Alcazar

When Sir Terence Conran opened this impressive three hundred seater restaurant, he promised to reinvent the Parisian brasserie, and he's clearly succeeded. He chose the heart of Paris's chic Odeon district as the spot for his first cross channel venture.

Varied, sophisticated cuisine with an emphasis on French food and fish is served in the vast, sumptuously decorated room on the lower level. Upstairs there's an ultra trendy bar and lounge, where an international line-up of DJs work their magic on the turntables making it feel more like London. A small, exclusive private room is available for hire.

The location itself is steeped in history. It was the royal tennis court in the 17th century, a printing house in the 18th century and later the orchestral cabaret of Jean-Marie Rivière until 1990. This wonderful site in the heart of Saint-Germain des Prés was also a famous transvestite cabaret bar before taking on its current form in 1998.

The glass roof dominates the ground floor, with the kitchen behind a picture window where you can see Chef Guillaume Lutard and his team preparing the meals. On the first floor, in the mezzanine, is the bar and private room where you can dine in an elegant and festive lounge atmosphere while listening to the latest trend-setting music.

The chef, who used to be at Taillevent, offers a range of fun fare, from seafood, to classic French Mediterranean, or English inspired dishes that suit a relaxed gourmet clientele. Lest you forget this is Conran land, there are also very good fish and chips and Irish coffee. Customers who come in for Sunday brunch can treat themselves to a ten minute Shiatsu massage at a chair set up in the dining room.

Starters range from dish of shellfish, fresh green beans salad, spinach, poached egg, sauce vierge with sesame seeds to salmon tataki with ginger. Main courses listed may include homemade rabbit terrine with pistachio nuts, pan sautéed gilt-headed bream, spring vegetables and spicy quinoa, egg plant with caraway and fennel.

The pudding inventory is headed by dishes like Saint Marcellin cheese, three pots of cream lightly flavoured with vanilla, chocolate and coffee and peach poached in lemon verbena, peach sorbet and for the sweeter tooth there's gooey chocolate cake.