The backstreets and alleys around the Bastille roundabout are packed with bars that fill up every evening with a predominantly young clientele. Bastille nightlife is both eclectic and fun, likewise you can go low-key if the mood suits.
Discover our pick of the best Bastille bars – ranging from chic cocktail bars, to rock dives and upmarket wine bars.
This Bastille bar is a favourite with Brits, offering five beers on draught and up to a dozen bottled beers behind the bar. A small intimate space, expect to get cosy with your neighbours as you sip an Edelweiss or Kilkenny on draught, or bottled Pilsner, Red Stripe and Franziskaner. Admittedly you’ll pay for these quality gems (€4 for a half, €4-7 for the bottled beers) and the pints are a bargain (€6.60). The Bottle Shop also does about thirty classic cocktails (€7-8) – the So British Bloody Mary is excellent. Take advantage of the happy hour from 5pm to 8pm where both cocktails and cocktails are both €5...
A welcome compromise between Saint-Germain’s pullulating cocktail bars and the ultra-cool hipster hangouts of Bastille. Behind a discreet façade on a little Marais side street, Sherry Butt (whose young owners Amaury and Cathleen previously worked at Prescription Cocktails Club and Curio Parlour) hides two spacious long rooms filled with studded leather couches, huge mirrors and dim lighting. The space echoes the simultaneously relaxed and classy atmosphere of the best New York bars. Come here for top cocktails mixed by expert hands, and a distinguished selection of whiskies from all over the world...
The China is a chic Asian bar-restaurant and gig venue whose exotic décor seems inspired by a 1930s Shanghai colonial club. With padded leather Chesterfield sofas, red walls, dark wood panelling and a black and white checkerboard floor, the shadowy warmth of this lounge is in the best tradition of a British gentleman’s club. Behind a splendid chrome counter, discreet staff prepare distinguished cocktails, like the Hemingway (a visionary alchemy of brown Cuban rum, Cointreau, lime and grapefruit) – we recommend you take advantage of the happy hour (5pm ‘til 8pm) to sample them for €6 instead of €12...
Wedged between Bastille and Charonne, Le Chat Ivre (‘the drunken cat’) started life as a bistro and later evolved into a spritely tapas bar with a chic, understated décor and a come-hither contemporary menu. At least, that’s how it looks at first glance, but the atmosphere once you’re settled in is far more down to earth, with shared tables and a happy buzz of conversation. The wine list is limited to two whites and three reds, but the choices are sound – perhaps a glass of cold Mâcon Solutré from the Domaine Girard, or a little red Bordeaux by Clos Lamothe (€6 each)...
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