Your Paris restaurant recommendations

A restaurant called something Diablo in the 10th. I'd check to see if it's still around, but it was reasonably priced and I thought the food was excellent.

Eat at one of the great old brasseries like La Coupole, Le Dome, Brasserie Lipp or Bofinger.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Chowhound, but there used to be a lot of info (in English) on there about Paris restos.

There’s always a line and you’ll hear every language spoken—even French—but I love Le Relais de l’Entrecôte, Rue St Benoit in the 6th. Cliché and Touristy? Maybe, but it’s still wonderful. Also, Benedict (4th), and Café Saint Regis on the Île St-Louis.

Juveniles in the 9th. Low key but great.

Cafe Momus.

MacDonalds

Le Petite Chaise in the 7th.

Le Train Bleu, Gare de Lyon. Food so-so, but it's where Besson shot the resto scene in La Femme Nikita.

For the best food in France, hop the TGV to Lyon and eat at one of the bouchons, such as La Bouchon des Cordeliers.

Café de la Paix and Grand Café Capucines at the Palais Garnier. OK they're not truly gourmet but classic spots especially if you can see a show at the Opera.

L’Espadon at The Ritz. Amazing. Also, have a drink at the Bar Hemingway in the back by the Rue Cambon small back entrance (where Diana was last filmed exiting! Mary!).

I'm planning to hit Cinq (for lunch) next time I'm in town. Anyone have anything to report back before I go?

Last summer, my partner and I had a great lunch at the Cristal Room Baccarat, the restaurant at the Baccarat museum. Excellent food in beautiful surroundings.

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually dislike Bofinger! But I went there many years ago.

I also dislike degustation menus.

R8 I agree that the best food cities in France are not in Paris. Toulouse is also great.

Septime if you can get in. David Toutain. Pirouette. Or go all out and have lunch at Epicure. It’s fucking fantastic.

The best thing I ever ate in Paris was an omelet full of chunks of ham. It was a little cafe on a side street, I don’t remember the name. We were hung over and very hungry. Delicious.

Ok I’ll say it - because the service is such a pain in the ass in Paris, I find it’s not worth the hassle and expense to indulge in the admittedly top notch food. It’s just such a stressful drama - and takes such a painfully long time - it is not a pleasant experience for me. I can get an equal quality of food and atmosphere in NYC with less hassle. If I’m in Paris - or Europe in general - I want to be out exploring and not eating a meal for hours.

Lately all of Paris just seems like a hassle without a big payoff. Enjoyed it in my 20s when I could practice my French and it seemed unique and.....purely French. Now it’s another global city packed with tourists and immigrants and extreme income inequality.

Verjus is an amazing experience that you will never forget.

You ain’t wrong R16. I love Paris but its global-ness is chipping away at its Frenchness.

My best lunch in Paris in November was David Toutain. I have been to Le Cinq a couple of times in the last two years and I have always loved it but I was not paying. I would avoid all the big names and concentrate on small bistros. I am one of those who is not that keen on Septime, it is good but not great, IMHO.

You lost me at "Long story short."

[quote] my partner and I are returning from a conference and my mother and godmother are returning from a river cruise

Watch out for coronavirus.

For R11

Seb’on in Montmartre. Tiny, romantic restaurant run by a married couple. The food is exceptionally good, and beautifully presented. By Paris standards it is very reasonable given the very fine quality of the food.

I will second Seb’on and add the best beef burgundy stew pot at Au Bourguignon du Marais in Le Marais.

Flunch!

No, only kidding. On the Left Bank, Chez Henri and Le Vin Sobre. The restaurant on the top floor of the Institut ddu Monde Arabe is good for tea and the view. Mariage Frères (le Marais) is divine for lunch.

Has anyone been to the legendary Maxim's? Is it overrated? I've always dreamt of eating there.

The restroom on the top floor of the Institut du Monde Arabe is good for CRUISING young top arab guys with huge cocks.

[quote] romantic restaurant

R23 he's going with his Ma and grandma.

The article at R22 is about as bad as the restaurant it describes. The Guardian continues to employ him for some reason.

Le Coupe-Chou in the 5th. Great food and very cozy.

R28, It’s in Montmartre, they’ll love it. It’s a beautiful part of Paris.

I forgot Chez Omar. Moroccan cuisine, busy, fun atmosphere. Couscous Royale is daunting but worth it.

Le Stresa, where DL fav Alain Delon eats almost every night. Great Italian restaurant. I would also recommend (for high end) L’Espadon at the Ritz (as someone mentioned above). Very expensive, but the surroundings are magnificent and the food is wonderful. But honestly, any place I ate at was good.

What about L'Etoile. Never have eaten there but it's very expensive and supposedly has a great view. Paris is so no longer French that when I went to study francais a number of years ago I went to Nice. I once drove through La Defense and found it was maybe the coldest and most dystopian of places I had ever been to. And just beyond the Arc de Triomphe. The Nazis somehow managed to not destroy Paris when they intended to bomb the city into ashes but the nasty corrupt French are now managing to do it on their own. Even Mastroianni before his death a number of years ago was lamenting its decline. Well if you go now you don't have to wait 3 hours to get into the Tour Eiffel. Jesus when I went years ago you didn't even have to wait. You just walked in.

You're travelling while covid-19 is raging, OP? How awful of you.

R35 He is unnecessarily putting his ma and grandma in danger.

You might need a snorkel.

The flooding has been going on for years. Only Business Insider would think this was news. Anyway, there are lots of hills in Paris; Montmartre is one of them.

R37, that article is from more than two years ago, as is evident from its date and from the views of a roofed and spired Notre Dame.

There was flooding there in 1910, 1924, 1945, 1955, 1982, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2001, 2013, 2016, 2018.

"The Zouave statue is used as an informal flood marker in Paris: the footpaths along the embankments beside the Seine were usually closed when the level of the river reached the feet of The Zouave, and the river was unnavigable by the time it reached his thighs. At the time of the 1910 Great Flood of Paris, the floodwater reached his shoulders."

Which is so much b/s as the vertical position of the Zouave has been changed over the years.

R19 - please recommend some of these small bistros

For you R42