Paris Dining and Drinking
The reputation of French gastronomy is firmly established: so why not spend a little time in Paris, tasting all the subtleties of a city where every local cuisine is represented ' Which begs the question: where are the best restaurants and cafés located?
In general, one eats well anywhere in Paris, the best restaurants and cafés are usually those visited by Parisians themselves. The left bank offers the highest concentration of restaurants, mostly in such tourist sectors as Saint-Germain-Des-Prés and the Quartier Latin (Latin quarter). Even if you don't find quality everywhere, some outdoor cafés and wine bars are truly excellent (near Odéon, try the Tour de Pierre, in Rue Dauphine, whose warm atmosphere attracts wine lovers, or the trendy café in Place Saint-Germain, Les Deux Magots, and its popular patio). The Quartier Latin, near Place Maubert and Rue des Ecoles, enjoys an abundance of small Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants.
Around the Marais and Bastille, various trendy cafés, tea rooms and ice cream shops, such as La Charlotte de L?Isle, Rue Saint-Louis-en-L?Isle, and Berthillon (the best ice creams and sorbets in Paris) create a special atmosphere. Others are more traditional but all the same successful (Le Loir dans la Théière, Rue des Rosiers).
When it comes to the Champs-Elysées and La Madeleine, the good restaurants and cafés are more expensive, and interspersed with fast-food places. But there are also trendy bars here, from the Buddha Bar in rue Boissy-d?Anglas, to the Montecristo Café on the Champs-Elysées, or the Barfly on Avenue George V.
Many famous cafés from the 20s are located in Boulevard Montparnasse, including Sélect, La Coupole, Le Dôme, and La Rotonde. Recent renovations have restored them to their former glory.
Near Louvre-Rivoli, many charming restaurants and cafés face fierce competition from expensive tourist cafés. Nearby, in Les Halles, fast-food places and mediocre restaurants overshadow famous locations.
Apart from very good Japanese restaurants (Le Café Sushi, 40 Boulevard Haussmann) and excellent brasseries (La Taverne, Boulevard des Italiens, & the Grand Café des Capucines, Boulevard des Capucines), the sector around Opéra is not the best place for a decent meal. By the Bourse, stockbrokers frequent well-known restaurants.
If you head to the north of Paris and Montmartre, you're sure to be tempted by the many attractive restaurants, which are often expensive but worth it. The two most luxurious spots are the Beauvilliers, in the charming Rue Lamarck that leads up to the Sacré C?ur, and the Italian-style Table d?Anvers, in Place d?Anvers.
Restaurants around the Invalides, Eiffel Tower and Palais de Chaillot, are calm by night, and often more pleasant for this than other animated locations in Paris. You may however hear piano playing around one o?clock in Avenue Bosquet: this is the American style Masters Bar, with cheap and chic cocktails and a great choice of whiskies.
The two Asiatic sectors in Paris, south of Place d?Italie and in Belleville, are home to many excellent, exotic and cheap Vietnamese and Chinese restaurants. Belleville is full of North-African restaurants.
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