What to eat in Paris: 8 classics for a first visit
A first-timer's Paris food list covering baguettes, croissants, croque-monsieur, steak-frites, macarons and more.
Paris is best tasted in layers: a bakery breakfast, a market snack, a relaxed bistro lunch and one carefully chosen pastry. Simple things can be the most revealing when they are made well.
- Baguette
A crackling crust and open, chewy crumb; buy from an artisan boulanger and eat it fresh.
- Croissant
A laminated, buttery pastry that should be crisp outside and airy within.
- Croque-monsieur
A hot ham-and-cheese sandwich enriched with béchamel and browned until bubbling.
- Steak-frites
A bistro standard pairing steak with crisp fries and often a house sauce.
- Jambon-beurre
Ham and butter in a baguette: the essential Parisian sandwich.
- French onion soup
Deeply cooked onions and broth under toasted bread and melted cheese.
- Macaron
Delicate almond shells filled with ganache, buttercream or fruit preparations.
- Paris-Brest
A ring of choux pastry filled with praline cream and named for the famous cycle race.
How to make the list your own
- Buy bakery items early, while the day's first batches are fresh.
- Mix famous addresses with neighbourhood boulangeries.
- Record the exact pastry name; display cases can blur together by the end of a trip.
Keep your own food map
Save the dish, place, photo and score in Mappetite, then find the memory when you need it.
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