Chez Paul

On rue de Charonne near Bastille, Chez Paul keeps the feel of a bistro with wood, period details and a menu of recognizable French cooking. The restaurant traces its history to 1900; the table itself is better explained by dishes such as eggs with mayonnaise, country terrine and gratinéed onion soup. It is an address for settling in over a meal without turning every choice into a formal tasting experience.

The menu viewed for this guide pairs duck confit with garlic potatoes, while steak tartare and pot-au-feu answer different appetites; tarte Tatin, floating island and rum baba follow for dessert. Weekday lunch, excluding holidays, costs EUR 21 for two courses or EUR 24 for three. The set changes with the market, so those prices do not guarantee a particular dish on a given day or describe the cost of an à-la-carte dinner.

The restaurant is well placed for a walk from Bastille into Charonne's quieter streets. Continuous service makes a meal possible outside the more rigid hours of many bistros, although the lower-priced set menu has its own lunchtime window. For a group seeking French classics with a defined budget, it helps to distinguish that set from ordering freely and adding drinks, which can change the bill.