La Table du Boulanger — Specialty Store in Passy, Paris

La Table du Boulanger is an independent specialty shop on Rue de Longchamp in Passy, with a bakery counter at the front and a handful of tables on a fairly quiet stretch of street outside. Boulainvilliers station serves the neighbourhood, and the shop sits close enough to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower that you can walk over without planning a whole excursion around it.

Start with the croissants and pain au chocolat, which come out fresh and are the thing to buy first. The éclairs, chocolate and coffee, are worth a look too: day-old ones go for €3 and hold up well. Savory runs to salmon quiche and tomato goat cheese quiche, and there is a plain flan and a strawberry tart if you want something sweet to finish. Baguettes and bread sit alongside the pastry case.

The format is simple: order at the counter, take a cold drink from the fridge if you want one, and sit at the outdoor tables if the weather holds. A quiche and a sandwich eaten at those tables is an easy lunch, and the street stays quiet enough to linger. Note that eating on site adds a small surcharge per item, so a takeaway order costs less than the same thing at a table.

Prices are low for this part of Paris. The €5–20 band covers a few pastries and a quiche, and the day-old éclair at €3 is the clearest saving on the counter. Daily specials at fixed low prices make a sit-down lunch affordable, though the on-site surcharge is worth factoring in before you decide to stay.