences have been walking along the street, studying the people and the menu and “falling in” .. best, Karen in CT
Well Vicki I certainly know who to consult next time we are lucky enough to visit one of my most favorite cities….definitely something for everyone!!
I will bookmark this for my European Adventure + Thanks. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
Oh thank you for transporting us to Paris, even for a moment….
Nancy
i love this… i am like you… love to hunt and discover new places… and i am sure these are… and so charming… love the color… xx
I just want to say thank you for bringing France to me. I’ve dreamed of France all my life. I love everything about it. Even as a very young girl my dream bedroom would have been a lavender French-style room. I hang French calenders by my desk. When I can I buy French-inspired furniture or decor. I own French cookbooks and cook and bake all kinds of French delicacies. The years are flying by and my health would not allow my perfect dream of biking across the French countryside. But I still hold onto my dream of visiting my fantasy land. The reality is, though, that I may never step foot on my beloved French soil, so I appreciate, more than you know, that you bring France to me. I love seeing the sights and experiencing it through your eyes. So….from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Oh thank you for these recs. On our last trip to Paris I let my husband choose a few places and they were disasters. He was judging by the size of the crowd, and finally after what was easily the worst meal of our lives in the 5th, I cut him off. It was absolutely necessary.
I can’t wait to try these out, but they will have to wait for autumn. And to the 10 and the canal I shall go, places I haven’t been since I was a student.
Dear Vicki-
Yes, I totally agree! Dine once a month or twice a year, or once every so often at a wonderful PARIS restaurant like L’ARPEGE (one of my favorites) with the great chef Alain Passard, and then perhaps at one of the Joel Robuchon restaurants–but for week-to-week and day-by-day places, the ones you selected are ideal.
I love ALLARD on a Sunday evening when white asparagus is in season…you might be lucky to see Pierre Berge there…
I love Le Baratin…it’s on the edge of Belleville and about a twenty minute cab ride, and you arrive in a magical street, no sign of modern life, and walk in. The last time I went with a friend, the cafe cat was perched on my chair…it’s all very friendly, with cooking of a high caliber (it’s a favorite of all the French chefs…).
I used to love Le Paul Bert–but they expanded. Food is wonderful but be sure to sit in the ‘old’ part to the right of the bar (not the brightly lit new room).
One favorite food delight: on a lovely afternoon, select some lovely crust-trimmed sandwiches (club, egg salad, cucumber) and some bottled water at GERARD MULOT bakery/patisserie, rue de Seine, plus a slice of fresh cherry clafoutis (divine) and walk to the entrance of the Luxembourg near the entrance to the Senate, and find a chair beside the MEDICI FOUNTAIN (divine) in the shade, fountains, loveliness…). you are in heaven in Paris and the Medici Fountain is ultra-heaven…all best, DIANE
I have yet to get to Merci, I really must get there on my next trip!
Great photos – the people watching sounds like fun!
I love hearing of great little places,Unfortunately, I will not be in Paris anytime soon, Waaaaaaa.
Paris is like that isn’t it?
I was lucky to have my son living there for three years and it makes such a difference when you have inside information!
Two of my favorite cafes were Chez Prune on the Canal St Martin and Le Petite Gamine in the Marais.
B x
wonderful- we are visiting Paris this summer so I am bookmarking this! So looking forward to it.
We only have a few days, but I can’t wait to walk and walk and walk (and eat Berthillon ice-cream !)
Thanks Vicki, this is invaluable as usual. Wish we had taken your list of where to eat when last in Paris. We didn’t choose well and I felt we missed out on the gorgeous french food we know exists if you know where.
The Cafe in the photos is beautiful. It is about three doors down from the place I was staying in Monmartre last week. Great little area.