Paris' Best Restaurants

• Best for romance: Thinking of popping the question? Think no more, just reserve a table at La Tour d’Argent and get it over with once and for all. With its panoramic views over the Seine to Notre-Dame, legendary kitchen, and elegant decor, there’s no better setting.

• Best for families: At Rosa Bonheur, inside Buttes Chaumont park, parents can enjoy tapas on a large, outdoor terrace while their kids play in the grass. French-fry freaks and their meat-eating parents will love Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, where delicious steak-frites with a special sauce is the only thing on the menu.

• Best splurge: The second floor of the Eiffel Tower has a restaurant where you can gorge on gastronomic French cuisine. After a refurb and a takeover by the talented chef, Frédéric Anton, the Jules Verne is a once-in-a-lifetime place to tuck into dishes like Breton lobster with black truffles, and absinthe and pistachio pavlova. Plus, there’s the view: a magnificent bird’s-eye sweep over the entire City of Light. Now sigh.

Best value: In a hidden garden on the site of a former distillery, Laïa is an unpretentiously classy Mediterranean restaurant, specializing in robata-grilled delights. Affordable and ample, the Breton cooking at Chez Michel will satisfy any size appetite.

Best classic bistro: Checkerboard tablecloths, art-clad walls, and a fabulous meat-centric menu? La Tour de Montlhéry–Chez Denise has got it all, with the bonus of being open until 5am.

Best seafood: Next door to the rightly-hyped neo-bistro Septime is shellfish-centric Clamato, a seafood lovers’ Eldorado that serves plates of marinated sardines, fish rillettes (a sort of pâté), and smoked shrimp (not to mention excellent wine) in a beautifully toned-down dining room. Love oysters? Head to Huîtrerie Régis; it serves the best in town, straight from Marennes-Oléron on France’s west coast.

Best for gluten-free: You don’t need to suffer from gluten intolerance to appreciate the delicious home-cooked dishes at Noglu, a snug little eatery in the 11th arrondissment.

Best for wine enthusiasts: : If what’s in your glass is just as important as what’s on the plate, saunter over to Frenchie Bar à Vins in the Sentier district, where hand-picked wines by petits producteurs (small producers) are served alongside ultra-gourmet, tapas-size plates of mussels in artichoke and chorizo sauce, homemade pâté, and roasted cauliflower with smoked yogurt.