Late-night restaurants in Paris

Open until: 2am Mon-Sun

Located at the mouth of the Canal de l’Ourcq, this pretty bar-restaurant is the perfect spot for an apéro or for taking in the view of the water and La Rotonde from the roof terrace. Grab a plate of cheap and cheerful food from the bar – our favourite is the rotisserie platter – and groove to DJ sets, live jazz or world music gigs in the summer months.

Open until: 2am Mon-Sun

It may be scruffy and simple, but L’Academie de la Biere doesn’t scrimp on the way it serves beer; each precious bottle is served with the perfect glass for tasting. Reserve for a proper spot and spend fifteen minutes perusing the huge beer menu, which includes twelve draughts and more than a hundred bottled beers. On the last page of the menu, find platters, tartines, salads, moules-frites and German sausages – all accompanied by stacks of chips. Everything we would ever need or want to soak up that last round of beers. 

Open until: 2am Mon-Sun

Sir Terence Conran's buzzing eatery is housed in a 17th-century tennis court and was once a notorious transvestite bar and nightclub. Now it’s got a twelve metre high glass roof, trendy decor and lighting. Food is French contemporary; think wild duck terrine and fig chutney, foie gras-stuffed chicken and liquorice raspberry vacherin. Grab a heart-stopping cocktail from The Mezzanine Bar and groove to its ever-changing roster of DJs.

Open: 24 hours

Among imitation leather banquettes, Belle Epoque lamps, white tablecloths and waiters in penguin suits, kitsch details show a sense of humour – where else can you dunk a pink meringue piglet in your coffee? Expect traditional brasserie fare – seafood, onion soup, steak tartare and crêpes flambées – but its raison d’être is the fat and flesh of the pig. Stuffed trotters, pig head cassoulet, smoked belly, tail and ear... hardly a light supper, but a genuine thrill for fans of eating 'nose to tail'.

Open until: 12mid Tue-Sat

Hidden in a small back alley near Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Dersou remains surprisingly calm considering its close proximity to the chaos of Bastille. The lights soften at night and it morphs to mix food and cocktails - five courses with five concoctions is €90. The menu is pitched somewhere between Paris and Asia – there’s soy-braised beef and fried Japanese chicken, plus lamb croquettes with aioli – all served in generous portions. Somehow, this curious meeting between cocktails and cuisine really works.

Open until: 2am Tue-Sat

Hubert sells itself as a ‘night time canteen’, serving inventive, varied dishes through until the early hours. If it’s busy, customers have to fetch the plates from the counter themselves when the bell rings –a sacrifice we’re willing. Choose from two types of dishes, served in individual portions or to share between small groups. Think veal tartare with pistachios and smoked herring, cheese platters and chocolate sorbet with caramel sauce. Keep the night going with the fine Alsatian Pinot Noir.

Open until: 11pm Mon-Sat

Find sandwiches galore at this Greek joint (owned by Turks); meatballs, merguez, chicken tikka, chicken skewers, as well as plates of meat and salad – plus tasty starters like aubergines with peppers. Our meatball sandwich was made up of fluffy bread, tender meat and homemade white sauce – all for €7 served on the terrace by an adorable waitress. The classiest late-night kebab around. 

Open: 24 hours

Le Grand Café has been glamourous and fun ever since it made a splash among Parisian cafe society in 1875. It’s full of Art Deco detailing - scarlet banquettes, figured carpets and a wonderful stained glass ceiling. Surrounded by shopping, theatres and hotels, it’s pretty much in the centre of everything. As for food, this is as French as it gets. Try the grilled entrecote with bearnaise sauce and proper frites, then top it all off with crepes flambéed in Grand Marnier.

Open until: 2am Mon-Sun

Its main dining room may be in need of a revamp but the menu offers its fair share of modern and exciting African flavours. Start off with a refreshing, glass of sugary bissap, a traditional West African drink made with dried hibiscus petals – then move onto treats from Cameroon, Senegal and the Caribbean, including mafé (peanut butter stew), yassa (a chicken dish), tiep bou dien (fish and rice), salt cod fritters and stuffed crab.