Opened last year by the Kinugawa family, Hanawa is an enormous emporium of Japanese cuisine, just off the elegant avenue Montaigne. The restaurant is divided into three different levels, each serving its own speciality: teppanyaké, sushi and traditional cuisine. We visited the traditional restaurant, tasting deliciously authentic (but expensive) dishes such as beef with ginger and algae, spankingly fresh tuna sashimi, and a wonderful sushi platter. As good as the food was, we couldn't help wondering if the new wave of authentic and good-value Japanese restaurants (Guilo Guilo, Youlin) might eventually dethrone outsized establishments like this, not that the ladies who lunch and suits would care. AM

This surprisingly good-value bistro located in the high-rent seventeeth, not far from the Arc de Triomphe, has had the Paris food press buzzing since it was opened not too long ago by Japanese chef Hide Kobayashi. Be forewarned however that no sushi or California rolls are on the menu, rather there's a well-turned out classic French menu from the Robuchon trained chef. For 29€ you get perfectly cooked dishes such as leeks with vinaigrette sauce and a dusting of Guérande salt, entrecôte from Hugo Desnoyer or cod on a bed of puréed mashed potatoes, and standard yet good French desserts including île flottante and tarte tatin. Book in advance, as the tiny dining room is always packed with locals and in-the-know foodies. AM

Belleville's Rue Rébeval is a veritable enclave of good eats. New kid on the block Kiwizine joins the tasty trove, but with some notable differences. Kiwizine - a jeu de mots that alludes to both the French word cuisine as well as to the New Zealand-born (aka 'Kiwi') half of the owner couple - is adamantly organic and equitable. On top of using top-quality ingredients, Kiwizine has taken its protocol even further, creating a space that welcomes and encourages artists. From the cheery red exterior to the black-and-white-chess board-tiled floor, Kiwizine provides an arty gathering ground: relaxed, airy, without pretension. It's only open on Friday and Saturday, as the owners are volunteering their time until the cooperative gets off the ground. Patrons, in exchange of paying a 2€ membership fee, are kept updated about the rotating bill (every 6 weeks) of exhibitions, or can simply relish having a perfect place to huddle - over a home-made meal - and discuss their own projects. SM

Located on one of Paris' most mouth-watering streets (Unico, Crus et Découvertes, Le Temps au Temps), the Bistro Paul Bert has long been a destination for locals and foodies seduced by their good value, authentic menu. Recent articles in the Anglo/American press may have compromised the charm somewhat (especially during dinner time, with braying Yanks galore), but the bistro still remains excellent value with its 18€, three-course lunchtime menu (courgette salad with parmesan, delicious steak tartar and some of the best frites in the city, followed by a decent caramel crème brulé). The 34€ menu gives a lot more choice with more creative items like Thai-style beef carpaccio, and wines are reasonable with good bottles from 20€-25€. AM

The team behind the Canal Saint Martin’s popular Italian restaurants, La Maddonina and their more recent pizzeria, Maria Luisa, have opened another annex in the upper Marais’ rue Charlot, offering a similar menu and quality to Maria Luisa but for a more upscale clientele. Surrounded by the art galleries and trendy boutiques of Paris’s NoMa (Northern Marais) district, this cozy eatery pulls in the crowds for easy Italian eats: copious platters of charcuterie, quality pizzas, a small selection of daily changing pasta and salad, served with homemade bread and washed down with a limited but good selection of vinos, by glass, pitcher or bottle. Go for a biano and finish with the excellent caramel panacotta. Starters from 7-9€, pizzas from 9-15€. AM

The self-assured crew behind flourishing Left Bank haunts like the Cinq Mars or l’Altro inch north, almost on to the Right Bank, to take up digs on the solemn Quai d’Orfèvres, just up the road from the French police bureaux. Sandwiched in between the river, the Pont Neuf and the pretty place Dauphine, this delightful little spot has installed an enticing energy and décor. Two rooms propose the same tasty menu but different moods, one with white linen and silk cushions faces the calm Place Dauphine, and one with raw wood cantine tables faces the more animated river. Proposing a concise and fresh menu of 6 entrées, 6 mains and 6 desserts, on a winter’s day you might find pot-au-feu, rack of lamb or a tuna minute steak for a main, at around 16€-20€; vegetarians are catered for too with maybe a carpaccio of beetroot followed by spinach risotto. Desserts are both impressive and comforting – baba au rhum or a clementine soufflé, anyone?, and there’s a veteran’s wine list including a couple of great wines by the glass, including a Bourgogne Passetoutgrain (5.5€). A lunch-time fixed price menu gives you a 1-2-and 3 course option for between 13€ and 17€. Nice!

The recent Fooding award for ‘Best Bistro in Paris’ goes to this small, cheerful establishment located in (again) the out-of-the-way 15th arrondissement. Former second to Le Troquet’s Christian Etchebest, young chef Benoit Gauthier carries on the traditional of using exceptional products, prepared in a traditional manner but with a slight twist. The creamy starter soup of white beans with cubes of spicy chorizo was a delicious beginning, followed by an incredibly fresh salmon carpaccio. The côte de boeuf, weighing in at more than a kilo, and cooked a la plancha, served with hand-cut, garlicky fries was satisfying, and organic wines, straight from a wooden barrel in the main dining room, was a nice touch. AM

This pocket-sized vintage 1920s bistro in a forgotten side-street in the fifteenth offers up some of the best revisited terroir cuisine in Paris. Basque chef Christian Etchebest, trained in some of Paris’ finest kitchens, cooks only with ingredients direct from the same small producers he once used when cutting his teeth in well-known Michelin starred establishments. The amuse-bouche of creamy pumpkin soup with spicy chorizo was a superb start to a memorable lunch. Perfectly cooked dishes such as his ‘grandmother’s’ snails, with fresh diced vegetables and green apple, and topped with a parmesan biscuit, or beef cheek, simmered for seven hours and served in a cocotte with foie gras and lentils, warm the cockles of the heart on a winter’s day. Excellent value, and a perfect example of Parisian bistronomie from one of the city’s most generous young chefs. AM

Caesar salad, 9€

Genial French chef Christian Constant never ceases to evolve and develop new and interesting projects, whether it be the redesign of his Michelin starred Violon d’Ingres, revamping classic establishments such as the Café Constant, taking young protegés under his wing or writing great cookbooks. Open from early morning to evening, Les Cocottes is a modern take on a ‘diner’ style eatery with a cool and modern look. It features a long, convivial counter which spans the length of the restaurant, and offers excellent and reasonably priced dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. On a recent visit we tasted what is perhaps the best Caesar salad in the city, simply crisp lettuce, eggs, and tasty anchovies, as well as a superbly fresh crab ‘verrine’, and a ‘cocotte’ of scallops infused with orange, all rounded off by a dense and decadent chocolate tart. Prices are reasonable, and the flexible opening hours make this perfect for a quick meal with friends. AM

Boulghour Libanais with oysters, hummus and lemon confit, part of three-course, 26€ menu

This tiny establishment, located in the gastronomic ghetto of the fifteenth arrondissement (Beurre Noisette, L’Os à Moelle and Le Troquet are all nearby), garnered unanimous praise from the critics upon its opening two months ago, and for good reason! The 26€, three-course menu is a steal, as Julien Duboué, the 26-year-old Basque-raised, and Dutournier, Legendre and Bouloud-trained chef, offers a superbly reinvented classic menu featuring only the finest produce. We’d heard so much about Parisian foodies crossing the city for his boudin noir, cooked in a mustard crust and served millefeuille style, that we weren’t prepared for the excellence of all the other dishes, such as the Lebanese boulghour with oysters, hummus and lemon confit, or the tartar of scallops with artichokes and creamy pumpkin soup, or the superb grilled duck breast with fig and balsamic vinegar sauce. Our advice is to run, don’t walk, to the best gourmet value in Paris right now. AM