Eating in Paris

Paris has a long established reputation for being a haven for food, somewhat different from the way Hong Kong, for example, is famous for its own cuisine. 

There is a sense of class and high culture associated with French cuisine that is quite unique. With the help of the Guide Michelin star ratings, it has established itself into a hierarchy of top class, outstanding and very good restaurants. 

Popular dining areas and types of restaurants

Which is probably not what the majority of tourists like us are looking for. Many of us will be looking for places to eat with good food at reasonable prices. And maybe the occasional treat to tuck into real French cuisine. 

For most of your meals, you are probably looking to dine at cafes and street vendors selling simple foods like sandwiches and crepes to office workers who lunch. These places offer good food at low prices. The area near the Bourse (Stock Exchange) is home to many restaurants that cater to the working crowd. Go before noon or after 2  pm to avoid the working crowd on weekdays.

You can easily travel to various parts of Paris by train, so you need not have to restrict your choice of places to eat to those near your hotel or the museums you plan to visit.  Some recommended eating districts:

• Latin Quarter — a mix of bistros and ethnic Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants

• Montparnasee — home to excellent cafes housed within recently restored old buildings

• Montmartre — mostly tourist restaurants but also with cozy bistros and some premium restaurants

• Belleview — try North African fare featuring spicy, inexpensive food

Some terms that you may often hear mentioned in relation to dining are explained below: 

• Bistro — a small, usually moderate priced restaurant with a limited menu.  The food is often regionally themed

• Brasserie — using the French word for brewery, these are actually restaurants which serve sauerkraut and sausages, with a very wide selection of food.  They have an Alsatian origin.

• Cafes — open in the day up to early evening, they serve light fare from a short menu.

• Couscous — north African restaurant, reflecting France’s long ties to this region

• Prix-Fixe — fixed price menu, usually for lunch, but this option is also available for dinner at some restaurants

• Plats-du-Jour — daily specials often featuring seasonally available produce

Famous French Foods

French cuisine is usually identified with pastries, snails properly known as escargots, and cheese. Croissants are flaky breads made in crescent shapes, while baguettes are very long bread loaves which can be made into a sandwich or eaten with a little butter.  Cheeses, or fromages, are made from cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk, and can usually be eaten with any meal. The soft camembert cheese from Normandy and Brie are available in all restaurants. 

For many people, French cuisine means exotic ingredients seldom thought of as such elsewhere. Escargots are usually cooked and then placed back in their shells after garnishing, usually with a garlic sauce. Pate de Foie Gras is made from the livers of geese who are fattened through forced feeding. The Perigord Truffle is a highly prized fungus which used to be found in the wild with the help of pigs.

Book Paris Hotels here

Article Information
This article was written by AH Anuar and was first published 22 October 2003. This article is free for personal and commercial reproduction, with the following terms and conditions.