These recommendations, and hundreds more, can be found in the free Telegraph Travel Guides app. The app features expert guides to destinations including Paris, Rome, New York and Amsterdam, with Edinburgh, Barcelona and Venice among those to be added in the coming weeks.
This is the place that made the pancake gourmet, and although not particularly budget as crêperies go, it’s streets ahead of the competition in terms of quality. While crêperies are often dismissed as restaurants for children, here the setting is distressed beach hut and the clientele fashionable Marais. The choice of savoury galettes and sweet crêpes ranges from classic complète (egg, cheese and ham) to imaginative creations. A taste of authentic Brittany (with a sibling in Cancale), many ingredients are proudly sourced from Brittany, from organic buckwheat to Breizh Cola. Accompany your galette with cider - there's a list of almost twenty types.
Tip: Accompany your galette with cider - there's a list of almost twenty types.
109 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 75003
0033 1 42 72 13 77
www.breizhcafe.com
Pancakes from around €6
Wed-Sun, 11.30am-11pm
Jeanne B
This is the second of the casual all-day, eaterie-delis opened by the owners of venerable bistro Astier. It's a happy arrival on the street that winds up Montmartre hill, with a lovely welcome from young chef Cyril Boulet, who mans the counter. Spit-roast Challans chicken is the house classic, but you can also go modern and gourmet with a verrine of snails or a luxury lobster sandwich, along with roast lamb and assorted pies from a blackboard choice that changes every week. It has a deli counter and grocery section at the front, where you can take away charcuterie, cheese and homemade desserts and madeleines.
Tip: It has a deli counter and grocery section at the front, where you can take away charcuterie, cheese and homemade desserts and madeleines.
61 rue Lepic, 75018
0033 1 42 51 17 53
www.jeanne-b-comestibles.com
Set-price menus from €15 for lunch, €23 for dinner
Daily, 9.30am-10.30pm
Chez Omar
I've been coming to Chez Omar ever since I arrived in Paris. It's a favourite of mine for its friendly waiters, vintage bistro setting, cheerfully eclectic diners – Marais gallerists, fashionistas, gay couples, families – and, of course, the couscous. There are no elaborate tagines here, just well-prepared couscous, with a choice of mechoui, grilled lamb kebabs, merguez sausage or vegetarian. I usually go for the kebabs, with a big vat of stewed vegetables, harissa if you want, and a platter of couscous grain. Finish with Oriental pastries, or strawberries and cream, and mint tea. They don't take reservations, so arrive early for dinner if you don't want to queue in the street.
Tip: They don't take reservations, so arrive early for dinner if you don't want to queue in the street.
47 rue de Bretagne, 75003
0033 1 42 72 36 26
Couscous from €12
Mon-Sat, midday-2.30pm, 7pm-11.30pm; Sun, 7pm-11.30pm
L'Encrier
Tucked just behind the Promenade Plantée viaduct walk in the historic furniture makers' district of the Faubourg St-Antoine, the friendly, cooperative-run L'Encrier has been one of Paris's best-kept, budget secrets for 20 years. An essentially local crowd and a few in-the-know visitors squeeze in around its simple wooden tables, drawn by the remarkable-value menus and attractive beamed setting. The kitchen, visible behind the white counter, sends out trustworthy, no-nonsense French cuisine with southwestern touches, such as pear with roquefort, duck confit and goose magret, and virtually everyone ends with the excellent chocolate profiteroles.
Tip: Virtually everyone ends with the excellent chocolate profiteroles.
55 rue Traversière, 75012
0033 1 44 68 08 16
www.restaurant-encrier-paris.fr
Set-price menu from €15 for lunch, €18 for dinner
Mon-Sat, midday-2.30pm, 7.30pm-11pm
Le Bistro des Dames
A clutter of paintings and posters, and the treat of a hidden, overgrown tropical garden courtyard at the rear, are all part of the aura at this bistro adjoining the quirkily bohemian Hôtel Eldorado in burgeoning Batignolles. A local arty set pops in for the laid-back, friendly atmosphere, home cooking and wines from small producers. The speciality is slow-cooked stews, perhaps tender pork cheeks or lamb navarin with seasonal veg, although you'll also find a fish of the day, big main-course salads, and good desserts. In keeping with the mood, service is leisurely.
Tip: The speciality is slow-cooked stews, perhaps tender pork cheeks or lamb navarin with seasonal veg.
18 rue des Dames, 75017
0033 1 45 22 13 42
www.eldoradohotel.fr
Set-price menu from €21 for lunch and dinner
Mon-Fri, noon-3pm, 7pm-2am; Sat, Sun, noon-2am (last service for food 11.30pm)
L'Ecurie
Just the answer when you're after a juicy steak, bossy service and lots of atmosphere. The ground floor was once stables (spot the hay rack along one wall), and although there are a few tables outside in summer, it's best in winter, when you descend the perilous staircase into ancient vaulted cellars. Feast in flickering candlelight on the good-value, three-course menu, with chargrilled steaks and homemade chips. Despite being in a touristed part of town, L'Ecurie caters to as many Parisians as visitors from out of town. It's near the Sorbonne and Lycée Henri IV, so very popular with celebrating students.
Tip: Just the answer when you're after a juicy steak, bossy service and lots of atmosphere.
2 rue Leplace, 75005
0033 1 46 33 68 49
Set-price menu from €17 for lunch and dinner
Mon-Sat, midday-2pm, 7pm-11pm
Bistrot du Peintre
This listed, art nouveau café-bistro has a gorgeous 1902 décor of sinuous woodwork and tiled, allegorical figures of spring and summer. It is much loved by a laidback Bastille crowd for its satisfying, inexpensive cuisine. The choice goes from utterly trad snails or oeuf meurette (egg poached in red wine), steak tartare and some southwestern French touches – my daughter's a fan of the confit de canard – to inventive salads and creative tomato Tatin with red pepper sorbet, so there's sure to be something to suit different tastes. All-day service is very useful when you’re on holiday. Try to be seated on the more atmospheric ground floor rather than upstairs.
Tip: All-day service is very useful when you’re on holiday.
116 avenue Ledru-Rollin, 75011
0033 1 47 00 34 39
www.bistrotdupeintre.com
Lunch and dinner around €23
Daily, 7am-2am (food served midday-midnight)
Michi
Located in the heart of Paris's Little Japan, Michi is a tiny, canteen-like hole in the wall, indicated only by a fish and the word sushi on the facade. It was recommended by a Japanese friend, for some of the best, authentic, and least expensive, sushi and sashimi along rue Sainte-Anne. If you're lucky, bag one of the half-a-dozen places along the counter where you can watch the chef at work, otherwise you'll be squashed into the tiny cellar. There are good-value formules, but go à la carte if you want rarer offerings such as sea urchin and eel.
Tip: If you're lucky, bag one of the half a dozen places along the counter where you can watch the chef at work, otherwise you'll be squashed into the tiny cellar.
58 bis rue Sainte-Anne, 75002
0033 1 40 20 49 93
Set-price menus from €14 for lunch, €23 for dinner
Tue-Sun, midday-2pm, 7.30pm-10.30pm
More on Paris
Paris's best fashion boutiques
Paris for romantics
Victoria Pendleton’s Paris: My Kind of Town
Raymond Blanc's Paris: My Kind of Town
Paris: a gothic tale
Belle Époque Paris
Burger King: the hottest new restaurant in Paris
