Saturday 23 February 2013

WHAT IS GOOD?//THINGS TO DO IN PARIS//OUGD505

THINGS TO DO IN PARIS: RESTAURANTS, CAFES AND BARS


Wine Tasting at Baron Rouge

When the Marché d’Aligre packs up for the day, well-stocked wine bar Baron Rouge is where folks go for a post-shopping tipple and an aperitif of saucisson or oysters. Arrive early and you might just get one of the few tables by the zinc bar: alternatively, follow the crowds and stand at one of the Baron Rouge’s quirky counters, made from old crates and barrels, outside on the narrow pavement. 

Le Bristol

Dress in your finest every first Saturday of the month and head to Le Bristol for an afternoon tea with a difference. Taking advantage of its prize location on rue du Faubourg St-Honoré, the palace hotel invites its haute-couture neighbours (think Céline, Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy) to strut their designer collections in the hotel bar, while you tuck into the Bristol’s delectable tea cakes (the whole affair costs €50). The pastry chef even concocts a special gâteau for the occasion, inspired by the designer on show. 

Pause Café


Featured in Cedric Klapisch's 1996 film Chacun Cherche son Chat, which was shot on location in the neighbourhood, the Pause Café has managed to prolong its moment of glory thanks to its large terrace on the corner of rues Charonne and Keller. Inside, the modern salons benefit from a smattering of primary colours with ornately plastered ceilings and plenty of light. Having been immortalised on celluloid, the friendly staff occasionally let fame go to their heads: service can be excruciatingly slow at times. The food - French café fare with an Asian twist - is not bad, but you might be waiting for a while; best to order a well-mixed cocktail to pass the time.
Chez Prune
Chez Prune is an excellent lunch spot, and still one of the best places to spend an evening on the Canal St-Martin. The local bobo HQ, this traditional café, with high ceilings and low lighting, sticks to a simple formula: groups of friends crowd around the cosily ordered banquettes, picking at moderately priced cheese or meat platters. Mostly, though, they come for a few leisurely drinks or an apéro before heading to one of the late night venues in the area.

Point Ephémère

Housed in a former warehouse for art deco construction materials, Point Ephémère capitilises on its position next to the waters of the Canal Saint-Martin with a great outdoor area. In 2004 it was an artist’s squat of some 1,400 metres squared, which quickly became hugely popular and near permanent – to the chagrin of Paris’s City Council. Today, this breeding ground of all things artistic organises exhibitions, concerts and evenings of independent music specialising mostly in cutting edge pop, rock, electro and hip-hop, all of which are within reach of youthful budgets (€10-12 entry).  

We like the Berlinesque setting with its layers of graffiti, its bare concrete, its enormous glass roof and its small-scale exhibitions. In summer from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, the aperitifs attract the crowds – reaching the bar can be something of an achievement. You can eat lunch and dinner here on the pretty, sunny terrace, and the food is good if a little expensive for the portion size. You’ll jump every time a fire engine zooms out of the neighbouring fire station, but will soon settle back in next to the water.
 

Le Tambour


Banal during the day, Le Tambour is the late-night haunt of all the neighbourhood’s night owls and insomniacs, staying open until 3.30am. The atmosphere is warm, though it can get a little crazy between the drinkers draped over the bar and the gruff, strapping barmen. But it’s always fun mixing in with this eccentric nightlife – more often than not you feel like you’re in a sailor’s tavern, decorated with a jumble of salvaged road signs, rather than in a bar in the centre of Paris. Here, you can satisfy any cravings for andouillette,a malodorous intestine sausage, for pig’s feet or simply for steak, at any hour of the day or night. To go with these rustic dishes, order a box or a bottle of wine à la ficelle (you only pay for what you drink). As you’d expect, the low prices increase slightly in the early hours.

Le Potager du Marais


This organic vegetarian eatery near Beaubourg is proof that you can fit an entire restaurant into a shoebox: You will be fighting for elbowroom with strangers on tables crammed in along one wall, but what the Potager du Marais lacks in space, it makes up for on the plate with luscious, homemade dishes brimming with pulses, tofu, fresh, crunchy vegetables and beans. The mushroom terrine, served with gherkins and salad is a real winner; and mains like tofu and sweet pumpkin hachis parmentier (a veggie Shepherd’s pie) are genuinely filling and yummy. Dessert - perhaps less gourmand than the rest - might include a bowl of tasty apple and green tea purée, or a fruit tart. If you require gluten free, the Potager gets brownie points for its multiple choice of dishes – a real rarity in Paris.

La Flèche d'Or
This much-loved indie and electro venue, which reopened in November 2009 after a six-month shutdown, is set in the old Charonne train station - a quirky setting for concerts by a stream of local and international groups and DJs. Needless to say the line ups are eclectic, with three or four bands playing a night.


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