Ecailler de Bistro

If there's no way around the fact that wild seafood – as opposed to farmed – is pricey in Paris, this popular marine bistro run by Gwen Cadoret, part of one of the great oyster-producing families in France, offers superbly fresh shellfish and a simply-prepared catch-of-the-day menu for reasonable prices. Start with some Belon oysters from Brittany, and then tuck into a nicely cooked sole meuniere or maybe an immaculately fresh piece of turbot, and save room for the Paris-Brest, the choux pastry filled with praline cream, that's a house speciality. And their small but well-chosen selection of Loire Valley whites teams perfectly with any seafood feast.
• 22 rue Paul Bert, 11th, + 33 1 43 72 76 77, no website. Closed Sun and Mon. Average three-course meal €40

L'Îlot

Gallery owners, web designers and other hipster types from the trendy northern Marais pack this friendly, good-value little place on a side street for sparkling fresh shellfish and smoked or marinated fish. Order some taramasalata or tuna or salmon rillettes to go with your aperitif, and then opt for a big plateau des fruits de mer, or shellfish tray of whelks, oysters, prawns and other marine treats, or a crab. If you fancy something simpler, they also serve marinated herring, smoked eel and other fish.
• 4 rue de la Corderie, 3rd, +33 6 95 12 86 61, fr-fr.facebook.com/lilot.paris. Closed Sun and Mon. Average à la carte €35

The Sunken Chip

Really good fish and chips in Paris? Well, yes, actually. And before anyone gets shirty about it, know it's not only run by two Brits (as if that matters) – Michael Greenwold, chef at the excellent Roseval bistro, and Michael Whelan, another accomplished cook – but the reason it's so fine is the fish: squid, pollack, cod, bream, monkfish and others come from cult Breton fishmonger Thomas Saracco. It's perfectly battered, comes with good chips, and even mushy peas if you fancy. They also do a decent chip butty.
• 39 rue des Vinaigriers, 10th, + 33 1 53 26-74 46, thesunkenchip.com. Closed Mon and Tues. Average €15

La Table d'Aligre

The neighbourhood surrounding the Marché d'Aligre, one of the best food markets in Paris, continues to emerge as a serious new restaurant district, and this light, airy, reasonably-priced fish house is one of the more popular recent openings. Start with some sautéed prawns or anchovies from the Mediterranean port of Collioure, and follow with fish or shellfish cooked à la plancha, or Spanish style on a metal griddle - maybe skate with a Grenobloise sauce or sea bass with lemon butter. Desserts are simple, like roasted pineapple with caramel sauce, and there's a nice selection of wines served by the glass and carafe.
• 11 place d'Aligre, 12th, +33 1 43 07 84 88, tabledaligre.com. Closed Sun and Mon lunch. Lunch menus €14.50, €17.50 and €22. average à la carte €40

Clamato

After making a splash with his first restaurant Septime, young chef Bertrand Grébaut opened this inventive Gallic raw bar last autumn, and it's been heaving ever since. The menu varies with the catch of the day and the kitchen's inspiration, but among the other small plates, the ceviches and carpaccios show off just how cosmopolitan French seafood cuisine has become. A great selection of organic wines and craft beers makes the inevitable waits caused by a no-reservations policy somewhat more palatable.
• 80 rue de Charonne, 11th arrondissement, + 33 1 43 72 74 53, septime-charonne.fr. Closed Mon and Tues. Average three-course meal €40

Dessirier

In a silk-stocking district of western Paris, this sleek and pleasantly intimate seafood brasserie with a contemporary décor owned by two-star Michelin chef Michel Rostang is a brilliant place for a splurge on all the good things that come from the sea. Acting chef Olivier Fontaine's menu assiduously follows the seasons, with dishes like red mullet with a gratin of asparagus in the summer and scallops with preserved lemon puree in the winter. Correctly seeing off some fishwives's wisdom, their oyster and shellfish stand is open year-round with unfailing quality. Gracious service and good people watching, too.
• 9 place du Maréchal Juin, 17th, + 33 1 42 27 82 14, restaurantdessirier.com. Open daily. Prix-fixe menus €38 and €48, average à la carte €75

Gaya

Three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire's Left Bank seafood table in the stylish rue du Bac is a favorite with local book editors and antique dealers, who appreciate the clubby but cordial atmosphere and the kitchen's intriguingly creative approach to fish cookery. In general, Gagnaire champions a minimalist approach to cooking seafood, as seen in dishes such as sea bream carpaccio with cubes of pink grapefruit geleé with Espelette pepper, shaved radishes and daikon, or squid sautéed with black pepper in a saffron spiked soup of Spanish mussels. Some of the more elaborate dishes are as cerebral as they are delicious, including a mousseline of fera (an Alpine lake fish) with crayfish in an emerald green pool of nettle and watercress puree. Impeccable service and a brilliant wine list.
• 44 rue du Bac, 7th, +33 1 45 44 73 73, pierre-gagnaire.com. Closed Sun. Prix-fixe menus €48, €65, average à la carte €85

Huîtrerie Régis

This miniscule no-reservations raw bar in a white-painted shop-front in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Pres serves some of the best bivalves in Paris — the owner brings them in daily from the Marennes d'Oleron region of the Charente Maritime on France's Atlantic coast. Clams, prawns or sea urchins are also occasionally available, but since all customers are required to order at least a dozen oysters, most focus on the shellfish, which is served with good bread and excellent salted butter.
• 3 Rue de Montfaucon, 6th, + 33 1 44 41 10 07, huitrerieregis.com. Closed Mon. Average €45

Prunier

With its listed green mosaic art-deco façade, this grand old luxury liner of a restaurant - owned by former fashion honcho Pierre Berger- on one of the leafiest and most unselfconsciously bourgeois avenues in Paris seduces at a first glance, and it just gets better when you step inside. The ground floor dining room with its brass art-deco signs, black stone walls with jazzy gold inlay, railway carriage tapestry-covered banquettes and honey-coloured lighting is a corporate engine room at lunch, but a very sexy place after hours, when there's a whiff of Helmut Newton about the place. Beyond the appetising mis en scene, chef Eric Coisel's shrewdly updated traditional French seafood cookery is superb, including dishes like oyster-and-seabass tartar with caviar, octopus salad with piquillo peppers and black olives, and steamed sea bass with baby vegetables au pistou. Superb shellfish in season, and famous for its caviars.
• 16 Avenue Victor Hugo, 16th, +33 1 44 17 35 85, prunier.com. Closed Sun. Menu Simone €67

Rech

Gastro-entrepreneur Alain Ducasse, who's become the successful curator of a small cluster of "heritage" restaurants (Parisian addresses with noteworthy history and local personality) added this 1925 vintage seafood brasserie to his stable several years ago and has finally got it right. Today, after a recent redesign that gave the duplex restaurant a soothing New England like mostly oyster-shell toned decor, it's one of the best places for a serious seafood feast in the city. Skillful young chef Adrien Trouilloud is supplied daily by Jégo Frères, a first-class fish monger in Etel on the Gulf de Morbihan in Brittany. Start with oysters or a carpaccio, and then tuck into skate à la Grenobloise or an impeccable sole meuniere – and don't miss the giant éclair for dessert.
• 62 Avenue des Ternes, 17th, + 33 1 58 00 22 13, restaurant-rech.fr. Open daily. Lunch menu €39, average à la carte €90

• Alexander Lobrano is a Paris-based food writer and author of Hungry for Paris, and Hungry for France.