Dish finder in Paris

Ask for it au beurre, made with butter. Bought warm from the boulangerie and eaten on the way, or with a café crème at the counter.

Half a baguette, good butter and cooked ham, nothing else. The default Paris lunch, from any boulangerie.

Toasted ham and cheese with béchamel and grilled Gruyère on top. With a fried egg it becomes a croque-madame.

Halved hard-boiled eggs under thick mayonnaise. A bistro starter that Parisians take surprisingly seriously.

Soft leeks in a sharp mustard dressing, a classic bistro starter and reliably meat-free.

Snails baked in their shells with parsley and garlic butter. The bread is for the butter.

Entrecôte or bavette with chips and often a béarnaise. You will be asked how you want it: saignant is rare, à point is medium.

A duck leg cooked slowly in its own fat, then crisped, with potatoes roasted in the same fat.

Slow-cooked onion broth under a raft of bread and melted cheese. Once the late-night food of the old Les Halles market.

Beef braised in red wine with mushrooms, lardons and small onions. A winter plat du jour.

A pot of mussels in white wine and shallots (marinières) with chips on the side. Best from summer to winter.

Stuffed pitta with falafel, aubergine, cabbage and tahini, eaten standing in the Rue des Rosiers in the Marais.

A Breton buckwheat pancake with ham, cheese and an egg, best with a bowl of cider. The crêperies round Montparnasse are where the Bretons settled.

A ring of choux pastry filled with praline cream, named after the cycle race between the two cities.