Aux Bons Amis , 13 rue Gosset (tel 03.26.07.39.76). Excellent-value traditional French cooking. Lunchtime set menu at 67F/a?¬10.21. Closed Fri evening, Sat & Sun.

Boyer , 64 bd Henry-Vasnier (tel 03.26.82.80.80). Reputed to be one of France's finest gastronomic restaurants - with prices and style to match - Boyer is set in a restored eighteenth-century chA?teau and equipped with a helipad. Closed Mon & Tues lunch. Menus from 990F/a?¬150.92.

ChA?vre et Menthe , 63 rue de Barbatre. A very good-value, plain establishment with an interesting range of gourmet salads from 35F/a?¬5.34; recommended for vegetarians. Daily carte dishes might include moussaka (45F/a?¬6.86) as well as more traditional choices. Closed Sun evening and Mon.

Le Colbert , 64 place Drouet-d'Erlon (tel 03.26.47.55.79). Traditional cuisine - including an excellent regional Champagne-Ardenne menu (158F/a?¬24.09) - in a daintily set-up and popular restaurant. Menus from 100F/15.24, and affordable champagne by the glass.

La Grappa , 49 rue du Colonel-Fabien. Handy for the youth hostel, this Italian is popular - particularly with families - and serves inexpensive pasta and pizza dishes.

Le Paysan , 16 rue de Fismes (tel 03.26.40.25.51). Serves genuine peasant dishes, copious and delicious, in suitably rustic surroundings with genuinely warm service. It's some way northwest of the station: follow rue de Courcelles, and rue de Fismes will be on your left. Menus under 100F/a?¬15.24 during the week. Closed Sat lunch & Sun evening.

Au Petit Bacchus , 11 rue de l'UniversitA© (tel 03.26.47.10.05). Reasonably priced traditional cooking in an interior of sparse brick floor with bare tables. Around 120F/a?¬19. Closed Sun and Mon.

Au Petit Comptoir , 17 rue de Mars (tel 03.26.40.58.58). Close to the MarchA© du Boulingrin, with traditional dishes from 95F/a?¬14.48 (no menus) served in a solid provincial middle-class milieu. Champagne by the glass too. Closed Sat lunch & Sun.