Where To Go for the Best Breakfast in Paris
Breakfast in Paris typically consists of coffee, croissants, tartines and maybe a brioche or two. But recently, a plethora of international cafés and restaurants have arrived on the scene, adding more depth to the city’s traditional breakfast and brunch options.
In a city that still marches to its own (very traditional) drum, breakfast and brunch is the one international food trend that has managed to make its way into French parlance via its very own new verb, bruncher (to brunch). Impress your Parisian friends by asking: “On brunch où ce week-end?” To help you decide, Culture Trip has picked the very best places to go for breakfast and brunch in Paris.
1. Get your caffeine fix at Coutume
Cafe, American
3. For an Aussie breakfast, try Holybelly
Restaurant, Cafe, French
4. Merci’s Used Book Café is perfect for literature lovers
Cafe, French, Continental
Bibliophiles should not leave Paris without a visit to Le Used Book Café. Upon entry, visitors can be forgiven for confusing the café with a bookstore or library; it has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, stacked full of international tomes of all ages. Le Used Book Café – which is attached to the famous French concept store Merci – is ridiculously Instagrammable, but it’s also incredibly satisfying as far as breakfasts go. The menu is typically French, but it also features tea and scones, which pair wonderfully with the over 10,000 books available to patrons to borrow.
5. Have a trendy start to the day at Fragments Espresso Bar
Cafe, French
Fragments Espresso Bar in Le Marais is warm and welcoming, thanks to the philosophy of owner Youssef Louanjli who, in an interview with Parisian food writer Lisa Klein Michel, explained that the name Fragments comes from his belief that it’s his responsibility to make the fragment of time patrons spend in his café enjoyable. Everything served in the café-bar is proudly home-made and constantly changes depending on the season and availability of produce. Indeed, much of the menu is made on the spot, like their house-made granola. One constant, however, is the coffee; it’s dependably good (Coutume supplies some of the beans) and served all day.
6. Head to Marcelle to kick-start your health and wellness
Cafe, Contemporary
A stone’s throw from the bustling rue Étienne Marcel is Marcelle, a bright, airy café in the 1st arrondissement. Healthy options fill out the breakfast menu, which includes several vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free dishes, such as granola with house-made almond milk. Notably, Marcelle is one of the only cafés in Paris that does a decent banana bread. Meals here are light, though satisfying, and the café itself is pretty, with white walls, subway tiles, rattan light fittings and raw wood creating an interior that always feels somewhat springlike, even in the middle of Paris’s frequent grey, wet winters.
7. Delight in ‘fast’ breakfast food at Frenchie To Go
Food Stall, French
8. Enjoy eggs any way you want at Eggs & Co.
Cafe, Restaurant, Contemporary
9. For sweet brunches piled high, try Hardware Société Paris
Restaurant, Cafe, French, Australian
Another Australian export, the cult Melbourne café Hardware Société opened its first international outpost in Paris’s Montmartre at 10 rue Lamarck. Subtle Australian accents are dotted throughout, from the cookbooks to the occasional Aussie treats that appear on the menu. Like any true Aussie café, the owners are experts at both coffee and brunch. The fried brioche is always a good choice with toppings constantly changing though always surprising. Typical brunch options are also available, and no less impressive than the sweet, like their now-famous poached eggs with black pudding crumble.
This article is an updated version of a story created by Pallava Maini.
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