Italian-style risotto (arborio rice) cooked with white wine and stock, mixed with Emmental and cheddar, then formed into balls, breaded, and fried until golden. The inside stays creamy; the outside crackles. Served with a small pot of sauce. At €5, these are the perfect small plate—the kind you order to start sharing, then order again because the first batch is gone. Reviewers describe them as 'crispy outside, gooey inside,' and they pair as well with an apéritif as they do with a cocktail.
Diced chicken breast (tender and not dry, which is harder than it sounds) is stir-fried with bell peppers, snap peas, onions, and baby bok choy in a light coconut-curry sauce. The sauce is built on coconut milk, red curry paste, and fish sauce—aromatic and balanced, not heavy. Served over jasmine rice. At €15, this is the weeknight comfort dish, the kind you order when you want something filling but not heavy. Multiple reviews mention it's well-balanced between spice and creaminess, and the vegetables maintain their crunch.
Ravioles are small, delicate pillows of pasta from the Dauphiné region (Eastern France), traditionally filled with ricotta and herbs. Here, they're tossed in a silky basil cream sauce—fresh basil puréed with crème fraîche and butter. The ravioli are so light and tender they're almost custard-like. At €16, this is the comfort dish for those who want something warm and deeply flavored. Reviewers praise it as a lesson in restraint—no heavy sauce, no garnish beyond maybe a touch of pepper, just perfectly balanced pasta and cream.
A thick, hand-formed beef patty cooked to medium-rare (ask for your preference), topped with creamy blue cheese that melts into the meat. Served on a toasted brioche bun with crisp lettuce, tomato, red onion, and a house-made sauce (mayo and mustard based). The blue cheese brings pungency against the meat's savory richness. At €16, this is the non-French option for those who want something familiar but done well. Reviewers mention it's a proper burger, not a bistro's attempt at one—the meat is quality, the proportions are generous, and the blue cheese is the right choice.
A thick salmon fillet is seared on a hot griddle (plancha) until the skin crackles and the inside stays tender and medium. Finished with a lacquer of honey and soy sauce that builds a subtle glaze without overpowering the fish. Plated with seasonal vegetables—baby bok choy, snap peas, carrots—all grilled until tender. At €18, this is the restaurant's show dish. Multiple reviews mention the precision of the cooking and the balance of the glaze. The honey prevents the soy from being too salty; the soy prevents the honey from being cloying.
Mon Coco sits on one of Paris's most energetic public squares, the Place de la République. By day, it's a café (breakfast at any hour); by night, it's a cocktail bar with a kitchen that doesn't sleep. The menu changes seasonally but consistently features grilled salmon with honey-soy lacquer, crispy arancini, Dauphiné ravioli in basil cream, and burgers. Mixologist Matthias Giroud oversees the cocktails. All desserts are made in-house. It's the kind of place where tourists sit next to construction workers, and everyone seems happy.
Mon Coco serves breakfast until 2 pm daily—pastries, eggs, coffee. Come for the pastries and stay for lunch. The terrace is best at 10 am when the sun hits it right.
After 9 pm, Matthias Giroud (the mixologist) is behind the bar. Ask him what's good instead of ordering by name. The house cocktails rotate seasonally and are never on the menu.
The terrace faces Place de la République—order a coffee or wine and watch the square. The vibe is friendly; people-watching is half the appeal.
Open until 2 am (5 am Fri-Sat)—this is one of the few restaurants on the square that stays awake. Come after midnight when the crowd shifts from office workers to night-shift people and insomniacs.
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