Le Tagine

Time Out's October 2025 review of Le Tagine found Driss Ababou, its cook since 2006, simmering the couscous broth of organic vegetables in huge pots.1

Why go

Marie-José Mimoun opened this Moroccan restaurant on rue de Crussol with her husband Ben Saïd in 1982 (Time Out's 2025 review gives 1983), cooking recipes inherited from tata Mimoun (Aunt Mimoun). She was twenty-seven and working in a travel agency. My husband and I weren't supposed to stay long, it was just a first business (Avec mon mari, on ne devait pas rester longtemps, c'était juste une première affaire), she told Time Out's Antoine Besse in December 2025. Ben Saïd died in 2006 and she has run it alone since.2 In the same profile, Besse reported that the chefs Yves Camdeborde and Manon Fleury call it the best couscous in Paris.2 Time Out gave the room five stars out of five in 2016 and again in 2025.3 1

Order the couscous spécial. Besse warned in October 2025: Note: no couscous royal at this republican address, where François Hollande eats, but a 'special'! (Attention, pas de couscous royal dans cette adresse républicaine fréquentée par François Hollande, mais un « spécial » !).1 Under the same cook in 2016, Time Out's Houssine Bouchama ate the special filled with a mix of delicious meats, including sausages and lamb marinated in mustard and saffron. He found the semolina hand rolled and strewn with bits of potato, carrot and courgette, as well as chickpeas and raisins, under a sauce packed with spices and fresh coriander.3 Lindsey Tramuta of The Infatuation wrote in 2024 that what lifts these couscous above the hundreds of others in Paris is the absolute best produce, meats, and spices.4

Besse wrote in 2025 that Le Tagine had switched its list to natural wine more than thirty years earlier, among the first restaurants in Paris to do it. Mimoun told Besse who taught them: My husband and I were lucky to meet Michel Picquart, then at Le Villaret on rue Ternaux, and Rodolphe Paquin of Le Repaire de Cartouche, who introduced us to natural wine. I talk to my customers about clean wine, to reassure them (Mon mari et moi avons eu la chance de rencontrer Michel Picquart, alors au Villaret rue Ternaux, et Rodolphe Paquin du Repaire de Cartouche qui nous ont initiés au vin nature. Moi, je parle de vin propre à mes clients pour les rassurer.).2 Mimoun told Besse what she wants from a table: I want to make customers want to eat, to discover other things. It's not to sell one more plate! (Moi, je veux donner envie aux clients de manger, qu'ils découvrent d'autres choses. Ce n'est pas pour vendre une assiette de plus !).2

Order this / avoid

Order: the lamb tajine with fresh figs from Solliès. Antoine Besse, Time Out, 2025: a steaming beauty of a lamb tajine with fresh Solliès figs, to mop to the last drop with house bread (une beauté fumante de tajine d'agneau et figues fraîches de Solliès, à saucer jusqu'à la dernière goutte avec du pain maison).1
Order: the goat's-cheese briouats (pastry parcels). Antoine Besse, Time Out, 2025: a bright trio of goat's-cheese briouats, as crisp as they are fragrant (une brillante triplette de briouats au chèvre aussi croustis que parfumés).1
Order: the brick à l'œuf (egg in brick pastry). Houssine Bouchama, Time Out, 2016: the crust cracks perfectly, revealing a luscious eggy interior that goes perfectly with homemade harissa.3

What locals & experts say

Alexander Lobrano, Eater's Paris map, updated June 2026: what sets this cheerful Moroccan restaurant apart is the outstanding quality of its produce, making it a favorite among Parisian chefs.6
Lindsey Tramuta, The Infatuation, 2024, on the wine: this spot was fanatic about the unfiltered, funky stuff long before le vin nature was a buzzword.4
Meg Zimbeck, Paris by Mouth, 2024: It's a fun casual option for groups, including vegetarians and wine geeks, and it's open on Sunday.7
Le Fooding, 2021, on a couscous royal that Time Out found off the carte in 2025: couscous royal with free-range chicken – possibly the best in Paris.5

Good to know

Booking: book ahead. Besse wrote in December 2025 that the room is full every night (Le restaurant affiche complet tous les soirs).2
Days: open Sunday and shut Monday. Check before a Tuesday or Wednesday lunch: Paris Gourmand's August 2025 card opens Tuesday dinner and Wednesday lunch, and Paris by Mouth's 2024 card shuts Tuesday and opens Wednesday for dinner only.8 7
Price: about 50 euros a head before drinks in August 2025, with couscous from 22 euros for the vegetable one to 34 for the spécial.8 The portions were enormous when Time Out ate in 2016.3
Wine: in October 2025 the list was all natural, with Jean Foillard's Côte de Py at 68 euros a bottle and Alain Graillot's Moroccan Tandem at 58.1
Getting there: Métro Filles du Calvaire or Oberkampf.1

Verdict

should-visit — Book Le Tagine for the couscous and the lamb tajine with fresh figs, with a bottle from one of the first natural-wine lists in Paris. Time Out found it full every night in December 2025, so book. Paris Gourmand put a meal at about 50 euros a head before drinks in August 2025.