This friendly upper Marais wine bar serves simple charcuterie, cheese, salads, and sandwiches to go along with 5€ glasses, or a bottle from their cave next door. The plate of truffled ham is always a good bet. In the summer, there’s a great terrace on the street.
Practical information
Address: 6 rue Charles François Dupuis, 75003
Nearest transport: République (3, 5, 8, 9, 11)
Hours: Lunch, Monday-Friday; dinner, Tuesday-Saturday; closed Sunday
Reservations: Last minute booking usually OK
Telephone: 01 48 04 57 59
Average price for lunch: 10-19€
Average price for dinner: 10-19€
Style of cuisine: Classic French
Website Facebook
Reviews of interest
The Guardian (2015) “But it is difficult to find a better spot than friendly Le Barav, which still has the feel of a neighbourhood hangout rather than the latest bourgeois bohème (bobo) flavour of the week. At first, Barav looks like a classic bistrot as, apart from a host of tapas-style plates, it does a range of main dishes such as duck shepherds pie or grilled sausage with lentils. A dozen wines by the glass can be chosen from the blackboard but if you ask for a bottle you’ll realise this is a unique cave à manger as the waitress asks you to go next door and choose from one of the 300 vintages stocked in its cellar.”
Paris Bouge (2013) “Parce qu’il fait à la fois office de bar, de restaurant, de cave à vin et d’épicerie, le Barav et sa cave mitoyenne offrent tout ce dont on peut rêver pour un apéritif bien français.”
Photo via Le Barav’s Facebook
My experience there last night left a bad taste in my mouth, so here goes.
I arrived around 6.30 for an aperitif. After my first glass I discovered a far more interesting wine list on the ardoise of the cave next door, so I moved over to one of the two tables on the sidewalk (after the waitress had told me that the terrace is not shared).
I ordered a glass of Meursault (€9 for 10cl) and received hardly more than a drop. And with that drop (not before) I was asked to order something to eat as somehow their license was not good just for drinking. I still don’t know why I agreed to this and ordered some Comté – I should have gotten up and left at that point. And predictably, the cheese portion matched the amount of wine in my glass. It was priced at €10.
I don’t mind paying a lot of money for good food and wine. But how did one great French restaurant critic express this? Soyez genereux.