People inside a bar in Belleville, Paris. Drinks on the bar inside Le Sainte Marthe, Belleville. The barman writing up the specials of the day on the blackboard at «Le Sainte Marthe» in Paris. The outside of the Sainte Marthe café-restaurant in Paris.

Le Sainte Marthe
Shabby but cool bar on a quiet pedestrianised square halfway down Sainte-Marthe. Food here (salads, well-dressed pasta mains) takes equal importance to drinks (€3.50 glasses of wine), but such is the beauty of the half-moon zinc bar counter central to the intimate interior, it would be a shame not to prop it up. Red curtains, potted plants and imposing pillars comprise the rest of the decor, but really this is authentic east Paris with superior bar fare thrown in. 32, rue Sainte-Marthe, 10th (01.44.84.36.96). M° Colonel Fabien or Belleville. Open 6 pm–2 am Mon–Sat; 5 pm–2 am Sun.

—published in the Time Out Paris Visitors’ Guide, Summer 2005.

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