Bistro in Paris

Charles Compagnon's open-plan neo-bistro — Asian-inflected cooking, no reservations, all-day kitchen.

Half-punk, half-precise — the natural-wine small-plates bistro that rewrote the 11e in 2011.

1906 Art Nouveau room on the Left Bank — Chartier's brother house, listed.

1924 corner bistro with an open kitchen — and Paris's most decorated bœuf bourguignon.

A Provençal bistro hiding behind Place des Vosges — and the city's largest pastis collection.

1889 Abbesses brasserie — shellfish counter, Cantal charcuterie, no Montmartre theatre.

1902 Art Nouveau brasserie on Ledru-Rollin — Mucha frescoes, listed interior, honest cooking.

A turn-of-the-century café preserved without irony — zinc bar, red banquettes, all-day terrace.

Canal Saint-Martin's natural-wine institution — 400 references, plates from the kitchen behind the bottles.

Christian Constant's cast-iron-pot canteen on rue Saint-Dominique.

A working 'routier' off Trocadéro — checkered tablecloths, 18-euro lunch.