French food in Berlin: 5 places

Paris Bar, Bostich, Brasserie Colette, VOLK and Bistro Gri Gri: five places for French cooking, oysters and an evening at a bistro table.

Paris Bar – a brasserie that doubles as a gallery

Paris Bar on Kantstraße is the West Berlin address where the room itself is the show. Painters, actors and fashion people meet here, and the walls hang thick with the regulars' paintings. In the dining room, scene regulars sit next to Charlottenburg locals.

Go late, order a pastis at the bar and read the walls. To eat, the French brasserie classics with thin, crisp fries – the kitchen holds the place together, but nobody comes for it alone.

Bostich – crêpe Suzette in flames

Bostich on Ludwigkirchstraße takes the savoir-vivre of the twenties seriously without slipping into burlesque cliché. Vintage designer lamps, mint-green wall tiles and a bar with a matte tin patina. The name comes from a track by the Swiss band Yello, whose frontman Dieter Meier is among the owners.

Try the French bistro cooking with its Swiss anchor, and finish with the crêpe Suzette, flambéed at the table. Book even mid-week. The terrace seats are tight – if you want room, take a table inside.

Brasserie Colette – pulpo across from KaDeWe

Across from KaDeWe, Tim Raue oversees a French brasserie as culinary advisor – nothing like the two-star flagship; here it runs on relaxed comfort cooking. Mosaic floors, marble tables, wall panelling from old apothecary cabinets and benches from a French train carriage.

Order the pulpo – braised butter-soft, with sauce béarnaise, gem lettuce and Jerusalem artichoke purée, the show-stopper of the menu. On weekdays a rotating lunch menu of two or three courses makes a light start before the KaDeWe stroll.

VOLK – oysters at Weinbergspark

VOLK is a tiny Parisian-style oyster bar on Brunnenstraße, right by Weinbergspark. Margaux Arabian runs it as a French cabinet in the middle of Mitte: Breton seafood, French oysters, plus Burgundy snails with garlic butter and salmon rillette.

Share the seafood platter with Breton lobster, crab and sea snails between two, with champagne and the country bread with salted butter. Closed on Tuesdays.

Bistro Gri Gri – oyster mushrooms on the Landwehrkanal

The decades-old Café GriGri on Paul-Lincke-Ufer has reopened under the same name, run by the daughter of the previous operator and reworked from the ground up. Frithjof Gernentz, previously at Dóttir and Pauli Saal, cooks alongside sous-chef Ronan Downing. The menu runs light and creative, with a distinct hand.

Order the baked oyster mushrooms, marinated with lemon thyme and served with aioli – the house signature. Grab a big terrace table on the Landwehrkanal; that's what the long Kreuzberg nights are for. Closed on Mondays.