Websites

Recently I’ve tried a few places from Paris by Mouth1 and they’ve been good.

Restaurants

L’Envue, 39 rue Boissy d’Anglas, 75008.

A slightly crazy, bohemian place near Place de Madeline, warmly recommended as a fun place to eat. The food’s usually good, and always presented with flair and sparkle.

For more details see their website,2 or Google Maps.3

Last visited December 2008.

Au Virage Lepic, 61 Rue Lepic, 75018.

A fine bistro in Montmartre. There’s little more to be said: take an appetite and enthusiasm for good food, and you’ll come away delightfully sated.

For more details call them on 01 42 52 46 79, or see Google Maps.4

Last visited December 2008.

L’atome Café, 29 Boulevard de Grenelle, 75015.

There are times in life when all one really wants is a decent confit de canard, and I warmly recommend this place for such times.

For more details see Google Maps.5

Last visited November 2009.

Ze Kitchen Galerie, 4, Rue des Grands Augustins, 75006.

A fine modern restaurant next door to Les Bouqinistes, which I also recommend.

It’s always nice to find a new restaurant which breaks free from convention, and relies on the chef to combine fine ingredients in unusual ways. By and large, Ze Kitchen Galerie succeeds. Their dishes don’t have that sense of being obviously right—but only after you’ve tried them—but there’s clearly thought and talent of high-order at work.

For more details see their website,6 or Google Maps.7

Les Bouquinistes, 53 quai des Grands Augustins, 75006.

I’ve been lucky to dine here many times over the years and the food’s always between good and great.

The highlight on my last visit was the dessert: a riff on apples cooked in different ways which, I was told, won an award a few years’ ago.

They also serve a crazy French whisky which although obvious related to a fine Scottish malt is altogether more ethereal. It’s nice about once a year, which by happy coincidence is about the interval between my visits to Paris.

October 2011 update: sadly I think the desserts were a bit pedestrian this time, and the current ‛Pomme’ is a pale immitation of last year’s apple-based delight. On the plus side I had a stunningly good tuna starter, and a wonderfully gamey hare.

For more details see their website,8 or Google Maps.9

Last visited October 2012.

L’Atelier du Joël Robuchon, 5, rue de Montalebert, 75006.

I’ve been meaning to try this place for ages, and I finally found myself in roughly the right place at roughly the right time—6:30pm.

As so often in fine restaurants, the starter was the best bit: exquisitely cooked scallops with truffles. One of the best dishes I’ve eaten anywhere.

If I had to find fault it would be with the dessert: an elegant chocolate sphere which was both food and magic-trick. Although perfectly constructed, the waiter stole the prestige—it would have been much more fun had I discovered the surprise for myself.

Warmly recommended though!

For more details see their website,10 or Google Maps.11

Last visited November 2010.

Les Fines Gueules, 43 rue Croix des Petits Champs, 75001.

Although one could just come here for a drink, I think it’s firmly on the food side of the restaurant/wine-bar divide. Happily that’s because the food is good rather than the wine substandard!

One minor nit: my saignant steak was decidedly à point if not bien cuit!

For more details see their website,12 or Google Maps.13

Last visited October 2011.

Le Reminet, 3 rue des Grands Degrés, 75005.

A delightful little bistrot, which serves marvellous food.

For more details see their website,14 or Google Maps.15

Last visited October 2011.

Moustache, 3 rue Ste Beuve, 75006.

A fine restaurant, serving high-quality French fare with a subtle Asian twist. A fine ambience too: subtle lighting and simple furnishings.

Both starter and main course were excellent, whilst the dessert—a splendid Valrhona mousse–was positively sinful!

For more details see their website,16 or Google Maps.17

Last visited October 2012.

Les Fougeres, 10 rue Villebois-Mareuil, 75017.

Simply exquisite. Refined and elegant cooking in refined and elegant surroundings.

Just one caveat: I was told that the restaurant is about to close because the chef, Stéphane Duchiron, is opening a larger place.

For more details see their website,18 or Google Maps.19

Last visited October 2012.

Spring, 6 rue Bailleul, 75001.

Not a bad place, tucked away in a little side-street a stone’s throw from le Louvre.

I sat at the downstairs bar, which obviously can’t match the ambience upstairs, but it’s still nice enough. They have the zero-choice menu gimmick, which works well enough, but sadly have used this excuse to serve a gazillion small dishes: I think that in almost all cases things would be improved were they to reduce the number, increase the size, and polish things a little further.

Oddly the main meat course, some fine veal, was rather large and got rather cold by the time I’d finished it: less meat or a hotter plate please.

Such nits aside, stuff is cooked with flair and precision, and the quality of the ingredients struck me as good to great.

For more details see their website,20 or Google Maps.21

Last visited October 2012.

Crêperie de Josselin, 67 rue de Montparnasse, 75014.

In a street full of crêperies this one boasted the finest array of Zagat awards and the like.

Inside it’s small, densely packed, and serves excellent galettes and crêpes! What more could you ask of it ?

For more details phone them on +33 1 43 20 93 50, or see Google Maps.22

Last visited October 2012.