12 Best Restaurants in Paris: Where You Can't Go Wrong

Now, let us jump into the list of 12 best restaurants in Paris where you can enjoy gourmet food.

Located in the left wing of Trocadero, which arches around the Eifel Tower, Girafe is strategically located near the Eifel Tower. Sea-food is what Girafe is mainly known for. They get their Oysters fresh from the country’s best fishing regions from Brittany to Oleron. You can also relish on Sologne caviar, urchins, crayfish, lobsters, whole-fish and many more delicious dishes served out fresh. Even meat lovers are not disappointed with the menu and quality of food dished out here. However, in addition, what sets out Girafe apart from other famous restaurants in Paris is the breath-taking view of the Eifel Tower that you can get along with the lovely food. You can get a sensational view of the tower from the open terrace, and you can always count on this place for a good dining experience when you are visiting the tower.

Alain Ducasse owns 30 restaurants across 3 continents and has so far earned 20 Michelin stars from them. He started the Ducasse Sur Seine on an electric cruise boat relatively recently. It sails smoothly and noiselessly along the River Seine with the visitors able to take in the breath-taking views of the Eifel Tower, Louvre museum and other famous Paris monuments along the way. All the courses prepared by the celebrated chefs here are executed to perfection, from the chilled lobster to the tender roasted chicken in herb butter. Paris’s most celebrated and one of the most sought after chefs in the world, Alain Ducasse is constantly innovating in cuisine, trying to bring in the best from every place in the world and also opening new branches regularly in important places. This restaurant is a tribute to his foresight, managerial and of course, culinary skills. The boat’s boarding point is at port Debilly.

Located in the 11^th arrondissement, Septime is a hot favorite amongst the locals and is voted amongst the 50 best restaurants in the world. This vegetarian-friendly restaurant is very difficult to get in, and an advanced online reservation is a must. But once you are seated inside you will be simply awestruck by the quality and taste of the dishes served here. Bertrand Grebaut, the owner and chef, are extremely popular having taken this restaurant, which has also won the Sustainable Restaurant Award, to new heights. He boldly dishes out a variety of plant-based recipes in this meat-loving country. A seven-course dinner here costs Euro 80 per person, which is reasonable considering the taste, variety, quality and the reputation it has earned internationally. Even if you have a tight budget, consider dining here on a special occasion. Septime is also awarded its first Michelin star for adding to its laurels. For the layman, Michelin red guide is a book published by the French Tyre company to rate restaurants based on some criteria and recognition with a star, or a loss of a star can make a tremendous impact on the business of a restaurant. It is the oldest such guide, being in circulation for more than a century.

Clamato is also managed by Bertrand Grebaut, the chef of Septime, and this is his latest venture into the food business. While Septime mainly serves vegetarian dishes, this place is famous for its exquisite sea-food. You might be interested to know that this one of the best restaurants in Paris is named after a tomato-clam juice mix sold in Wal-Mart supermarkets. The food here is simple, unique, fresh, exciting and rejuvenating at the same time. Everything served here comes from the daily catch from the French Island of L’ille d’Yeu, which is also called a tuna and lobster island. This is such a rare delight in Paris that sea-food lovers flock to this place for dinner. You can even venture for a day time meal if you are inclined to relax during the day. Available here on the menu, apart from other sea-food, is a whole sea-boss which is priced at Euro 39.

As the name suggests, this is a small restaurant with a typical Parisian feel, dishing out very good quality French food to the diners. It has got very good, modest interiors and Paul Bert has become very popular since it opened in the year 2000, being in all the guide books for some time now. You can always count on this place whenever you need a quick bite away from big crowds in big restaurants.

Miznon is a restaurant in 22 Rue des Ecouffes and is loved for its Israeli cuisine. Known for its lovely middle-eastern recipes, this place serves you delicious potato pita-bread, roasted cauliflowers, and kebabs. This is a more casual setting, and you can generally drop in any time, including a late-night to have a quick bite of your favorite falafel without bothering about a reservation. Opened by a famous Israeli chef who opened his first Miznon in Tel-Aviv, this restaurant is open on Sundays and Mondays on which other dining places are normally closed.

The Breizh Café is one of the best Cafes in Paris, which offers extremely delicious crepes. If you are looking out for a good crepe in the city, it undoubtedly impresses with its traditional way of preparing a crepe with a Japanese touch added to it for good measure giving it a unique taste. You can get some good options here along with ham cheese and egg crepe; you can also go in for yellow chicken and lobster crepes or better still, its famous buckwheat crepe from Brittany. As it is generally crowed because of its location in Marais, you are advised to go in with a reservation.

The Hugo and Co is a warm, affable restaurant located in the Latin Quarter, 5^th arrondissement which offers a decent menu of extremely delicious dishes such as pancakes, gorgonzola, pork cutlet with black rice, and many other such items. It doesn’t disappoint vegetarians and vegans either with its lovely pure vegetarian dishes. The restaurant run by the Cambodian born and trained in New York Tomy Gousset has a very bright ambiance and is favored by a large clientele of academics, students, other locals, and tourists. You can say that this place mixes bistronomy with creativity and as bistronomy movement gains popularity around Paris and the world, eateries such as Hugo and Co have gained traction. The tables here are halfway between a standing bar and a classic table with chairs in which you can sit comfortably.

This is a spectacular roof-top restaurant and bar which allows you to have a stunningly beautiful view of the famous Paris skyline, as you relish the gourmet food and wine from L’Oiseau Blanc’s generous wine collection and cocktail offerings. This restaurant takes aviation as its theme and showcases the L’Oiseau Blanc bi-plane which made one of the first attempts at a transatlantic crossing from Paris to New York in 1927. As you step out of the elevator on the eight-floor, you can see the full-scale model of the bi-plane hanging over the outside terrace, preparing you for the unique experience. Almost the entire restaurant, including the passage to the washrooms, is filled with French aviation artifacts, showcasing the birth and growth of aviation in the country. This place is on top of the list of peninsula hotels with its stunning views of the Eifel Tower and Parisian skyline and also the lovely French cuisine and is definitely one of the best restaurants in Paris. The cuisine is prepared from the best of the French products delivered fresh daily, and the menu is changed regularly. You can come here for a good Sunday brunch. On any day, the carte blanche menu costs Euro 150 per person. The menu changes almost every day based on the available fresh ingredients, and you get to taste different recipes if you are a regular visitor. You need to book a table in advance to dine in this lovely place. You will also be pleasantly surprised to try out the advice of wine specialists available here regarding the pairing of a suitable wine with dishes. You might enjoy more by making an early reservation to spend some time having a drink in the bar before having your dinner slightly late to enjoy the view of the Eifel Tower as it erupts in an awesome lighting spectacle after 10:00 PM.

The Le Chateaubriand restaurant is consistently ranked in the top 50 restaurants in Paris, and you will find it imperative to book weeks in advance to dine here because of the waiting list. It is located in the 11^th arrondissement in 129, Avenue Parmentier and its modest interiors and appearance betray its popularity with the locals and tourists. The food here is seasonal, very tasty, distinctively French, and moderately priced. This restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Online and telephonic bookings are allowed. The difference with this well-patronaged restaurant from other such places is that the booking, normally done week in advance, is only for the seat and everyone has to wait in line after 9:00 PM for the no-choice tasting menu which costs Euro 75, while the lunch menu is much cheaper and simpler. In the end, you feel that its mouth-watering cuisine is worth all the trouble. The well-traveled chief chef reflects his global exposure in his menu which changes regularly with seasons.

Ellsworth is a pleasant and casual restaurant which offers a vegetarian menu, along with an extremely delicious fried chicken, nothing similar to a normal Parisian restaurant. The owners Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian opened this place after their huge success with Verjus which is more of an upscale restaurant with a loyal following even among the celebrities. This can be a great place for brunch, but you can drop in any time of the day whenever you like to have a bite. Ellsworth is open both for lunch and dinner, and apart from reservations, even walk-ins are also allowed. The menu here is more vegetarian heavy changing with seasons and availability of the items, and so is the wine, which is a combination of the conventional and natural. Even then, the fried chicken here is very popular with the patrons. The Ellsworth is open on Sundays and Mondays also.

The Restaurant Guy Savoy is located on the left bank of the River Seine. It is owned by the Chef who trained the superstar chef Gordon Ramsey. This restaurant has earned a Michelin star and dishes out one of the best possible sea-food dishes money can buy in Paris. This internationally renowned chef Guy Savoy who manages this since 1980 is also running three other establishments in Paris. This three Michelin star restaurant has magnificent, tastefully planned interiors with an imaginative combination of natural and artificial lighting to create an awesome atmosphere and ambiance, slightly on the darker side. It earned 2 stars by 1985, within 5 years of opening and the third star in 2002. This perfectly fits in the list of best restaurants in Paris. Guy Savoy moved into the present location by the River Seine in the year 2015, in the second floor of the highly impressive stone building earlier serving as the national mint. The exquisitely tasting menu costs a substantial Euro 450 while a la carte choices might run-up to Euro 250, as you can expect in a 3 Michelin star restaurant. The service here is excellent and the food more so with the dishes exquisitely cooked from top-grade ingredients and arranged beautifully. You can choose from a huge range of wine offering. However, if you are a wine enthusiast, take care while choosing a wine when you are going for a la carte as the mark ups are substantial enough to burn a big hole in your pocket. The tasting menu includes enough of gorgeous food and wine for you to carry the memories for a long time.

· Before venturing out to have your first dining experience in this stunningly attractive city, you need to know about a few things about the Parisian culture and habits, especially about their restaurants.

· The lunchtime is generally between noon and 3:00 PM and dinner time between 7:00 PM and 10 PM. In between, most of the restaurants in Paris are closed. It is always better to go into a restaurant with booking because of the waiting, which in some places might stretch to a week or two.

· Wine in France is defined by region. Bread is not a pre-meal option, while cheese is taken as a dessert after a meal.

Generally, there is no formal dress code, but normally shorts for gents are not encouraged, while some upscale ones might require a jacket. Tipping is not as a percentage but is only an appreciative gesture.