Paris 10e arrondissement · Canal Paris
Canal Saint-Martin & Gare du Nord
The locks and iron footbridges of the Canal Saint-Martin, the South Asian Passage Brady, the Faubourg Saint-Denis food strip, and two big stations. Young, mixed, and where a lot of the good cheap eating is.
Best for · Twenty-somethings and food-first travellers; lively rather than pretty.
Where to eat in the 10e (15)
- ★ Brigade du Tigre€€ · Pan-Asian neo-bistroA pan-Asian neo-bistro of sharing plates with a Michelin Bib Gourmand — black-sesame onigiri with aged Comté, hoisin-glazed beef cheek.
- ★ Chez Casimir€€ · Market neo-bistroA market-driven neo-bistro behind Gare du Nord, named Bistrot of the Year at the 2026 Pudlo awards — pot-au-feu, Paris-Brest.
- Jah Jah by Le Tricycle€ · Vegan Afro-CaribbeanA vegan Afro-Caribbean kitchen that grew out of three years selling hot dogs off a delivery tricycle. The daily bowls stack grains, legumes and sauce-slicked vegetables, flanked by cauliflower wings and the namesake hot dog.
- Krishna Bhavan€ · South Indian (vegetarian)Strictly vegetarian Tamil cooking on the Sri Lankan-Indian stretch of La Chapelle: paper-thin dosas the length of your forearm, thalis served in steel, chai in metal cups. Loud, fast, and priced so low it embarrasses the rest of the city.
- La Reine du Kashmir€ · Indian / PakistaniOne of the steadier kitchens in the covered Passage Brady, the glass-roofed alley of South Asian restaurants behind Strasbourg–Saint-Denis. Skip the touts working the passage and order the biryani or a tandoori-grill thali.
- Le Petit Cambodge€ · Cambodian canteenA Cambodian canteen by the Canal Saint-Martin that built its name on one bowl: the bo bun.
- Marché couvert Saint-Quentin€ · Covered marketParis's largest covered market, a glass-and-cast-iron hall wedged between the Gare du Nord and the Gare de l'Est, with some thirty-five traders. The eating is unfussy and cheap: Moroccan tagines, Lebanese pita, Greek pastries, oysters with a glass of Muscadet.
- Urfa Dürüm€ · Kurdish / Turkish dürümA counter doing chicken or kefta dürüm grilled to order and rolled in a thin galette with herbs and onion — among the best cheap eats on Faubourg Saint-Denis.
- 52 Faubourg Saint-Denis€€ · Neo-bistroA walk-in-only neo-bistro from the Compagnon group with a short rotating menu — the egg-yolk ravioli with ham and mushroom is the signature.
- L'Avant Comptoir du Grouin€€ · Standing tapas & wineA standing tapas-and-wine counter near Gare du Nord — some fifty small plates and a natural-leaning list (it replaced La Pointe du Grouin in early 2026).
- Le Cambodge€€ · CambodianA family-run Cambodian room near the canal with bo bun rated among the city's best and a Phnom Penh soup to match.
- Le Verre Vol退 · Natural-wine cave à mangerThe original Paris cave à manger on Rue de Lancry — four hundred natural wines, an open kitchen, a chalkboard.
- Les Arlots€€ · Bistro & natural wineA handful of tables near Gare du Nord built around one dish: the saucisse-purée, herb sausage over silky mash. Book, or don't get in.
- Mamagoto€€ · Japanese izakayaA Japanese izakaya of small shared plates from an ex-L'Astrance chef, near Gare de l'Est.
- Pouliche€€ · Neo-bistroAmandine Chaignot's dining room trades on shared starters and a precise seasonal main, and at weekday lunch it stays inside the €30 line that her dinner menu abandons. Sundays bring a roast chicken carved at the table.
Where to stay in the 10e (7)
- Generator Paris€ · Design hostelA polished design hostel near the Canal Saint-Martin whose ninth-floor bar looks across to Montmartre and Sacré-Cœur, with a métro-themed club in the basement.
- Hôtel Est退 · Boutique hotel & poolA four-star between Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nord built around a nine-metre indoor pool, with hammam and sauna attached — an unusual amount of water for a hotel this size.
- Hôtel Paradis Paris€€ · Budget design hotelA 3-star boutique on a quiet pedestrianised street between Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est; 38 individually styled, light-filled rooms with distinctive headboards.
- Hôtel Providence Paris€€ · Boutique hotelAn 18-room jewel box of velvet and brass near the Canal Saint-Martin — every room has its own cocktail tap, with a much-loved bistro and bar downstairs.
- Le Citizen Hotel€€ · Canal-view design hotelA twelve-room hotel set directly on the Canal Saint-Martin, where the water-facing rooms watch the locks and the plane trees. Small and pared back, taken for the setting more than the square footage.
- Le Grand Quartier€€ · Boutique hotelA former industrial building reorganised around a planted central courtyard, with a café-bistrot, a shop and a rooftop folded into the same address. The 77 rooms keep the warehouse proportions; the ground floor functions less like a lobby than a neighbourhood canteen.
- St Christopher's Inn Paris - Gare du Nord€ · Social hostelTwo minutes from the Eurostar platforms, with Belushi's bar and a live-music pub directly below — convenient for an early train, less so for an early night. Privacy curtains on the bunks and two bars are the trade-off.
Underground & cool in the 10e (7)
- Canal Saint-Martin towpath€ · WalkA Napoleon-era canal of 1825 climbing through nine locks and arched iron footbridges, where you can stand on a passerelle and watch boats rise and fall between basins. Tree-lined cobbled quais run either side before the water vanishes underground.
- Le Louxor — Palais du Cinéma€ · Historic arthouse cinemaA 1921 cinema dressed as an Egyptian temple — gilded mosaics, pharaonic heads on the facade — that spent decades as a clothing shop and a nightclub before a 2013 restoration. Three screens of art-et-essai programming.
- New Morning€€ · Jazz clubA 450-capacity room running since 1981, broad enough in its booking to put gospel, the Bad Plus, Kenny Garrett and Joshua Redman in a single fortnight.
- Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord€€ · Theatre (Peter Brook's house)Peter Brook took over this gutted 1876 hall in 1974 and left the scorched, peeling pink-red walls exactly as he found them; it has staged theatre, opera and chamber music in the round ever since, with no proscenium grandeur.
- Lavomatic€€ · Speakeasy barA cocktail bar reached by pressing a button on a fake washing machine inside a working-looking laundromat; upstairs, pop-coloured poufs and swing seats.
- Le Syndicat€€ · Speakeasy barThe storefront is papered over with torn gig posters; the only signal is a gold metallic curtain. Inside, every cocktail is built exclusively from French spirits — Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados, Chartreuse.
- Point Éphémère€ · Canal-side music & arts centreA former materials depot on the Canal Saint-Martin run since 2004 as a concert hall, studios and residency space, with a terrace straight onto the water. Amplified music most nights, plus dance, talks and temporary shows.