'Seared salmon fillet served on semolina with fennel and black olives, 23€ (+ entrée or dessert).'
Since Café Burq replaced an old wine bar in Montmartre a few years ago, it’s been a favourite with locals, and word-of-mouth has made it hard to get a table here on Friday and Saturday nights. The bar at the front of the restaurant makes you forget you’re waiting – there’s an excellent selection of French wines to sip on and before you know it you’re chatting away to the groovemeisters next to you. Softly lit with strips of coloured neon on the walls, the restaurant has a cool but understated chic, and the service is friendly and occasionally off-the-wall. But the point of all this is the food – it’s fabulous and worth lingering over. The menu, which changes every couple of weeks, has a traditional French base but expands beyond this with a modern inventiveness– think camembert roasted in honey or green beans sifted in garlic with slivers of chorizo. The desserts are sublime: don’t miss the pot de crème au chocolate. Book.