Paris restaurants with contemporary French flair

Paris dining is one-of-a-kind, home to a storied and respected cuisine that, today, has a lighter touch and a seasonal respect for produce. The best places never have the same menu from week to week – they’re inspired, instead, by what’s available at local marketplaces, and written out on chalkboards for diners to study. These restaurants are just as discerning with their wine selection as their produce, including an ever-growing menu of natural wine. The rive droite (Right Bank) has attracted creative chefs especially – foreigners and French professionals alike – carving out spaces in Paris’s northeastern area where there are also bountiful wine bars and cafés. For those wishing to make a night of it, check out the city’s best cocktail bars and live music venues, while the best boutique hotels in Paris make a brilliant base for exploring the city.

A local writer highlights 14 of the best restaurants in Paris, from Michelin-starred dining and diminutive French bistros to superlative seafood and small plates in Belleville – all of which have matching food philosophies but very individual takes on what to cook.

20th arrondissement

Le Grand Bain

Best for: A polished taste of Belleville
Address: 4 Rue Denoyez, 75020 Paris
Price: £££

Le Grand Bain was originally spearheaded by British chef Edward Delling-Williams (who trained at St John in London). Recently appointed chef Toms Berzins now runs the kitchen, serving dishes such as langoustines in a foie gras sauce or salt-crusted pork ribs with Camembert. At the prominent bar in the centre, you can pull up for a quick glass (or, if you’re lucky, a last-minute seat). Restaurant owner Edouard Lax has extended his reach on this graffitied Belleville street to the wonderful bakery Le Petit Grain and casual eatery Café Les Délices.

BangBang

Best for: A hit of colourful spice
Address: 9 Rue du Liban, 75020 Paris
Price: ££

Colombian chef Carlos Peñarredonda conjures food as potent as the name of their restaurant at BangBang. There’s a lime green counter atop the swimming pool-blue bar, with ‘BANGING HOT FOOD’ blaring in orange neon lights above it. In France, mild is the modus operandi, so the self-described “spicy project” (they manufacture their own hot sauce) is a wonderful bit of provocation. Think oysters with chilli oil and passion fruit, chilli and sesame oil jelly noodles, smoked ricotta dolma green curry, sweet and sour sirloin with burnt cucumber, and grilled plantain with ice cream for dessert.

11th arrondissement

Bouche

Best for: Chic small plates in a patinated space
Address: 85 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris
Price: £££

You’d never know this corner once housed a kebab shop before an ultra chic renovation by Atelier Leymarie Gourdon transformed the spot into a modern natural wine bar. The raw plaster walls and large windows offer a sleek setting in which to enjoy small plates dreamed up by chef Florent Peineau on a monthly changing menu. Dishes have consisted of bright radishes with ’nduja butter, fish rillette with pickles and spelt risotto with crème de champignon (cream of mushroom soup), plus creamy pear panna cotta or orange-inflected cake with saffron ice cream for a sweet finish. If you’re a group, there’s a dedicated large table for sixteen in the back.

Au Passage

Best for: Laidback French bistro, natural wine
Address: 85 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011 Paris
Price: £££

Located in the artsy 11th arrondissement, Au Passage is a lively, laidback restaurant and wine bar with a focus on French small plates. It gained global attention when Anthony Bourdain visited back in 2013 and it remains just as good. Mismatched wooden furniture and mosaic tiling are met by a warm atmosphere, which it describes as “half punk, half precise.” The menu changes almost daily, but beautifully presented dishes might include fresh tuna with wild asparagus and a wasabi-infused sauce, or squid stuffed with pork, served with natural wine. Au Petit Passage is the nearby sibling restaurant with a similar warm atmosphere.

Mokoloco

Best for: Rotating chef residencies
Address: 74 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
Price: £££

Mokoloco is run by the always-warm Omar Koreitem and Moko Hirayama – the Japanese-Lebanese chef couple also behind the toothsome Mokonuts, a popular breakfast and lunch spot located less than ten minutes away. Mokoloco pivoted from a casual-delicious sandwich shop into a residency venue for up-and-coming chefs. Kitchen takeovers have included George Black and his delicious Tokyo-style Shio or Shoyu ramen featuring hand rolled noodles and chef Joshua An, who crossed classic French training with his South Korean roots. No matter the featured cuisine, this is a sure spot for a memorable meal.

Clamato

Best for: An impromptu seafood feast (walk-ins only)
Address: 80 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
Price: £££

This seafood emporium in a pretty setting was started by Bertrand Grébaut and Théophile Pourriat (the duo behind its Septime, its neighbour). Clamato receives daily deliveries from fishing towns Saint-Jean-de-Luz (located in southwest France’s Basque country), Concarneau (in coastal Brittany in northwestern France), and l’Ile d’Yeu (an island off the coast of western France), all of which shape the menu. Small plates include smoked cod roe tarama with za’atar or cockles with smoked vinegar butter. Go big with a mixed seafood platter (rock crab, whelk, urchins, oysters) or a whole sea bass with a sauce bérnaise. Note: No reservations, so arrive early.

Septime

Best for: Legendary Michelin-starred weekday dining
Address: 80 Rue de Charonne, 75011 Paris
Price: ££££

Septime is as thoroughly delicious as it is impeccably stylish, having retained its Michelin star since 2014. It has become a legendary pillar of the Paris gastronomic scene, with its five-course lunches and seven-course dinners each available with careful wine pairings. Reservations – weekdays only – are coveted, to say the least. Highlights from previous menus: crab meat seasoned with pear vinegar, creamy egg yolk, apple-cider gelée, red curry and celery oils; barbecued Swiss chard, Bethmale pepper cream, steamed leaf, pistachio and watercress butter. Their beautiful book published by Phaidon is worth perusing too. Can’t get a booking at the restaurant? Try its wine bar, Septime La Cave, which is located round the corner.

Géosmine

Best for: Fine dining in a former textile workshop
Address: 71 Rue de la Folie Méricourt, 75011 Paris
Price: ££££

Géosmine takes its name from a chemical compound secreted by soil bacteria, giving its odour to freshly ploughed or wet earth after a dry period. Given this, it makes sense that chef Maxime Bouttier follows the seasons. Housed in a former textile workshop in the Oberkampf district, the modern oak chairs and pretty ceramics by Atelier a minimâ create a refined and mannered atmosphere with a heightened sense of aesthetics. The restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in 2024 for its refined take on French cuisine. Sample dishes: herb and smoked eel tartelettes, Normandy sirloin with barbecue sauce and celery salt, morels stuffed with milk-fed veal atop peas. Lunch can be à la carte or in five or eight courses; dinner is exclusively in eight or 11 courses.

Jones

Best for: Cheerful atmosphere in a prettily time-worn space
Address: 43 Rue Godefroy Cavaignac, 75011 Paris
Price: £££

Reinvented after chef James Henry opened Bones in this same spot in 2013, Jones is a convivial spot with stone walls and a weathered mirror that’s good for intimate meals and group fêtes alike. Located right off Place Voltaire in a quiet side street, all the liveliness can be found inside. The menu by chef Riccardo Ferrante has included suckling lamb with virgin olive oil and oranges; scallops, cime di rapa, citron and carrot mousseline; octopus, nduja, fennel, and puntarelle; braised leeks, lettuce cream, pickled mussels with caper leaves; smoked ricotta ravioli in broth with champignons de Paris; monkfish tail, zucchini, trout eggs and white butter.

10th arrondissement

åke Table & Vin

Best for: Scandinavian roots with French inventiveness
Address: 8 Rue Marie et Louise, 75010 Paris
Price: £££

Swedish chef Linda Granebring and her partner, front-of-house figurehead Julien Jack Alda, have established a calm, lovely space adjacent to the canal, offering gorgeous seasonal dishes. At dinner, plates include pork terrine made with pistachios and Porto; tomatoes, grilled nectarines and flat haricots with gochujang (suggested drinks pairing: Saké Masumi Shiro) or gnocchi with stracciatella and red pepper. For dessert, order the ganache de chocolat or pavlova with crème de marrons, yoghurt and confit ginger. Expect some Nordic-inspired options, based on Granebring’s proud origins: notably cold season semla, the ultimate pâtisserie suédoise consisting of a cardamom-flavoured bun filled with almond paste and whipped cream. In good weather, grab one of the small tables on the street for an al fresco meal.

Les Arlots

Best for: French classics done beautifully near Gare du Nord
Address: 136 Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière, 75010 Paris
Price: £££

Les Arlots, set in a pocket-sized bistro within cork-popping distance of the Gare du Nord, features tiled floors, a wooden bar, and bottle-lined walls. A carnivore’s dream, there’s always the legendary sausage and mash. The rotating menu might include duck and veal terrine with pink pepper, lentils with pig ears, veal shoulder with polenta, fricassee of farm-raised herbed chicken with mushrooms, braised pork cheeks with purée, or boudin blanc with vegetables. For those who are less meat-inclined, there’s also pollack with aioli or leeks in vinaigrette. Add a crème au citron with pomelos and a biscuit or a rice pudding for the finish.

3rd arrondissement

Parcelles

Best for: A sophisticated dining experience
Address: 13 Rue Chapon, 75003 Paris
Price: ££££

Parcelles occupies the former spot of the old-school Le Taxi Jaune (opened in 1936), and retains its authentic architectural bistro charm – preserving the old beams, stone walls, big mirrors and solid wood bar – while injecting the space with a fresh vibe. (A wine shop/épicerie just across the way has also been set up for good measure.) Chef Emmanuel Perrot prepares dishes like veal head carpaccio with gribiche sauce and capers; line-caught royal sea bream tartare with radish and lemon; sweetbreads with brown butter, mashed potatoes, gravy, capers, and sage; and for dessert chocolate tart with caramelised pecans and whipped cream or Sicilian lemon tartlets with Italian meringue. Do take a stroll amongst the galleries of the Marais nearby.