Café Charbon
109, rue Oberkampf, in the 11th Arrondissement.
01 43 57 55 13. Lunch and dinner daily, plus brunch Sun.
I’ve had a lot of visitors in Paris lately, and my last one stumped me when it came time to pick a restaurant. She said she’s not into food and just wanted a nice atmosphere. I think life is too short to ever eat bad food, especially in Paris. So I needed to find a fun, middle-of-the-road Paris brasserie whose menu would be approachable but also palatable pour moi! The perfect answer ended up being the Oberkampf classic Café Charbon.
Café Charbon was one of the first bars to open in the not-yet-trendy Oberkampf neighborhood of 15 years ago. The building dates back more than a century and has undergone stints as a brewery and a theatre courtyard. Rich cherry wood adorns the high-ceilinged interior and long bar, with mirrors and large windows adding air and space to a dining room that spills seamlessly onto the terrace on a nice day.
A collection of hipsters of varying ages populated the tables, but there was enough of a mix that everyone seemed to fit in. The music was a funky mélange of everything from Marvin Gaye to Madonna, at a low enough level that we could still have a good conversation.
Starters spanned a range of tapas-type bites, from crispy croquettes to grilled frog legs. For the indecisive, there was a “mezze” platter offering four different appetizers.
Squid stuffed with red bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and garlic, with a side of grilled potatoes.
