French cuisine is known all around the world. Aromatic cheeses, great wines and delicious bread, those tastes you will remember for a long time - for many, this is the biggest incentive to visit the country on the Seine. What else is worth trying while in Paris? Where to eat to not get disappointed and not to regret the money spent? Here are some suggestions!
Paris - what to eat for breakfast?
When it comes to baked goods, fresh bread is a staple of French cuisine. In Paris, you'll find many great bakeries, called boulangeries by the locals, where you can easily buy all sorts of bread. The most popular and most recommended are baguettes, croissants, sweet brioche buns, pain au chocolat, which is a delicious puff pastry with a chocolate filling, and the cream- and raisin-filled pain aux sultanas, which is also called snail (escargot).
So what is worth eating in Paris for breakfast? There are plenty of choices, but in our opinion, the best option is a fresh croissant, although sweet lovers are certainly more likely to go for pain au chocolat. Another recommendable option is toast with butter and jam, which in France is called tartine. However, we definitely recommend starting the day with a croissant at least once. Although they are also available in other countries - only in France do they have such a unique taste.
Paris - regional food to start the day
In addition to the aforementioned types of bread, paris-brest pastries, baked in some regions, are also perfect for breakfast. The name of this delicacy comes from the Paris-Brest cycling race, which is why it is shaped like a bicycle wheel. For travellers to Paris, we particularly recommend the pastry shop Yann Couvreur, which is very high in many rankings. It is loved by tourists and locals alike.
In a French boulangerie, you can also have lunch - such as a sandwich or quiche. Often such places have small gardens where you can sit with your ordered dish and eat it outdoors. After all, is there anything more pleasant than an open-air meal when you have historic town houses and charming streets all around you? What's more, the prices in such bakeries - even in Paris - will not make you dizzy. So it's a reasonably cheap and quick option, perfect for anyone who wants to fortify themselves before a day full of excitement.
Parisian food - cheeses you'll miss forever
You will often hear that there are more cheese varieties in France than there are days in the year. And there is indeed something to this, as according to various sources, between 400 and even 1,500 different cheeses are made in France! If you like cheese, Paris will be a paradise on earth for you. After all, the French add this delicacy in every conceivable form to almost every dish. If you ever get the chance to travel to France in person, be sure to try at least some of the following types of cheese:
- roquefort,
- camembert,
- brie,
- chevre,
- valancay,
- neufchatel,
- bresse bleu,
- emmental.
In France, it is very common to order the cheese board (planche de fromage) with dinner and appropriately selected wine. This consists of different types of cheese and fresh or baked bread. This is highly recommended - especially for those wishing to try as many flavours from the famous French cuisine as possible. Most of the cheeses are served in almost liquid form. We particularly recommend the baked camembert rôti. Paired with the right wine and crusty bread, it is the perfect starter! If you don't know what regional food in Paris to try, definitely go for this option.
Which wine to choose with the cheese board? Of course, you can ask your waiter or waitress. We recommend this option, as the cheeses can vary from restaurant to restaurant, and the staff is always properly trained to advise you on such matters. However, if you prefer to make the decision yourself or the language barrier prevents you from asking the question, take our hint: red French wine will always be a good option, the French are best at producing it. It is always good to pair together wines and cheeses coming from the same regions. We are sure you won't regret trying different kinds!
Not just cheese - what else to eat in Paris?
If you don't like or can't eat cheese, Paris offers many other options! After all, eating in this city is not just about brie and camembert. French cuisine is also famous for completely different dishes. One of these is confit duck (confit de canard), delicious and extremely tender. The meat is marinated in salt and then cooked very slowly in fat. This makes it very soft - it melts in your mouth. Another popular (especially in south-west France) duck dish is magret de canard. In Bordeaux, where it is very popular, slices of smoked poultry are served with nuts and topped with walnut oil. In the central part of the country, on the other hand, the salt-crusted variant is more popular.
Apart from cheese and duck, what other Parisian food can you find in local restaurants? Among others, we recommend the entrecôte (entrecôte steak), which is meat from a beef or veal carcass, or the so-called beef Burgundy (boeuf bourguignon) prepared with vegetables and red wine. As a starter or main course, for non-meat eaters, the onion soup (soupe à l'oignon) based on vegetable stock and served with croutons and a layer of grated cheese is ideal.
You can also order crêpe, which is a very thin pancake made here both sweet and savoury: with cheese, egg or meat, such as chicken. Also, worth trying is the French duck pâté (pate de canard), which often serves as a starter.
For more exotic food, Paris is a city where you will find many restaurants offering frogs' legs and snails. We definitely recommend trying them at least once - they are hard to come by outside of France.
Paris - regional food from the best chefs
To see for yourself how delicious Parisian food is, follow our tips. We've already given you a hint of what to eat in Paris, and below you'll find the answer to another important question:
Paris - where to eat? We recommend the following restaurants:
If the menu and atmosphere of the above restaurants appeals to you, you can take the opportunity and book Historic Paris Free Tour with a professional Walkative! guide. This way, you'll have an enjoyable morning (the tour of the historic centre of Paris lasts around 2.5 hours) and it will only take you a few minutes to walk from the last stop on the tour to your chosen restaurant.
Perhaps the idea of combining sightseeing with a delicious meal appeals to you, but you are interested in other parts of the city? Not to worry! In Paris, you can also take part, for example, in the Montmartre Free Tour by Walkative!, whose route ends near the following recommended restaurants:
- La Maison Rose on Rue de l'Abreuvoir,
- Le Grand Phénicien on Rue Caulaincourt.
In addition, we recommend these restaurants:
- Les Vins de Montmartre on Rue des Trois Frères,
- Bouillon Julien on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis,
- Polidor on Rue Monsieur le Prince.
Bon appétit!
