For the past 15 years, Greg Back (the owner of La Vierge) has been drawing in locals to Les Pères Pop’, a dilapidated spot with leather armchairs worn down to the bone, French school chairs, a vintage radio and TV. You can take your morning coffee there, drink at the bar until two in the morning or make the most of the speedy and well-made lunch menu, especially when Toms Berzins (the former sous-chef at Frenchie and Grand Bain) puts his spin on things in the kitchen. The day we went for lunch, it featured: new potatoes, sorrel pesto, smoked eel and trout roe, fresh caramelle pasta in a tomato and pecorino broth with cime di rapa; plus chocolate-caper or sunchoke-vanilla ice cream for dessert! // Louise Delange

FEELING THIRSTY? Natural wines on tap: a muscadet from the Domaine Landron-Chartier (€3.50 a glass), an Alsatian pinot noir from Les Vins Pirouettes (€18.30 for 480 ml); or an Agent Provocateur golden ale (€6.50 for 330 m), along with a chilled Deck & Donohue pilsner (€3.20 for a half-pint).
PRICE: Appetizers €6-8, mains €15, desserts €5-6.