With all the students of the Sorbonne (and other universities) getting hungry in the area around the Pantheon, it’s no surprise to find so many fast food joints. If you want a toasted sandwich, a kebab or pasta there are dozens of grimy places to choose from, or – at the other end of the spectrum – a number of proper restaurants, at a price.

However, recently, an intermediate choice has started to appear. These new places take great care in the quality of their products and their interior design. Some have a small area where you can eat in without paying restaurant prices, others have takeaway food a cut above the rest.

We decided to investigate, visiting a beautiful new cake shop, a hip new café and a smart boutique with dozens of food ideas, proving that you can eat healthy, inventive food without spending a fortune. Come take a look…

Régis already has a venerable chocolate shop in the swish 16th arrondissement. Now, they have invested an old butcher’s shop just near the Pantheon.

But this wasn’t any old butcher’s – the ceiling is original antique painted glass, the floor is made of authentic period tiles, and to this historic setting they have added display cases full of delicious wonders…As well as their famous chocolates, there’s a selection of their own cakes (or rather, creations), salads, soups, fruit juices and teas, as well as some original ideas for treating yourself, such as an expresso coffee accompanied by four chocolates of your choice (6 euros), or a glass of champagne and a macaron (10 euros).Above all, a small room at the back of the shop has been transformed into a seated area where you can eat what you have chosen from the shop. The décor is simple but tasteful, and it’s a great option when the weather isn’t great – almost like restaurant eating but without the price tag!
We chose to try the carrot soup with slices of toast, the broccoli quiche with a small tomato side salad, and a tuna salad in white bread. Everything is made by them, fresh and tasty.If that looks a little light even for lunch, that’s because we were keeping some room for the amazing-looking desserts! We chose a mango clafoutis and a ‘Tokyo’ – a japanese cake with whipped cream infused with Tahiti vanilla, and half slices of fresh strawberry. Extremely light and absolutely scrumptious!

Patisserie Régis is at 200 rue Saint-Jacques (here) just two minutes from our hotels.

Open Tuesday – Saturday, 10.30am – 8pm, and Sunday 9am – 6pm

Official site: www.patisserieregis.fr

Literally opposite is Un jour, une fête, which we like to translate as “Another day, another party”, created by the same talented people behind the food at the Salon du Panthéon (that we love). They have an eclectic of food-related stuff, ranging from the food itself (crisps, chocolate, wine, homemade cakes, salads, juices) to cooking-related items (aprons, cake moulds) and table decoration ideas (plates, smart glasses…). Time to get inspired!For the moment they don’t have a space for people to eat inside the shop, but this may change as the months go on. In the meantime, there’s a microwave oven if you need to reheat anything you’ve bought, and their selection of products includes many things you won’t find elsewhere. Well worth checking out.

Un jour, une fête is at 167 rue Saint-Jacques (here)

Open Monday – Saturday, 11am – 8pm

Official site: www.unefeteaparis.com

And we finish off with a quick visit to chez D (probably short for Dienaba, the young lady who kindly allowed us to take a few photos of her place) which opened in December 2012. D seems to have a great deal of talent for cake-making – the photos on her Facebook page are mouthwatering! – and the majority of the ingredients used are organic. All the cakes, soups, salads and sandwiches they serve are made on-site.

The interior design is fairly minimalist but tastefully done with lots of white, giving a feeling of space. We’re looking forward to returning to try out their scones for afternoon tea. Actually, everything they had on offer looked delicious…

Chez D is at 220 rue Saint-Jacques (here)

Open weekdays from 9.30am – 6.30pm and Saturday from 11am – 6pm

Facebook: here

Foursquare: here

To check out all our photos of these three tasty places, click the play button on the slideshow below, then click the four little arrow bottom right to go into fullscreen mode (much less tiring on the eyes).

On the map below, the yellow houses are our hotels and the blue pins are the three tasty venues described above! Click here to see a bigger map.