Food is a huge part of any visit to Paris, but there are so many great restaurants it can be daunting making a choice. These are my favourite Paris restaurants so far. The list will be frequently updated as I discover new places and revisit others.
Please note that none of these reviews has been requested nor incentivised. My husband and I paid for our own meals and drinks.
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Favourite Paris Restaurants for Breakfast
The Café de la Paix in The Intercontinental Hotel Le Grand
Enjoy breakfast amongst the ghosts of the great and the good – from Sarah Bernhardt to Ernest Hemingway and Marcel Proust. This beautiful historic restaurant (pictured above) offers a fabulous buffet with something for almost everyone, whatever your cultural breakfast tradition. Service is attentive and efficient, and the pastries are amazing. It is one of my favourite Paris restaurants for breakfast.
Favourite Paris Restaurants for Lunch and Afternoon Tea
Bistro Marbeauf
Located In Rue Marbeauf 75008, this traditional French bistro offers delicious comfort food in a convivial atmosphere. The staff were very friendly and the service was great. Both my Caesar salad with chicken and my husband’s burger were excellent.
L’ Entrecote de Paris, Champs-Elysées
One of the favourite Paris restaurants of my husband since he dined there during his university days, L’Entrecote serves a delicious set menu of salad followed by steak with a special sauce and all the fries you can eat. Although the price has increased over the years, it still represents really good value for money. We always eat here at least once when visiting Paris.
Le Verièrre in The Intercontinental Le Grand
This elegant restaurant is located in a glass-roofed, conservatory-like green space in the heart of the hotel. There are palm trees everywhere. We had drinks, a delicious club sandwich (me), a burger (my husband) and shared a pastry. This is a great place to linger over afternoon tea or cocktails.
Guy Harris and Hannah Sanderson in the Restaurant at the Musée d’Orsay
The Restaurant in The Musée d’Orsay
Offering a variety of lunch options from delicious salads to more substantial meals, the restaurant in the Musée d’Orsay (pictured above) is a popular choice with museum goers. I was so impressed by the friendly service and excellent food and as you can see above, the surroundings are just gorgeous. Look at that ceiling!
I had a chicken Caesar salad which was fresh, crunchy and very delicious. Reservations are not available so there is a queuing system in place. Despite the fact the queue was quite long when we joined it, it seemed to move very quickly when we were there. The restaurant opens at 11.45am most days, so it might be worth planning an early lunch. They also offer an afternoon tea service, and dinner on Thursday evenings (at time of writing, please check before visiting).
Café Pierre Hermé Pont d’Alma
My husband and I shared a giant pistachio macaron and enjoyed a rose iced tea at this riverside café. We sat outside overlooking the Seine. The only downside was the pigeons, but everything was so delicious it was worth it! There are many branches of this chain of cafés throughout the city.
Favourite Paris Restaurants For Dinner
Brasserie Fouquet’s
This iconic restaurant has been part of the local scene on the Champs-Elysées since 1899. It is perfect for special occasions, most recently my birthday this year. There’s a relaxed yet elegant atmosphere, friendly service, and absolutely delicious food. It is a splurge, but in our experience it is worth every centime! This is one of our family’s favourite Paris restaurants.
Drouant
Located at 16 Rue de Gaillon, 75002, this elegant yet unpretentious restaurant is such a treat. Again, it is a splurge but the food is absolutely outstanding. The Colette salad starter with King Crab is scrumptious and the serving generous enough my husband and I shared it on our second visit. I was nervous about asking to share but the waiter was more than happy – in fact the kitchen actually sent out two individual plates of salad to make it easy for us to share equitably! The main courses at Drouant are excellent too; I had a wonderful steak on our first visit and enjoyed fish on the second. The sommelier is friendly and knowledgeable and there are good wines at lots of different price points on the list.
Favourite Paris Restaurants for Drinks
Les Deux Magots
I really enjoy visiting here, not least of all for its literary history. Simone de Beauvoir, Picasso, Jean Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway – even Julia Child – were frequent visitors to Les Deux Magots and the cafe has been used as a location in many books, movies and television series. Les Deux Magots is also famous for its hot chocolate, which some say is the best in Paris. Food is served but we have never eaten here. We just enjoy having a drink in the convivial atmosphere.
Disclaimer: This post contains my honest opinions and the advice I give to friends. None of our experiences were gifted and we paid all our own expenses. Information is correct to the best of my knowledge at the time of writing and I accept no responsibility for, nor can I be held liable for, your experience at any of these venues. Most of the restaurants mentioned will need to be booked in advance. To avoid disappointment, be sure to visit restaurant websites for opening times, their full terms and conditions, and to check prices, availability and payment terms.
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