Hearty, old-school country cooking in the heart of Paris

Noteworthy for: Robert et Louise is much loved for dishes cooked over its open fire.

Popular plate: While steak is the main draw here, Robert et Louise is also a good place to try traditional Boudin Noir, a (perhaps unexpectedly) delicious blood sausage.

With a speciality of steak sliced off the block, then cooked in suet over an open wood fire, Robert et Louise is a die-hard shrine to hearty, traditional French eating. Largely unchanged for decades, its decor of gingham curtains, exposed stone walls and roaring hearth is as cosy as Christmas, making the place a perfect dining spot for cold and grey days.

Robert et Louise has a devoted, eclectic cult following, and is no stranger to international visitors, but with locals packing the place out nightly, it rickety-looking old dining room in the Marais is anything but a tourist trap.