• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 934 0

in Paris, this well-established eatery, around for more than 25 years, has all the old favourites, from an elaborate, nine-dish rijstafel (rice with side dishes) to lumpia (a type of spring roll), rendang (spicy beef or chicken curry) and gado-gado (vegetable salad with spicy peanut sauce; €6). Numerous menus are available at lunch and dinner. Traditional décor, incense and the gentle rhythm of the gamelan orchestra create a convincing atmosphere. Balinese dancers dance some Friday evenings.

FISH LA BOISSONNERIE Map Seafood €€

01 43 54 34 69; 69 rue de Seine, 6e; starters €7, mains €14, menu lunch €21.50; lunch & dinner to 10.45pm Tue-Sun; Mabillon

A hybrid of a Mediterranean place run by a New Zealander (of Cosi fame; Click here) and an American, with its rustic communal seating and bonhomie, Fish has surely taken its cue from London, where such places have been a mainstay for several years. The wine selection is excellent – it’s almost as much a wine bar as a restaurant – and the wonderful old mosaic on the front façade is a delight.

LE MÂCHON D’HENRI Map French €€

01 43 29 08 70; 8 rue Guisarde, 6e; starters €6-8, mains €12-14; lunch & dinner until 11.30pm daily; St-Sulpice or Mabillon

What with the gaggle of hungry customers constantly waiting for a seat and the extraordinary proximity of the 10 marble-topped tables, this is one busy, tiny bistro. But the staff, seemingly exclusively male and over a certain age, are smile and charm personified. And the menu, crammed with feisty French staples like boudin noir aux pommes (black pudding with apples) from Lyon, saucisse de Morteau (a type of sausage) and lentils from the Jura or tripe cooked Caen-style, guarantees you’ll leave absolutely stuffed.

COSI Map Sandwich Bar €

01 46 33 35 36; 54 rue de Seine, 6e; sandwich menus €9-11; noon-11pm daily; Odéon

An institution in the 6th for a quick cheap eat in or out, Cosi could easily run for Paris’ most imaginative sandwich maker: with sandwich names like Stonker, Tom Dooley and Naked Willi, how could you expect otherwise? Classical music playing in the background and homemade Italian bread, still warm from the oven, only adds to Cosi’s natural sex appeal which, incidentally, is of New Zealand origin.

BAR À SOUPES ET QUENELLES GIRAUDET Map French, Lyonnais €€

01 43 25 44 44; www.giraudet.fr, in French; 5 rue Princesse, 6e; lunch around €10; 10am-5pm Mon, 10am-5pm & 7-11.30pm Tue-Fri, 10am-11.30pm Sat; Mabillon

This soup-and-dumpling bar is a perfect spot in shop-busy St-Germain to rest legs on a bar stool and tuck into a light ‘n’ tasty lunch. Soups are thick, creamy, seasonal, organic and packed with unusual combinations – pear and litchi, chestnut or cardoon perhaps? But it is the typical Lyonnais quenelles (pike-perch dumplings) topped with a sauce of your choice that steal the show. Buy some to eat at home afterwards from the nearby Boutique Giraudet ( 01 43 25 23 00; 16 rue Mabillon, 6e; 2.30-7.30pm Mon, 10am-1pm & 1.30-7.30pm Tue-Sat; Mabillon).

AMORINO Map Ice Cream €

01 43 26 57 46; 4 rue de Buci, 6e; 1/2/3 scoops €3/4/5; noon-midnight daily; St-Germain des Prés

Though not such dedicated lécheurs (lickers) as some, we’re told that Berthillon has serious competition and Amorino’s homemade ice cream (yogurt, caramel, kiwi, strawberry etc) is, in fact, better. It has no less than 10 others branches in Paris, including Amorino Luxembourg (Map; 01 42 22 66 86; 4 rue Vavin, 6e; Vavin) and Amorino Île St-Louis (Map; 01 44 07 48 08; 47 rue St-Louis en l’Île, 4e; Pont Marie).

Return to beginning of chapter

SELF-CATERING

Food shops cluster on rue de Seine and rue de Buci, while the covered Marché St-Germain (Map–17; 4-8 rue Lobineau, 6e; 8.30am-1pm & 4-7.30pm Tue-Sat, 8.30am-1pm Sun; Mabillon), just north of the eastern end of Église St-Sulpice, has a huge array of fine fresh produce and prepared food.

Should black pudding turn you on, Charcuterie Charles ( 01 43 54 25 19; 10 rue Dauphiné, 6e; 9am-2pm & 4-8pm Mon-Sat) is your man. One of Paris’ few and most respected boudiniers (sausage makers), Charles Claude