Solange on Rue d'Isly in Lille writes a new menu every week, seasonal French cooking crossed with Asian seasoning in a small, quietly elegant room.
Order: The weekly menu, which is rewritten every seven days.
Tip: The card changes weekly, so ask what came in rather than arriving with a dish in mind.
Restaurant Sébastopol faces the theatre of the same name in Lille, a bistro in the Michelin Guide running a short seasonal card and a tasting menu.
Order: Seared Boulogne scallops, in season.
Tip: The card is deliberately short. If you want the tasting menu, say so when you book.
Au Georges V on Boulevard de la Liberté in Lille calls itself the temple of welsh, and runs a smoked version alongside potjevleesch and carbonade.
Signature: Welsh fumé, Potjevleesch
Order: The welsh fumé, made with a blend of classic and smoked cheddar.
Tip: A vegetarian welsh is on the card. The current owners took the place on in 2022.
Sweet Flamingo on Rue Nicolas Leblanc in Lille is a 42-cover tea room of cupcakes, cheesecakes and carrot cake, with weekend brunch by reservation.
Signature drink: Homemade iced tea
Tip: Brunch runs at fixed 11:00 and 14:00 seatings on Saturday and Sunday. Book ahead.
Boulangerie Papillon on Rue Nationale in Lille runs a bakery, a snack counter and a juice bar together, open seven days from 07:00 to 20:00.
Tip: Gluten-free breads sit alongside the regional viennoiserie, which is rare in a Lille bakery.
Worth the queue: Macarons
The Rue Jacquemars Giélée branch of Boulangerie Papillon in Lille keeps the same seven-day 07:00 to 20:00 service as the Rue Nationale shop.
Tip: Continuous service means you can get a proper lunch here at 15:00 when kitchens have shut.
Worth the queue: Croissant
Boulangerie Myrtilles on Rue de la Bassée in Lille is a working neighbourhood bakery, croissants and pain au chocolat with sandwiches and coffee to go.
Tip: Closed on Saturday and open Sunday morning, which is the opposite of most Lille bakeries.
Worth the queue: Roulé pomme-cannelle
Les Quilles Libres on Rue des Pyramides in Lille works as a wine shop by day and a wine bar by night, with focaccia and houmous to soak it up.
Signature pour: Whatever is open on the counter that evening
Wine focus: Independent growers, sold by the bottle or drunk in
Food: Planches, focaccias and houmous
Tip: Buy a bottle off the shelf and pay the small corkage to drink it at the counter.
Artchives on Rue Jacquemars Gielee in Lille runs a bar, an art gallery and a kitchen in one building, with paintings and sculpture across several floors.
Signature drink: Art-inspired house cocktails
Food: Urban canteen menu
Tip: The hanging changes, so the drinks list and the walls both move. Ask what is up before you order.
Nomás on Rue Nationale in Lille runs Mexican street food seven days a week, tacos and burritos built to order across two services every day.
Try: Tacos and burritos
Tip: Open every day of the week, which is unusual for a small kitchen in Lille.
The Sébastopol market in Lille runs Wednesday and Saturday mornings, with an oyster bar, an organic bakery and Italian and Asian counters among the produce.
Tip: Saturday is the better of the two days. The oyster bar is the reason to arrive hungry.
Nomás on Rue Nationale in Lille sells Mexican tacos and burritos at street-food prices, open every day of the week for two full services a day.
Try: Tacos
Tip: Two services daily, seven days a week, which is rare for a kitchen this small.
La Clairière on Boulevard de la Liberté in Lille runs a Sunday vegan brunch of a hot drink, a cold drink, a savoury plate and a sweet plate.
Order: The sweet plate, which changes with the season.
Tip: Sunday 11:00 to 15:00 is the only brunch service, and the room is small enough that a phone booking helps.
Sweet Flamingo on Rue Nicolas Leblanc in Lille runs a 26 euro brunch in fixed seatings on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, across 42 covers.
Order: Pain perdu, from the sweet side of the table.
Tip: Seatings are at 11:00 and 14:00 only. Book, because the room seats 42.
La Pépite on Place Sébastopol in Lille is a bar canteen of five euro bowls, the cornflake-crusted fried chicken among them, open until 02:00 on Saturday.
Try: Bowls at €5, including cornflake-crusted fried chicken
Tip: The bowls change weekly and all cost five euros, which is the whole idea.