The Best Seafood Spots in Paris

Where to Find the Freshest Catch

I thought I knew seafood pretty well, coming from New England, until I moved to Paris. I didn’t know oysters had a season (any month with an r in it aka September-April). I had never seen a scallop on the shell.

Fresh scallops

Back home, shellfish was available year-round, and scallops were prepped, plumped with saline, and stripped of their coral foot and shell. In Paris, it was a wild awakening to see sea snails served as bar snacks, plucked cold from their shells with a toothpick and dipped in mayo. I love how grocery stores like Franprix will bring in an oysterman to shuck outside on the sidewalk in winter weather.

From bustling oyster bars to elegant seafood brasseries, here are my top picks for the freshest seafood (in all its senses) in Paris.