Paris, who doesn’t love this city? Belges en Route has been several times this year (for instance last Easter) although not yet together. As Paris is a big city, you can get lost in translation when it comes to your dinner options. So that’s why we like to share a few of our food guide with you!

OUR 7 HOTSPOTS

2nd arrondissement

LOUP

Walk by, Loup and you have no reason to believe it looks it’s any different from any other Parisian restaurant, with the typical terrace and idem ditto furniture. But as soon as you enter, you get that ‘feel good factor’. You  enter into a world of quirkiness, stuffed animals and pig on a spit, getting roasted for that night. I am curious to catch that vibe during the evening (we went for lunch).

Loup

Why? Ambiance

Address: 44 Rue du Louvre, 75001 Paris
Price: average of 23€ per dish
Open: 7/7 from 8:oo till midnight

FRENCHIE (Winebar)

Frenchie is a popular place and dominates the ‘rue du nil’: a restaurant, a wine bar and a ‘to go’ for the locals all in 1 street. When you spot an empty seat at the window of the winebar, you go for it! As it is apparently not easy to book a table in the restaurant (you can always pass by as Parisians tend to cancel last minute because of better plans ;-)). This place serves exactly my type of food! At the winebar, sharing plates is the concept: we had delicious burrata (one of the best EVER!). With each small plate you share,, you tend to get a new glass of wine, so good business for Frenchie!

Frenchie Wine bar 

Why?  For the delicious food 

Address:  Rue du Nil 5-6, 75002 Paris
Price: Plates to share starting at 9€, wine by glass starting at 6€
Open: Wine bar: 7/7 from 18:30 till 23 (no reservation) – Resto
Mon – Fri as from 18=30 and lunch on Thursday & Friday
(only reservation or just stop by for any cancellations)

9th arrondissement

BUVETTE

As buvette is a cosy, cute and reasonably priced place to go to! It’s small so it can also be a bit loud but it’s like a catch all place: great for breakfast, good lunch or a drink at the end of the day. And they also have a restaurant in New York, I might check that one out too!

Buvette 

Why? Typical french

Address:  Rue Henry Monnier 28, 75009 Paris
Price: Plates to share starting at 9€, wine by glass starting at 6€
Open: 7/7 from 8:30 (10 in the weekend) till midnight

PINK MAMMA

Italian might not be your immediate ‘go to’ when in Paris, but for Pink Mamma you should make an exception! For dinner you’d better start queuing up with the locals at around 6:30pm and hope to get a table. Don’t let the big queue scare you, it’s a big place, that you wouldn’t notice once you’re at your table. It still has that cosy French vibe, with delicious Italian food and hipster interieur. Pink Mamma is part of big mamma group with 6 locations throughout Paris.

We were able to get a table for the second shift. So basically when we got to the front of the line, the restaurant was just full. Nevertheless, I was super excited and happy when I got my text that the table was ready. The service is superb and it continues at your table with a personal waiter. I loved the atmosphere and exclusivity of the place. We ordered a steak Rocco’s cut (17€) and Bologna love (€14). The steak was superb! The pasta was fresh, but I was hoping on more flavour. I would like to go back but I wouldn’t like to queue up again…

Pink Mamma  

Why? Hot & happening

Address:  20bis Rue de Douai, 75009 Paris
Price: Mains are around 15€, or steak menu’s around 25€
Open: 7/7. Lunch 11:45 (12:00 in the weekend) till 14:15  (15:15 in the weekend) & dinner from 19:00 till 22:45  (23:00 in the weekend)

3rd arrondissement

NANASHI

Le mary celeste was on my list, but we passed by the 3rd arrondissement over lunchtime when it is closed. At Nanashi people can queue from the counter till the entrance door. Nanashi has a high school canteen ambiance, but with trendy terrazzo tables and soft interior (I love pink walls).  The canteen style felt a bit noisy but it also has a nostalgic feel (in a good way).

Once seated we ordered 2 juices of the day and the Bento fish and Bento chicken (14€) from a very pleasant waiter  Was it worth queuing for? We paid about 40€ for a healthy and tasty lunch but it was not super creative and as seasoned as expected. I would go again when I am in a Japanese non-sushi mood.

Nanashi

Why? Popular bento

Address: 31 rue de Paradis, 75010 Paris
Price: 14€/16€ for Bento’s
Open: 7/7 from 12 till midnight (Sunday till 18:00)

SEASON

Season is the place to meet up on a Sunday with your girlfriends and recover from the weekend. Their healthy dishes make you want to live the healthy instagram lifestyle. But their pancakes make you want to indulge in the sweet stuff! It’s a hard decision to make…

It was hard to decide what to get. You keep looking over at other people’s table and saying “that looks good”. We eventually went for the Avocado, poached egg and salmon sandwich (12€) and the naan (16€). The food is amazing and there are so many good options that I can’t wait to go back.

Season

Why? Healthy hotspot!

Address: 1 Rue Charles-François Dupuis, 75003 Paris
Price: +/- 15€ for brunch
Open: 7/7 from 8:30  till 11 and till 16:00 on Sunday

15th arrondissement

CIEL DE PARIS

A restaurant at the 56th floor of the highest building in Paris. So of course Ciel de Paris offers an amazing view of the city! When you walk into the restaurant, a view with the Eiffel tower immediately greets you. At night the city lights up and the Eiffel tower is at it’s most romantic. You won’t forget that you are in Paris in this place.

We didn’t go for the menu options (68€ or 136€), yet decided to go for an aperitif, a main and a dessert. The service is a bit less at point, by giving us appetisers without explanation and our main arrived really fast (we only started sipping our aperitif). The food was very nice, although I thought the dessert was average. All in all, it’s a great place if you want to enjoy the view of Paris and you don’t have a chance to visit the city often. It is a touristy place, but how would it not be with that view. A good option if you only want to enjoy the view, is to go for drinks at their bar.

Ciel de Paris

Why? Best view of the city

Address: Tour Maine Montparnasse, 33 Avenue du Maine, 75015 Paris
Price: +/- 45€ for a main
Open: 7/7 from 20:00 till 23:00 but the bar is open till 01:00