Le Clarence is more than just a meal; it's an extraordinary journey to a parallel world, full of crystal chandeliers and neoclassical paintings. It's the kind of place you imagine important figures from history might have dined once, taking place in a luxurious private mansion, overflowing with wood panelling, mouldings and velvet. Chef Christophe Pelé serves up an incredible seasonal menu – we loved the tempura shrimp, the baby eels and grilled red mullet with bone marrow. Unforgettable stuff.

James Edward Henry and Shaun Kelly escaped to the countryside in the renovated outbuildings of a chateau in Essonne to create an exquisite restaurant in a beautiful setting. The delicate dishes at Le Doyenné include veal steak – grilled on the wood fire – with sides to share around the table, like purslane and grilled green beans and cabbage salad. The garden provides most of the veggies, and small local farms supply the meat. The setting will make sure your soul feel just as nourished.

The Levha sisters, Katia and Tatiana, have been lighting up their corner spot on Rue Saint-Maur since 2014. The setting is drop-dead gorgeous: ceiling mouldings, a vintage fresco, and a bouquet of flowers on the massive brass bar. The cuisine, which hops freely between France and Asia, is boldly innovative and very now: check out the grilled sweetbreads boosted by phrik phao (spicy Thai sauce). Oh, and the carefully selected wines are grea too, heavy on Burgundy reds and whites.

At the helm of this cool bar mixing wood, glass, concrete, and steel, Bertrand Grébaut (of Septime) is your captain on a voyage of seafood. The menu changes based on the day's catch (which is always sustainably sourced). The delicious dishes include spicy Oléron cuttlefish and mullet ceviche with butternut squash. Just watch out: the bill can rise as quickly as the tide. And that’s quick.

Giovanni Passerini has got to be the best Italian chefs in Paris. Hell, we reckon he's one of the top chefs in the city full stop. Passerini's menu is a perfect balance of classic Italian comfort food (think duck ragu tagliatelle and ricotta-spinach ravioli with sage butter) and insanely good gourmet dishes, like the two-course pigeon, which might just have you dreaming about it for weeks after you've paid the (admittedly steep) bill.

Septime hasn't aged a bit since it opened in 2011. This is fine dining in a London pub-type setting; think weathered wood tables, blackened steel and dim lighting. Another thing that hasn’t changed? Bertrand Grébaut's Michelin-starred cuisine, which remains fresh, innovative and delicious (and features a seven-course menu that knows how to build up to a crescendo). It changes every three weeks, but previous highlights include pearly scallops with bone marrow and an incredible grilled sweetbread.

Looking for a starched-tablecloth meal with genteel service and some friendly vegetarian options? Yeah, this isn’t the place. At this Parisian market counter, you eat standing up in the open air (it does get chilly in winter), with Michael Grosman as your endearing host and sommelier; he was named the ‘Best Host in Paris’ at the Time Out Food and Drink Awards. The bold and meaty plates from Japanese chef Shunta Suzuki are just as satisfying as they are pricey. Order the gorgonzola Groix mussels.

A typical 8th district brasserie setting, Le Mermoz looks like something out of the 60s, with bistro-style furniture, a mosaic floor and opaline chandeliers. Its impeccable contemporary cuisine is the brainchild of the gifted Californian chef Thomas Graham and his brilliant team (awarded a prize at the Time Out Paris Food and Drink Awards). Think mackerel in a zucchini flower, roasted lamb medallions with chanterelle mushrooms and wild blueberries, and samphire risotto with sheep's milk yoghurt.

Opaline lighting, a marbled counter, and basket-woven service; Châteaubriand invented the codes of bistronomy in 2006 and has been breaking boundaries ever since. From its kitchen, the iconic chef Iñaki Aizpitarte always strays from the mainstream. It's a true author's cuisine; vibrant, energetic, and almost punk. Sometimes you miss the mark a bit, sometimes it hits the bull's-eye. But however it turns out, everything he sends out is innovative, fresh and exciting.

This bistro may have officially opened in 2016 and not cost much, but it has an old soul. It sort of feels like the kind of place where figures from history have sat, and where your favourite author may have enjoyed some snails back in the 80s. Of course, Les Alorts serves its iconic sausage and mash, unbeatable at the top of the bistro pantheon, but everything else on the menu is finely crafted and perfectly executed. Take our word for it: this is the best bistro in Paris.

At first glance, Mokonuts appears to be a modest coffee shop, where you can unexpectedly enjoy a top-notch cookie baked by the brilliant Japanese firefly Moko Hirayama. And you certainly will, but you’ll also probably have the best lunch of your life if you’re lucky enough to grab a spot. Mokonuts’ Franco-Lebanese head chef Omar Koreitem creates dishes that will blow your mind, from scallops crudo to cavatelli and cuttlefish puttanesca. Mokonuts is one of Time Out’s most beloved restaurants.

This timeless Parisian bistro setting is hiding something special. You might think it’s all just steak and fries, but you’ll be blown away by the beautifully crafted plates of the Japanese chef Masaki Nagao (formerly of Clarence) with his crispy sardine tempura and pearly hake drizzled in chorizo sauce. The experience wouldn't be complete without sommelier Marco Pelletier (formerly of Bristol), who manages the small room and one of the most beautiful wine cellars in Paris.

Chef Adrien Ferrand cuts through the noise of the Parisian restaurant scene by doing things a little differently. Eels is a cosy little bistro in Poissonnière, where every single dish is crafted with impeccable technique. Plates here are presented beautifully with precise little touches, like the raw scallops with turnip ravioli, or the guinea fowl with grilled cuttlefish, green beans and padrón peppers. There’s no trickery here; Eels is just a great restaurant.

Dark wood bistro furniture, 19th-century bourgeois paintings and Belle Epoque tiling make this dream of a Parisian tavern what it is, nestled away in the Passage des Panoramas. Sardinian chef Simone Tondo cooks from an open kitchen so you can watch the action unfold, and the food is proper Italian grub. Think old, reassuring Italian classics, passed down from Tondo’s nonna. Simple, delicious. Just watch that bill – Racines is pricey.

Le Tagine gets its character from openwork lanterns, zelliges and pleated fabrics on the ceiling. The radiant owner Marie-Josée Mimoun sources the crème de la crème of products to cook some seriously good food, including literally the best couscous in the world – yes, we went there – with spices from Thiercelin, suckling lamb from the Pyrenees and olive oil from a local store. Plus Mimoun was one of the first to switch to an all-natural wine list (a win in our books).

Okay, so the name sounds a little scary, but trust us, this place is actually chill AF. Opened by the French-Brazilian couple Ninon Lecomte and Lucas Baur de Campos, the service here is friendly AF, and the setting insanely cosy. The dishes are definitely meaty but still delicate, like the cloud-like mashed potato crowned with bone marrow, served with perhaps the softest and most tender flame-grilled rib you’ve ever tasted. And if you’re lucky enough to visit on a Sunday, it would be a crime not

In charge of this tiny tiled galley is Olive Davoux, a Belgian-Ugandan who used to work at L'Ecailler du Bistrot, and who delights diners with a menu of small plates inspired by the day's (artisanal) catch. Dive in to Sur Mer head-first to taste the likes of black mullet ceviche and Basque country lean carpaccio, and don't forget the well-shucked oyster baskets (Monsieur Jean-Paul's Utah Beach and Cadoret family's specials). Unreal.

While we continue to mourn the closure of the beloved Abri by chef Katsuaki Okiyama, we find solace in his second location, an izakaya dedicated to soba noodles in the beautiful Montmartre. The decor at Abri Soba is all wooden walls and concrete floors, and the noodles will blow you away. Here you’ll find undoubtedly the best soba noodles in Paris, and their legendary karaage chicken in the evenings. Extra kudos for the excellent wine list.

This old-school horse butcher shop – with its chicken tile, stainless steel hooks, and golden horse head – hides the best sandwich shop in Paris. Here you’ll find around 20 enticing options in small plastic baskets (€5-8.50) on the mini marble counter; highlights include classics like the Prince de Paris ham and the original chicken pot-au-feu (meat and veg) with dill and mayo, as well as veggie options like the butternut squash, tapenade and feta.

The chefs at Le Dauphin experiment with creative tapas in a modern and clean-looking space, full of glass and Carrara marble. The restaurant was designed by legendary architect Rem Koolhaas, and its now the kind of place where fashionable people snack on small plates and snap Instagram pics, but in a good way. The dishes are focused on high-quality ingredients in their purest form, like mussels marinières and the trademark sea snails, served with a little jar of mayo.

Café du Coin is a charming, old-fashioned bistro, complete with brass-rimmed counter, formica tables, and belle époque cement tiles. And while it might have a name as common as they come for a French dive bar, you’d be foolish to dismiss it. Created by chef Florent Ciccoli (previously of Jones, Cheval d'Or, and Recoin), this neighborhood watering hole in the 11th arrondissement is buzzing from morning coffee to dinner time. Our recommendation? Their affordable lunch menu.

This place is more Parisian than the Eiffel Tower – old zinc bar, Formica tables and globe lights – providing the perfect backdrop for some refined bistronomy. Le Saint Sebastien chef Christopher Edwards delivers a bold, daring and flavorful cuisine. And to complement these impressive dishes, the brilliant propriétaire Daniela Lavadenz has curated one of the city's finest wine lists.

Since 2015, the Tuscan chef Michele Farnesi – who worked at legendary Paris restaurants Rino and Heimat – has been making his mark in the quirky dining room of this small address in Ménilmontant, which is more like an osteria than a palace. Dilia’s five-course meal takes diners on a lively journey through the Italian terroirs with precise and spirited cooking. Highlights include the Venetian-style pasta and the opaline mullet with hollandaise sauce and sea urchin.

Grande Brasserie was brought back to life in 2022 by director Adrien Spanu – and elected the same year as Paris’s best restaurant at the Time Out Paris Food and Drink Awards. Spanu was on a mission to restore the heritage of this Parisian landmark, which shows in the decor: '20s mosaics, post-war frescoes, and starched tablecloths. This all makes for a cosy space to enjoy the timeless cuisine from chef Grégoire Simon. Make sure to try his world-class deviled eggs (at a high price).

Get stuck into small plates and big glasses (the wine list is as thick as a summer novel) at number 6 on the well-polished Rue du Nil, Frenchie our favourite address from French chef Grégory Marchand. The venue is small – you’ll be elbow to elbow with the mostly English-speaking clientele – but worth it for the scotch eggs and kimchi aioli, veal sweetbread nuggets and salsify tagliatelle with yellow wine slalom. Come alone and chat to fellow guests at the bar – that’s the vibe.