My best advice to foodies who are visiting Paris is to split their meals between creative ground-breaking chef restaurants that will surely excite them, and traditional bistros that serve traditional French cuisine. But, when it comes to bistros, separating the wheat from the chaff is no easy task in Paris today. There are hundreds of places under the bistro title, targeting tourists and specializing in simplifying the preparation and cooking methods to minimize the costs for their target audience.
Astier is the type of bistro you will always want to come back to every time you visit Paris. While this well-practiced family bistro maintains its high quality throughout the years, it also nods mischievously at the creative bistronomic kitchen. Opened in 1956 by Mr. and Mrs. Astier, the restaurant is located within a few minutes walking distance from the Place de la République, deep in the heart of the 11th arrondissement of . 

The bistro specializes in traditional French cuisine at affordable prices. Even though the restaurant changed several hands over the years, it has always managed to maintain the same quality traditional style, with checkered red and white table cloths, wooden furniture and vintage pictures adorning the walls, all inducing a pleasant feeling of time travel to the past. Chef Cyril Boulet, who worked with the late Joël Robuchon, is the chef who is steering this traditional bistro. Guests can choose between the restaurant’s À la carte menu and the daily special which is advertised every day on the menu board.
The appetizers were perfect in quality and taste, with a touch of bistronomic aroma we found pleasantly unexpected in light of Astier’s veteran image. We chose turbot for the main course and were simply stunned by its perfection, no less.
The bistro’s jewel serving is a huge cheese platter with 18 boutique French mature cheeses served at the end of the meal on a jaw-dropping platter which is passed between the tables for the diners to choose from.
A quality bistro that has maintained the level of greatness for many years with an innovative twist. Highly recommended.

Category: Traditional bistro
Average meal price (without drinks): 36-55 € 
Address: Astier, 44 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, Paris (11 Arr)
Phone: +33 1 43 57 16 35
Website: http://www.restaurant-astier.com/en/