Hotels near Bistrot Paul Bert

If you want the postcard version - nicotine-yellow walls, mirrors chalked with the day's specials, tables close enough to follow the next conversation - Bistrot Paul Bert still delivers it without irony. Bertrand Auboyneau has run the place for about two decades on Rue Paul Bert, a street that now carries three of his addresses. Cuisine: traditional French bistrot. The signature is steak au poivre with a proper mound of hand-cut frites, though the sole meunière from Le Guilvinec at €54 and the île flottante are what regulars actually order. Three courses land around €55 to €65 a head before wine, with plates such as beef tongue in hot sauce at €24 and crème caramel at €8.

Gault&Millau scores it 12/20 and calls it one of the capital's best-known bistros, which doubles as the warning: dinner service is heavily international, the room is tight and the tempo is brisk. It opens Tuesday to Saturday, 12pm to 2pm and 7pm to 11:30pm, and booking is by telephone only on +33 1 43 72 24 01. There is no online reservation system and no walk-in queue worth joining.

Pro Tip: Book lunch rather than dinner and ask for a table in the front room near the bar, because the back is quieter but you lose the whole point of the place. Order dessert at the same time as your main course, since the île flottante and the Paris-Brest both run out on busy nights.