It’s was while walking around the rue de Buci (well worth exploring) not far from our hotels that we came across Huguette, bistro de la mer.

Actually, it was the huge terrace that really caught our eye – perfect for Parisian people-watching, even in winter, thanks to the copious number of heaters.

Fancy some fish & chips outdoors in December, in a t-shirt? Here’s our review.

With its retro name, smart graphic design and vast terrace, seafood restaurant Huguette seems to have a lot going for it.

The interior part nostalgia, part over-the-top fish references which we hope are tongue-in-cheek (otherwise, that fish net on the ceiling is just too much).
We have to admit, it was more the outside of the restaurant that appealed to us than the inside. The terrace is very long and fills up the entire pavement, as the street is partially pedestrianised.

When we saw all the heaters, we knew it would be great for a winter dinner, and in in summer the plastic protection is removed and you’ll be eating outdoors surrounded by plants. A real Parisian experience!
Although the warm glow from the heaters will definitely keep you warm, it was not good for our photos (please accept our apologies).

As a first course, we ordered tempura oysters. Prepare yourself, as eating warm oysters is rather unusual. They came with a spicy sauce and soy sauce, and after the initial surprise, we really did enjoy them.

A surprising dish, well prepared and presented.
For the mains, we chose fish soup (OK, its starter, but we wanted to leave room for dessert) which was thick and granular, served with a rouille that would have been better with a little more kick to it. Served with toasted bread, it wasn’t bad at all.

As for the fish and chips, the fish was several small portions, and while it was light and melt-in-the-mouth, there was an awful lot of it, together with a lot of chips, all served on a bed of crisps! That’s a lot of potato, and we weren’t able to finish it all…
In fact, we had to wait ten minutes before even thinking about dessert.

We decided to go for the perles du Japon (tapioca) with coconut and mango, which was beautifully creamy. You could tell the mango was fresh. Our second dish was a café gourmand, an expresso served with a few mini desserts, but half of them turned out to be rock hard (the canelé) or tasteless (the chocolate mousse). We wouldn’t order it again.

Perhaps next time we’ll try some ice cream selected from those at the Grom shop next door…
We enjoyed our time at Huguette. The staff are cheery and the maitre d’ is a real character.

Watching people go by, nice and snug in your seat, does have a price though – Huguette is not cheap (but then, neither is the area) and some of the dishes lacked the finesse we would have like at the price.

That said, it’s a good choice if you’re in a group, or eating at an odd time (they’re open all day) or want to eat on a Sunday or Monday, as they’re open every day of the week, unlike many Parisian restaurants.

Be sure to book a table on the terrace for the full experience!
Huguette (here) is open every day from 8am-2am

Tel. +33 (0)1 43 25 00 28

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To check out all our photos of the restaurant, click here.

A la carte cette saison retrouvez les piadines, ces petites pizzas italiennes croquantes et bien garnies ! ? #huguette #huguettebistro #restaurant #paris #seafood #bistro #bistrot #sea #french #parisian #bonneadresseparis #ruedeseine #paris6 #food #instafood #foodaddict #foodguide #cityguide #pariscityguide #flottes #iloveparis

A post shared by Huguette Bistro (@huguettebistro) on Nov 22, 2017 at 10:47am PST