Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [165]
LE PETIT PONTOISE Map French, Bistro €€€
01 43 29 25 20; 9 rue de Pontoise, 5e; starters €8-13.50, mains €15-25; lunch & dinner to 10.30pm daily; Maubert Mutualité
Plop yourself down at a wooden table, note the lace curtains hiding you from the world, and pig out on fantastic old-fashioned classics like rognons de veau à l’ancienne (calf kidneys), boudin campagnard (black pudding) and sweet apple purée or roast quail with dates at this great bistro. Dishes might seem simple, but you’ll leave pledging to return.
LA MOSQUÉE DE PARIS Map North African €€€
01 43 31 38 20; www.la-mosquee.com; 39 rue Geoffroy St-Hilaire, 5e; mains €13.50-25; lunch & dinner to 10.30pm daily; Censier Daubenton or Place Monge
Dig into one of 11 types of couscous (from €13 to €25), two hands’ worth of tajines (from €15.50 to €17) or a meaty grill (€14.50) at this authentic restaurant tucked within the walls of the city’s central mosque. Feeling decadent? Plump for a peppermint tea (€2) and a calorie-loaded pâtisserie orientale (€2) between trees and chirping birds in the North African–style tearoom ( 9am-11.30pm) or, better still, a formule orientale (€58) which includes a body scrub, 10-minute massage and lounge in the hammam (Turkish bath) as well as lunch, mint tea and sweet pastry.
CHEZ LÉNA ET MIMILLE Map French €€
01 47 07 72 47; www.chezlenaetmimile.fr; 32 rue Tournefort, 5e; plat du jour €9.50, mains €20, menus €28 & €55; lunch Tue-Fri, dinner to 11pm Tue-Sat; Censier Daubenton
One of Paris’s bonnes tables with a fabulous terrace, this intimate restaurant peeps down on a tiny park with fountain and comical equestrian statue. Its notably varied and choice-loaded menu, moreover, allows diners to decide just how fine or otherwise the experience will be. Fancy a simple plate of finely sliced Iberian salami over a lazy glass of wine? Or you want the whole multiple-course hog? Then the Menu Note à Note (€55), finely tuned to the culinary principles of molecular gastronomy (know what that is?), is an exquisite choice.
MOISSONIER Map French, Lyonnais €€
01 43 29 87 65; 28 rue des Fossés St-Bernard, 5e; starters €7-13, mains €20, menu €24; lunch & dinner to 9.30pm Tue-Sat; Cardinal Lemoine
It’s Lyon, not Paris, that French gourmets venerate as the French food capital (they have a point). Indeed, take one bite of a big fat andouillette (pig-intestine sausage), tablier de sapeur (breaded, fried stomach), traditional quenelles (fish-flavoured dumplings) or boudin noir aux pommes (black pudding with apples) and you’ll realise why. A perfect reflection of one of France’s most unforgettable regional cuisines, Moissonier is worth the wait. Look for the elegant oyster-grey façade opposite the university.
LE BABA BOURGEOIS Map French, Trendy €€
01 44 07 46 75; http://lebababourgeois.com, in French; 5 quai de la Tournelle, 5e; mains €15-20; lunch & dinner to 10.30pm Wed-Sat, 11.30am-5pm Sun; Cardinal Lemoine or Pont Marie
It’s all very trendy, le BB. Bang-slap on the Seine with a pavement terrace facing Notre Dame, this contemporary eating and drinking space is a former architect’s studio. Its interior screams 1970s Italian design and the menu – imaginative tartines (open sandwiches), terrines, tartes salées (savoury tarts) and salads – makes for a simple stylish bite any time. Sunday ushers in a splendid all-day buffet brunch, à volonté (all you can eat).
FOUNTI AGADIR Map Moroccan €€
01 43 37 85 10; www.fountiagadir.com, in French; 117 rue Monge, 5e; starters €8-10, mains €11.50-20; menu lunch €12.50, dinner €36; lunch & dinner to 11.30pm daily; Censier Daubenton
The décor is as richly coloured as the delicious couscous (€11.50 to €16), tajines (€13.50 to €15) and pastillas (around €8) cooked up in this busy Moroccan kitchen. The best on the Left Bank, some say. Dinner menus are for parties of 10 or more; otherwise, it’s simply à la carte.
AL DAR Map Lebanese €€
01 43 25 17 15;