My 12 favourite places to eat & drink in Belleville
The Parisian neighbourhood of Belleville is a frenzied melting-pot of cultures. An oriental patisserie across the street from a synagogue, next to a halal butcher and round the corner from a typical French café terrace. That’s Belleville.
Belleville is in hip, eastern Paris, in the 20th district. To stay here is cheaper than central Paris (I head to Hotel Babel Belleville) and it’s well connected to the rest of the city: two stops from République and an easy journey, including by bus, to the Gare du Nord train station.
For those living in Belleville, the real gem is Buttes-Chaumont, a park like no other within the city walls of Paris; with a hill to climb, a lake for boating, and the sound of the wind in the trees.
Ask locals for their favourite place to eat in Belleville, and the chances are it’s Chinese. For Belleville is a multicultural neighourhood, welcoming waves of newcomers over the decades, from Spain and North Africa in the 1950s and 60s, to sub-Saharan Africa more recently, and, the newest arrivals, Asia.
Belleville is also home to some of my favourite addresses for eating and buying food in Paris. It is best to have a main meal at lunchtime, to take advantage of the set menu price of Euros19-21 for entrée and main course.
You will not find any Chinese restaurants in my list as I am allergic to monosodium glutamate, so widely loved by Asian chefs. (With my most recent visits first.)
For lunch & evening:
- Le Pinceau is tiny restaurant with Pierre for the food and Gabriel for the wine and front of house. In the quiet, graffiti-filled Rue Denoyez – home also to Le Grand Bain, Le Petit Grain, and the Café des Délices. Open Mondays to Fridays. I had ‘Longline’ mussels (bred at sea on suspended ropes) with coriander and the spicy Nduja Calabrian suausage, followed by grilled bonito with mashed potato and cabbage – with a glass of Gamay. I went back for lunch in January 2025. I was the only person there who was not friend or family, and ate just as well. The décor is nothing fancy, but I go for the food.
- Le Jourdain is a stroll up the hill of Belleville. Small, packed restaurant with a good vibe and lots of locals. I went for Coquille de Saint Jacques with kaki fruit followed by Grilled pollock with a vin jaune sauce and roast Jerusalem artichokes. On the way up, stop by the Belvedere de Belleville for a view across Paris. When I was there they were filming for TV series FBI.
- L’Orillon calls itself a ‘bar du quartier’, a neighbourhood bar on a street corner. Technically it is on the other side of the road from Belleville, but Belleville is the closest metro station. Here, locals stroll up to the zinc-top bar for their €1 coffee. A useful address to have as it’s open every day, from 8am until 2am during the week and 10am until 2am at weekends. The wines are ‘clean’ and the €21 midweek lunchtime menu (€24 with pudding) is creative and seasonal. On my return in January 2025, I stopped off at 6pm to have a plate of artisanal cheese, some of the best bread in Paris and leek vinaigrette before boarding the Eurostar back to London.
- Bahar restaurant & bar, with its signature midnight blue colours, woven wicker chairs and music that takes you on a journey, spills out onto the quiet Lemon street. The menu is devised by Franco-Afghan chef Claire Feral-Akram. Light on meat, the stars are vegetables and spices. Bahar is part of Hotel Babel Belleville.
- Le Baratin: on a trip to the Catalan city of Girona, I once met a couple at a bar. They had a restaurant in Paris, and it turned out to be Le Baratin, in a side street off the rue de Belleville, a long road that stretches all the way up to Porte de Lilas. Carena and her husband opened Le Baratin more than 30 years ago. It’s an excellent place for lunch. It has a bistro feel, tiled flooring and a small library, but there’s something more … much more – a familiarity, a sense of being at home after a long time travelling.
For evening:
- Café des Délices: opposite the Hotel Babel Belleville, where I like to stay. A great place to meet for an early evening glass of something. We had (natural) wine, but the order of the day is more about beer and cider – the current craze in Paris. We ordered frites – they were not crisp but at least the oil was fresh. Open all hours. A buzzy atmosphere.
- Dame Jane: this tiny restaurant, which the FT describes as “walking into the living room of a long-lost aunt”, hosts chef residencies. For each residency, Julie Caute, the name behind Dame Jane, pairs the chef with a sommelier. Wines are always natural.
- Le Grand Bain is across the way from Babel. I’ve been going to this evenings-only restaurant since 2018. I go here to not be lonely when I am alone. Six years on and they still recognise me when I walk through the door. Warning… it’s co-founder English-born chef, Edward Dwelling-Williams, has moved to Normandy, to set up a new venture, The Presbytère. The new chef when I was there in September 2024 was from one of the Baltic countries, and the language in the kitchen was English. But then this is Belleville.
Bakery:
- Le Petit Pain, also part of Le Grand Bain menagerie, is an organic bakery. This is my go-to place for buying exotic loaves, which I then ask them to slice, and I fill with cheese to make a sandwich, which I eat with fruit and vegetables bought from Terroirs d’Avenir (with stores in Oberkampf, Sentier and Montreuil).
- Terroirs d’Avenir is a 10-minute walk from Belleville metro station, but I go here for bread (la tourte will last several days), quiches, pissaldière, sandwiches (jambon de Paris – from the last authentic producer – is a favourite filling) and to buy seasonal vegetables and fruit (the best in Paris) at their store next door, where in November I even found fresh ginger from Brittany!
Coffee:
- Bahar Restaurant & Bar, in Hotel Babel Belleville, with coffee beans from the local Brûlerie de Belleville, and great music reflecting the oriental roots of its Silk Road theme. With terrace on a quiet side street off Bd de Belleville.
- Floréal Belleville is another venue serving coffee from the Brûlerie de Belleville. A short climb from the metro station, by the entrance to Belleville park. Also a restaurant and cultural venue.
Wine shop & épicerie:
- La Cave de Belleville specialises in ‘clean’ wine, as my friends in the wine industry call it. Minimum intervention. Minimum sulphites. I tell them how much I want to spend, which I want to pair it with, and then go with their suggestions. The cheese and charcuterie at the épicerie counter are also good.
Yes, over the years, the swarms of international tourists have spread east to discover Belleville, but the neighbourhood still has an air of aliveness and authenticity that can only be found in places where people from a mix of different cultures have come ashore in search of a better life. Belle ville. Belle vie. Beautiful town. Beautiful life.
This blog post was updated in November 2024.
Discover the map of my favourite places inParis, including in Belleville.
================================================================================================
ARE YOU SEEKING A CONTENT CREATOR TO MAXIMISE THE IMPACT OF YOUR BLOG?
Craft stories that resonate with your audience and amplify your brand’s voice. Contact me today.
Let’s work together!