Kessler's Paris
These are my favorite places in Paris – the ones I'd take you to myself.
Top picks10
Upscale Israeli sharing plates in a lively room. Don't skip the olive-oil chocolate mousse.
Croissants that have won best-in-Paris. The queue moves fast and it's worth it.
If you see one museum in Paris, see this one. One of the most beautiful in the world – the collection and the building both (it lives inside an old railway station).
Tiny soba specialist. Order the eggplant miso and the crème brûlée, and come early to catch a table.
Creative vegan cooking, among the best in Paris. Made for sharing – plan on 2 dishes each. Not every plate lands, but the best are exceptional.
A Belleville hole-in-the-wall run by the warmest Chinese family. Go for the tofu pudding, sweet or savory, 2 euros.
Ice cream shop combined with a natural wine bar. Unique flavors like olive oil and matcha, and a scoop next to a glass of natural wine.
No baguette here. Just special breads and bakes, and some of the best croissants in Montmartre.
Dramatic hilly park with a temple, cliffs and a lake. Great grass for lying around and losing an afternoon.
A cemetery, but less gloomy than it sounds. A green hill where Edith Piaf and Jim Morrison rest. Come to walk, not to mourn.
Everything else
Famous Paris ramen with a few locations. Delicious and reliable.
Mostly vegetarian Middle-Eastern sharing plates. Big on vegetables, big on flavor.
Swedish café and pastries. A perfect Marais break, busy on weekends.
My usual on the Seine is a supermarket beer on the quay. But if you want a real bar on the water, this is it – a lively terrace on the river, made for watching the boats go by.
Iconic Israeli pita spot. Wild fillings, and free pita bites with tahini while you wait.
When the Marais wears you out, stop here. The oldest public square in Paris, hidden (but definitely not a secret).
Irish pub with an English quiz night on Mondays at 20:00. Get there early for a table.
Good specialty coffee with a laptop-friendly corner in the Latin Quarter.
One of the most iconic, classical gardens in Paris. Hemingway walked here when he was broke. Grab a green chair by the fountain and stay a while – and find the miniature Statue of Liberty.
Taiwanese-owned bookshop-café near the Luxembourg. Stop, read, recharge.
The fanciest supermarket I've ever visited. Products from all over France and the world, and my go-to for gifts to carry home.
Indonesian cooking in a beautiful room near Invalides. Rare in Paris, and worth a lunch if you're nearby.
A museum of non-European art – masks, textiles and sculpture from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas. The Jean Nouvel building has a living wall of plants along the river, and the temporary shows are usually the best reason to go.
The most beautiful sculpture garden in Paris. Go for the garden as much as the work standing in it.
A charming park in the residential 8th. Wander past an 18th-century colonnade around the pond and romantic (mock) ruins. Green, calm, mostly locals.
Ramen with a floor-seating option if you want it.
A local institution (expect a queue in high season). High-quality bakes of every kind.
The big sister of Petit Bao. Generous Chinese plates, and the fried aubergine is the highlight.
Speakeasy bar-club hidden behind a shopfront. DJs, a wild interior, always lively.
Spacious, industrial café by the canal with very good coffee.
Pan-Asian vegan by the canal. Affordable and very good.
A young local wine bar at night. Small veg plates to share.
Young, loud and genuinely popular. One of the cheapest happy hours in Paris.
The best (perhaps the only) sabich in pita in Paris. Cheap, classic Israeli street food. Schnitzel in pita Thursday to Saturday.
Great pizza. Order the Cosmic Ninja (burrata and truffle).
Vegan cooking that does fake meat properly, in a stylish room. Order the cordon bleu, and share the small dishes around the table.
Fast, delicious dumplings with a few locations in Paris. This is the one on Boulevard Voltaire.
No-frills Chinese. Biang biang and other hand-pulled noodles.
A two-table spot run by a mother and daughter. The dumplings are the reason to come.
A quiet corner by Marché d'Aligre. The croissant is the reason to come – crisp outside, soft within.
Fully vegetarian Thai in the 13th. Lovely atmosphere, great dishes.
Local, cheap and very good. Expect a queue.
For the philosophers: Sartre and de Beauvoir share a grave here, and admirers still cover the stone with lipstick kisses and metro tickets. Quieter than Père-Lachaise, and a calm place to walk in the 14th.
A local park in the 14th that most visitors skip. Small hills and winding paths circle a lake – peaceful midweek, lively with locals at the weekend.
If you must see the Eiffel Tower up close, come here instead. The gardens climb the hill across the river – the best view of it, and calmer than the crowd underneath.
An old-school Abbesses bakery with no hype. I come for the croissant – the baguette has won prizes too.
The white basilica crowning Montmartre.
A classic Paris bouillon – traditional French food, cheap, in a grand old-school room. Not the finest cooking, but you go for the atmosphere. Book a table ahead.
A bar-restaurant built into an old station on the Petite Ceinture. Young crowd, and worth checking what's on before you go.
The view from the steps below the basilica. Go at golden hour.
Intimate neighborhood café in Montmartre. Good vibe, good coffee.
My girlfriend's favorite café in the city, and she's the no. 1 expert for specialty cafés, so trust her on this.
One of the best sunset spots in Paris, Eiffel Tower on the skyline. A young local crowd gathers as the light drops.
Nothing here
Try widening the filters.