Top 20 foods to try in Paris

02/07/2024

By Carolyn Boyd and Clotilde Dusoulier

Planning a romantic break to France's capital city? Between casual strolls along the Seine, indulge in some of the best food to eat in Paris…

Travellers are advised to read the FCO travel advice at gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for the country they are travelling to.

French food isn't all about haute cuisine and fine dining—some of the best food to enjoy in Paris can be bought from a humble boulangerie for just a couple of euros. Bite into a buttery croissant, savour a crunchy baguette, or try your hand at making the colourful macaron, which takes more effort but is worth every second. Here's our pick of the gastronomic highlights.

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If you’re exploring the city and want helpful tips on where to eat, check out our guide to the best places to eat in Paris.

If you’re inspired by French culture and cuisine, try our French recipes or top French dessert recipes.

20 local food to eat in Paris

1. Steak frites

For the quintessential bistrot dish, steak frites, head to one of Paris’ atmospheric French brasseries, complete with brass fittings, linen tablecloths (red gingham optional) and smart, aproned waiting staff. These restaurants are so integral to the city’s dining scene, even multi-Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse has opened one: Champeaux in Les Halles.

The simple pairing of a grilled steak with various optional sauces and chips is elevated to serious heights when the meat is well selected and carefully matured, and the potatoes are fresh, hand-cut and double-fried. Choose your cut of beef, your ‘cuisson’ (order ‘à point’ for medium-rare) and a sauce, be it Béarnaise or peppercorn, and crunch those crispy frites with a side order of squeaky haricots verts.

Try our classic French steak with pommes frites recipe.

2. Croissants

Walk past any bakery in the wee hours of the morning and you’ll be instantly spellbound by the warm buttery smell of fresh croissants escaping from the air vents at pavement level. This is your cue to step in and get your golden prize, which you can tuck into and savour on your morning walk as the city awakens. Sadly, fewer and fewer French bakeries make their croissants from scratch – they buy them frozen instead – so it’s worth asking to make sure your boulanger still engages in that noble, delicious craft.

Try our homemade croissants recipe.

3. A cocktail at the Bar Hemingway

The city’s most famous bar is tucked away inside The Ritz and celebrates the life and work of its most famous barfly, Ernest Hemingway. Try a sublime cocktail mixed by legendary British barman Colin Field, who has run the bar since 1994.

His two signature cocktails are the Serendipity, which mixes calvados with fresh mint, sugar, ice and champagne, and the Clean Dirty Martini, which features a frozen cube of olive juice at its centre. You’ll have to guess the other ingredients – Field says he is taking the recipe to his grave.

Try one of our martini recipes. We have a selection of classics and new twists, like our clementine martini.

4. Macarons

Until supreme patissier Pierre Hermé reinvented these small, smooth meringues filled with ganache, they were a fairly unassuming item in the extensive range of French patisserie, coming in just four flavours: vanilla, chocolate, coffee and raspberry. This delicate pastry has taken the world by storm but its birthplace is resolutely Paris.

Hermé took these colourful treats to another level with flavours such as lemon, orange blossom and Corsican honey (this is called the Jardin de l’Atlas) and rose, lychee and raspberry (the Ispahan). For those who like one flavour only, his ‘Infiniment’ range takes one ingredient – lemon, chocolate, coffee and many others – and uses it to create different layers of flavour in one macaron. Macarons are two-bite delights, but it is worth seeking them out from reputable pastry shops that actually make their own – many just hop on the bandwagon and sell factory-made ones that aren’t worth your time or dime – and go easy on the rainbow-style food colourings.

Try our chocolate macarons for a sweet treat that goes perfectly with tea.

5. Croque-monsieur

Most brasseries and cafés in Paris offer non-stop service, and a staple of their menu is the croque-monsieur, an oozy and crisp grilled ham and cheese sandwich usually moistened by a touch of béchamel sauce. If you’re extra hungry, get the croque-madame, which adds a fried egg on top.

Try our homemade croque-monsieur recipe.

6. Israeli food

The French aren’t known for embracing the cuisine of other cultures, but Paris is currenlty undergoing a gastronomic revolution and the focus of many chefs is Israeli food. One of the hottest tables in town is at Balagan where chefs Assaf Granit and Dan Yosha and their team are serving fresh, vibrant vegetable, fish and meat dishes lifted with perfectly pitched spices, tahini and citrus.

For the best seat in the house, grab a stool at the kitchen counter and enjoy the chefs’ theatrics as they serve dishes, sing and knock back shots of cucumber and mint-enhanced absinthe.

Check out our Mediterranean and Jewish recipes for inspiration on cooking Israeli-inspired dishes. Falafel is Israel's national dish, so try making our easy falafel recipe. It tastes a thousand times better than the shop-bought options.

7. Choucroute

This brasserie staple originally hails from Alsace, the border region in eastern France, but it came to the French capital at the end of the 19th century when the region was annexed by Germany and refugees fled to Paris. Choucroute is the French word for sauerkraut, a huge serving of white cabbage cooked in riesling, duck or pork fat, with herbs and garlic and topped with sausages and pork knuckle.

It’s the perfect dish to share between two, and at Bofinger (which boasts stunning art nouveau décor and a glorious stained glass atrium) it's served on a heated stove so it stays warm as you work your way through it.

Read our sauerkraut recipe to learn how to make your own batch. If you're a fan of fermented foods, check out our collection of fermented food recipes.

8. Cédric Grolet’s Patisserie

Is it really an orange? As you slice into its shell, you soon realise patissier Cédric Grolet’s extraordinary desserts are something very special – this is actually mousse filled with mandarin and timut pepper compote. At just 32 years old, Grolet has established a worldwide following (mostly thanks to his Instagram account) for his fruit desserts, which look every bit like the real thing.

Each one takes around a week to complete, from the outer shell made with cocoa butter, to the mousse and compote inside. Grolet and his team make around 200 a day, serving only the best to teatime guests at Le Meurice, a luxury hotel on the Rue de Rivoli.

Check out our French patisserie recipes. Try everything from pastry and gateau to tarts and madeleines.

9. A baguette

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the French baguette to be given UNESCO recognition, but many Parisian bakers have already ordained their baguettes with a superior status. An annual competition to find Paris’ best baguette (official title: Grand Prix de la Baguette Tradition Française de la Ville de Paris) has been running since 1994, and each year the baker of the best loaf wins a medal, €4,000 and the chance to supply the Elysée Palace for a year. Don’t forget to tear off the crusty, still-warm tip and nibble on it as you walk away, as any self-respecting Parisian does.

Browse our French-inspired bread recipes for a weekend baking project.

10. Jacques Genin chocolates

While the internationally-famous Ladurée and Pierre Hermé carve out their global operations, the chocolatier of choice for discerning Parisians is Jacques Genin. Head up to his elegant boutique and salon de thé (133 Rue de Turenne) not far from Place de la République to indulge in his exquisite and unusual flavours such as caper and basil, to sublime effect.

If you’re a chocaholic, then try some of our chocolate recipes.

11. Coffee (or tea)

‘Un café’ used to mean just one thing, a bitter espresso consumed alongside a Gauloise cigarette (possibly while contemplating existentialism) but over the last few years Parisians have embraced a new generation of good coffee, where beans are carefully chosen, roasted and brewed. Taste it in the surrounds of one of Paris’ trendy coffee shops, many of which have sprung up near the hip districts of Canal Saint-Martin or The Marais.

It’s not all about the flat whites and latte art, however. Tea (or thé) predates the coffee trend, with elegant salons de thé attracting a well-heeled clientele to try such brands as Mariage Frères or Dammann Frères – but before you come over all English, these are consumed without milk. One of the most elegant and popular salons de thé is Angelina on the Rue de Rivoli, where tea and coffee should come with their signature patisserie, Le Mont Blanc.

Celebrate the irresistible flavour of coffee with our selection of coffee recipes, a range of espresso cocktails and iced drinks, or munch on cappuccino cakes, tiramisu, ice creams and more.

12. Rhum baba

This dense cake with rum and vanilla cream dates from the 18th century and owes its place in French culinary history to King Stanislaus of Poland, who was exiled in Lorraine. The king had fond memories of raisin brioches served with Tokaji wine and so charged his chef, Nicolas Stohrer, with the task of recreating the dish, which he named rhum baba in keeping with his passion for the Arabian Nights stories.

When Stanislaus’ daughter Marie married King Louis XV, Stohrer relocated to Paris and opened his own bakery, and the rhum baba’s Parisian future was sealed. Chef Alain Ducasse adores the dessert and it's a signature dish in many of his Parisian restaurants.

Try Tom Kerridge’s Rum babas with poached pineapple & vanilla ice cream for a restaurant-style pudding you can make-ahead for a relaxed end to your dinner party.

13. Duck confit

Originally devised to preserve fresh duck meat for future consumption, the confit method consists of cooking duck thighs in their own fat, until the meat is spectacularly moist and fork-tender. Few Parisian bistros make their own, but they pride themselves in selecting the best producer, typically from the southwest of France, and serve them seared until the skin turns golden and crisp. The classic side is pommes sarladaises, heavenly garlicky potatoes sautéed in duck fat. (And duck fat is good for you, right?)

Try our homemade confit duck recipe.

14. Jambon-beurre

Like all city dwellers, Parisians often need to eat on the go, and the jambon-beurre is the most Parisian of sandwiches. You can buy it from corner bakeries or order it from the counter at most cafés; in both cases it will come as a fresh half-baguette, its insides smeared with cool butter and garnished with ‘jambon de Paris’, a pink-hued cooked ham, with optional cornichons.

15. Raw-milk artisanal cheeses

Paris is truly the gastronomic hub of France, and nowhere is it more apparent than in cheese shops, where you can buy the makings of a cheesy Tour de France and taste your way through each region’s stars, from the mildest to the sharpest. Always favour raw-milk cheeses (unless you have a compromised immunity) and ask the vendor what’s best right now, as the production of artisanal cheeses is a seasonal affair.

16. Paris-Brest

Named after a long-established bicycle race that sees competitors cycle from Paris to the tip of Brittany, this is among the best-sellers in Parisian pastry shops. The wheel-shaped choux pastry shell garnished with praline buttercream and sprinkled with caramelized almonds is guaranteed bliss for sweet lovers.

Try our homemade mini white chocolate Paris-Brest recipe.

17. Street-stand crêpes

Walking around Paris, you’ll see street stands selling crêpes everywhere. One of the few truly native street foods, the crêpe is indeed a lovely treat to indulge in when it’s time for an afternoon snack. Be sure to pick a stand that cooks crêpes to order (rather than reheating them from a pile cooked earlier), makes them thin (nothing worse than a gummy, undercooked crêpe) and is kept spotlessly clean. Though you may be tempted to try all kinds of stuffings, serious aficionados stick to the beurre-sucre (butter and sugar) for the true, unadulterated crêpe experience.

Try making crêpes and fill with your favourite toppings.

18. French onion soup

If you want comfort in a bowl, then Parisian French onion soup is the way to go. It’s rumoured that Louis XV invented the recipe nearly three centuries ago.

Our French onion soup recipe is deliciously rich and easy to make at home. This savoury soup is perfect for using a garden glut and great for dinner parties.

19. Éclairs

An éclair is a choux pastry filled with cream and topped with flavoured icing. The dough, identical to that used for profiteroles, is typically piped into an oblong shape with a pastry bag and baked until crisp and hollow inside. Start your éclair journey with our homemade éclair recipe, then explore exciting flavour combinations like our banana custard éclairs.

20. Escargot

Though traditionally cooked in various ways in Paris, the Burgundy recipe for escargot remains the most popular. A dozen snails are typically presented in their shells and stuffed with a mouthwatering combination of garlic, parsley, herbs, and butter. However, many Parisian restaurants have put their own creative spin on this classic dish. Now, you’ll find snails served with all kinds of filling. On the fancier side, you will find Roquefort, truffle and foie gras, and for a more adventurous take, there are even curry-based dishes.

Check out our travel hub for more essential travel info and must-read guides.

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What's your favourite French food? Leave a comment below...

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