While it's now common for a Parisian restaurant to close its doors a few years after opening, there are some addresses that still stand thetest of time. Such is the case of café-restaurant Les Indécises (until recently, Les P'tites Indécises), open in the heart of the 11th arrondissement since the 1960s.
A true neighborhood landmark, with its large bay windows overlooking a charming square in the Folie-Méricourt district, the address has been taken over by chef and restaurateur Nicolas Schweri, who has given it a little facelift, but without altering the soul of the place.
Trained at Astier' s (just across the street), Nicolas Schweri is a child of the neighborhood, and of this street in particular. His dream was to take over the café downstairs from his parents, on Place de la Fontaine-Timbaud. It's now a reality. Born into a family of chefs (his grandfather was Bofinger's chef for 30 years), the man behind the Onze à Table restaurant has modernized the space in collaboration withinterior designer Viriya Phiem.
Red banquettes, Gatti chairs on the large corner terrace, zinc bar, vintage moldings... the classic Parisian café aesthetic has been thoughtfully preserved. The menu, entirely curated by Nicolas Schweri, champions a simple, comforting cuisine.
Open around the clock from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., Les Indécises welcomes diners at any hour — from a traditional breakfast (coffee and croissant, toast, soft-boiled eggs, Eggs Benedict) to dinner (goodbye to tiny sharing plates, thank goodness!). Midday also celebrates a revived tradition with their Semainier menu — €22.50 for starter and main or main and dessert, €27 for starter, main, and dessert, or just €17.50 for the daily special — and post-work drinks (cheese and charcuterie boards, cocktails, and wines).
The offerings are exactly what you'd expect from this kind of vintage spot: not fine dining, but honest, straightforward comfort food served without pretension. Endives with ham and Mornay sauce (€10), baked to perfection, sausage with mash, fish and chips, Caesar salad, croque-monsieur with Comté cheese and thinly sliced cured ham (€19), served on generously buttered bread, hand-chopped steak tartare, pasta with ham, egg mayo, as well as floating island and rice pudding for dessert.
With even more retro touches than the dishes prepared by Chef Éric Laporal, such as curly parsley on the plate, a colored pencil for drawing on the paper napkin, or the two slices of lemon served with sparkling water — it’s a real throwback to the 1960s!
This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.
Location
Les Indécises
2 Rue des Trois Bornes
75011 Paris 11
Official website
lesindecises.fr
