I was so tempted to gatekeep this sprawling café overlooking the Canal Saint-Martin… but lucky for you all, I like you too darn much. So here you go: a 10th arrondissement staple still kicking after over 20 years that ticks pretty much every box you need for a local. It’s open all day every day; the service is genial, efficient, and friendly. And the food is really good.
My first visit to La Marine was immediately after my father arrived in Paris. We were looking for sustenance in that weird in-between time between lunch and dinner, and we happily found it here, where from noon to 7pm, you can enjoy a reduced menu featuring five meal salads or a croque monsieur.
The croque (18.5) is made with Yves Le Guel’s artisan, made-in-Paris ham, which is layered on artisan sandwich bread with loads of Comté cheese, white truffle cream, and cheesy mornay sauce. Unlike many other croques, it forewent additional cheese or sauce on top, making it perhaps a bit more reasonable for lunch, especially when paired with a fresh salad dressed with a simple vinaigrette.
Salad offerings included a hot goat cheese salad (17.5), chicken or shrimp caesar (18.5), and vegan quinoa salad with veg (17.5), among others. But I chose the salade nicóise (19), which features a bed of mesclun, green beans, and tomatoes topped with perfectly-cooked hard-boiled eggs, anchovies, and both smoked and olive oil-packed tuna. Being devoid of either potatoes or rice certainly makes it more traditional than most, and I found that the generosity with protein made it just as filling as if it had had a starch.
Since then, I’ve returned to La Marine twice at dinnertime, when the menu tends to just slightly refine French classics. In the appetizers, this might mean house-made terrine (16) studded with foie gras or French onion soup (12) with Comté.
Vegetarian offerings abound, like buffalo mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes (13), served with a side of olive oil and vinegar for drizzling.
Mains take a similar approach, including classics like steak tartare with house-made fries (21) or beef tenderloin with exquisite gratin dauphinois (36) as well as slightly revisited options like pork tenderloin with a ginger-spiked gravy, which featured as a 21-euro plat du jour on one of my visits.
But where this menu really shines (perhaps unsurprisingly, given its name) is fish.
An appetizer of tuna tataki with leche de tigre (14) features thick, toothsome slices of perfectly seared tuna sitting in a relatively mild, herbaceous leche de tigre scattered with dill and pomegranate seeds for a welcome pop of sweetness.
Tempura prawns (12) are tender and sweet, served with a Thai-style sweet chile sauce for dipping.
A generous cod fillet (27) came with a lovely, mild aioli and roasted seasonal vegetables, a simple side that allowed the perfectly cooked fish to truly shine.
An impressive sea bass filet (27) was cooked on a plancha for crispy edges (though sadly not-so-crispy skin). It covered a rich mound of caponata and was surrounded by an herb-infused olive oil drizzle, ideal for mopping up with copious baguette.
Tuna au poivre (28) was a creative offering I wanted to love more than I did. While the tuna was delicious, the sauce itself lacked depth, relying a bit too heavily on cream and not enough on pepper.
My favorite dish to date has been this play on a bouillabaisse (28), with a filet each of scorpionfish and sea bream served in a richly tomatoey sauce alongside potatoes and slow-roasted fennel. A crostini topped with a paprika-scented aioli added some relief from the richness, though I’ll admit I also snagged a wedge of lemon for a bit more zing.
Not to be outdone are the desserts, which are quite simply bonkers good, from the ultra-generous profiteroles topped with rich Valrhona chocolate sauce and fleur de sel (13) to the café gourmand (10) with an individual pot of chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, and two lovely financiers. A raspberry tart (12) featured an ultra-buttery crust filled with almond frangipane and pastry cream bedecked with sweet, ripe raspberries and served with a side of homemade chantilly.
The tarte tatin (13) was almost indecent, with caramel oozing into the buttery crust and a generous dollop of soured crème crue.
And an apple crumble tart (8.5 at lunch) was rich and yet not too sweet, drizzled demurely with a super dark caramel sauce.
Should you cross Paris to come here? Probably not. But honestly, that’s not the point. This is a neighborhood spot with a massive, sprawling terrace and plentiful indoor seats, and this – plus the wide range of choice – makes it perfect for a crowd. While you can reserve (and I always do to avoid disappointment), this is also a place where you can almost always saunter in, especially in the off hours, and this, for me, makes it the perfect back-pocket address to whip out when you need a place open on a Monday or at 3pm or where vegetarians and omnivores can happily coexist.
La Marine – 55, bis Quai de Valmy, 75010