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By Root 909 0

around France’s most respected culinary products. The concept here is AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée), meaning everything has been reared or made according to strict guidelines designed to protect a product unique to a particular village, town or area. The result? Only the best! Rare is the chance to taste porc noir de Bigorre, a type of black piggie bred in the Pyrénées.

LES VIGNES DU PANTHÉON Map French, Southwest €€€

01 43 54 80 81; 4 rue des Fossés St-Jacques, 5e; starters €8-15, mains €18-35, menus €30 & €35; lunch Mon-Fri, dinner to 10pm Mon-Sat; Luxembourg

Stroll but a few paces down the hill from the Panthéon to find this charming bistro, owned and managed by a husband-and-wife team who dish up an appealing cocktail of southwest-inspired cuisine with the accompaniment of fine wine. Old-fashioned wood panelling in the front room, exposed stone out back and the flicker of candles ensure a certain romance in the air.

MAVROMMÁTIS Map Greek €€€

01 43 31 17 17; www.mavrommatis.fr; 42 rue Daubenton, 5e; starters €12-18, mains €20-30, menus lunch €28 & €35, dinner €42 & €68; lunch & dinner to 11pm Tue-Sat; Censier Daubenton

Sea-blue window frames and olive trees in giant terracotta pots whisk gourmet punters off to the Med at this well-established Greek restaurant. One bite into a tarama-drenched toast, aubergine fumée (smoked aubergine), salade grecque (tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and feta) or crépines d’agneau sur lit de tomates, courgettes et pommes de terre (lamb tripe with tomatoes, courgette and potatoes) and those inauthentic Greek takeaway joints on rue de la Huchette and streets like rue St-Séverin are instantly put to shame. Reserve in advance.

PERRAUDIN Map French €€€

01 46 33 15 75; www.restaurant-perraudin.com, in French; 157 rue St-Jacques, 5e; starters €10-20, mains €15-30, menus lunch/dinner €19/29; lunch & dinner to 11.30pm Mon-Fri; Luxembourg

Perraudin is a traditional French restaurant with embroidered handkerchief lampshades. If that doesn’t put you off, launch yourself into this blast to the past with classics such as bœuf bourguignon (beef marinated and cooked in red wine with mushrooms, onions, carrots and bacon), gigot d’agneau (leg of lamb), confit de canard or flamiche (leek pie from northern France). Prices are reasonable (the plat du jour at lunchtime costs €12) and the place has atmosphere, even if it is a tad on the shabby side.

THE TEA CADDY Map Tearoom €€€

01 43 54 15 56; 14 rue St-Julien le Pauvre, 5e; set brunch/lunch €26/28; 11am-6pm Wed-Mon; St-Michel Notre Dame

Arguably the most English of the ‘English’ tearooms in Paris, this institution, founded in 1928, is a fine place to break for lunch or tea and a Devon scone with double cream and jam after a tour of nearby Notre Dame, Ste-Chapelle or the Conciergerie.

CHEZ RENÉ Map French, Bistro €€€

01 43 54 30 23; 14 blvd St-Germain, 5e; starters €10-15, mains €18-26; lunch & dinner to 11pm Tue-Sat; Cardinal Lemoine or Maubert Mutualité

Proud owner of one of blvd St-Germain’s busiest pavement terraces, Chez René has been an institution since the 1950s. Perfect for punters seeking no surprises, cuisine is quintessentially bistro: Think pot au feu (beef stew), coq au vin (chicken cooked in wine), rognons de veau (calf kidneys) etc accompanied by your pick of garnitures (fries, boiled potatoes, fresh spinach or other veg of the season etc) and sauces (béchamel, béarnaise, bourgognoise etc). A classic.

LE COUPE-CHOU Map French, Romantic €€€

01 46 33 68 69; www.lecoupechou.com, in French; 9 & 11 rue de Lanneau, 5e; starters €12.50-15.50, mains €19-25, menu lunch €19, dinner €26.50; lunch & dinner to 11.30pm Mon-Sat, dinner to 11.30pm Sun; Maubert Mutualité

Well hidden but well known among Paris expats, this maze of candle-lit rooms snaking through a vine-clad 17th-century townhouse is overwhelmingly romantic. Ceilings are beamed, furnishings are antique, and background classical music mingles with the intimate chatter of diners. Le Coupe-Chou, incidentally, has nothing to do with cabbage (chou); rather it’s named after the barber