I am so happy to have found this website after months of scouring the internet looking for restaurant recommendations from locals and frequent travellers to Paris.
This is my first trip to Paris (I am a solo traveller), and I will be arriving early/mid-July, spending a total of twenty (20) days in the capital and staying in four (4) different arrondissements (9th/18th), 6th, 3rd and 1st (five (5) days in each location) broken up with a five (5 day) break in Bruges BE in between my stays in the 6th and 3rd arrondissements.
I have travelled extensively in Europe and my holidays tend to revolve around finding memorable dining spots with great food and wine (being a tourist is secondary to the food experience). I have a tendency not to favour a particular cuisine or type of restaurant/dining experience (hole in the wall vs high end) more so, I am normally guided by the menu (if available online) and whether the restaurant is frequented by locals and general diner feedback, so with that said, please see my list of restaurants below:
I have tried where possible to book restaurants in walking distance from my accommodation, for me it is a great way to get a feel/vibe of the neighbourhood (with the exception of the 1st which, I am aware is very touristy).
I am also mindful that my holiday runs into early August and this could impact restaurant availability (the Palais Royal is a good example of this as I had hoped to book for lunch on the 30th of July, but it appears they are only taking bookings until the week ending the 25th of July, so I have moved my booking forward)
I am keen to know whether there are any restaurants you would recommend outside of this list or any on the list you would not recommend.
Although I don’t know all the restaurants on your list, in general it looks like a great list. The one exception is your first restaurant, Perception. For a number of years, it was one of our favorite restaurants. Then it got Michelin star and everything changed – for the worse (not uncommon, alas). I had one embarrassingly bad meal there and then stopped. Others I know who loved it have also stopped going there. I would suggest Ôrtensia in the 16th as a sub.
Don’t worry too much about dining near where you are staying. Paris is so small that you can easily walk much of the city and there is a great transportation system to quickly get you from one side of the city to the other.
Onz, are you confusing Perception with another restaurant? I don’t believe it has received a Michelin star, and it does not show as such on the English version of the Michelin site.
I do recall seeing a couple of reports earlier this year saying that people were not as pleased with it, and I confess I’m hoping that they are not indicative of a permanent fall-off.
We are going again later this month, so I will report back.
Perception doesn’t have a Michelin star. We did enjoy very much our lunch there in mid-February (and the service) and would put it on our list again for a return visit, but we went for lunch, not dinner. That may make a difference ??
Thank you Onzieme for the recommendation of Ortensia, I have booked both Perception and Ortensia and I will wait on @andygottlieb42 report on Perception to decide which restaurant I ultimately visit.
Thank you all for the feedback, it is much appreciated!!!
Thank you for sharing your dining experiences @Maribel, Aldehyde looks great, and I managed to get a reservation for a Tuesday night for dinner (it is already heavily booked throughout July).
Thank you and @plragde for recommending Gemellus, I have now secured a booking for a Monday lunch. I am looking forward to sharing my feedback with you both post my visit.
We ate at Perception the other night. I very much enjoyed it, it is still a great value, and the wine pairing was also a good value (I really liked 5 of the 7 wines poured with my 8 Temps menu). I’ll try to do a longer write-up in the not-too-distant future.
I can no longer say it was my favorite food meal eaten in Paris (as it was 2 years ago), but it’s certainly very much still worth going if you’re interested in it.
Thanks Andy, given your feedback I definitely want to include Perception on my list.
I will be interested when you do your longer write-up which dishes were a standout as I will be taking the 6-course option for dinner, (so I am hoping those dishes are included in the 6-course menu!!).
My wife got the 6 course menu, while I had the 8. The two dishes I received that she did not were the cuttlefish (IMO the least successful savory course, although the tempura-ed piece that came on the side was excellent) and a morel stuffed with poultry (one of the better dishes).
I loved the sea bream sashimi course, and the dark meat wrapped in kimchi that came with our chicken (substituted for the pigeon, which neither my wife nor myself like).
Thank you everyone for your wonderful restaurant recommendations and feedback, I have now finalised bookings with all, but one restaurant (as they only take bookings two weeks prior). The final list is as per below:
Perception (9th) dinner
Chantoiseau (18th) lunch
a.lea (18th) lunch
Le Pantruche (9th) dinner
Akabeko (6th) dinner
Palais Royal Restaurant (1st) dinner
La Petite Chaise (6th) lunch
Alliance (5th) lunch
Kitchen Ter(re) (5th) lunch
Anne (3rd) dinner
Bistrot Instinct (3rd) lunch
Grand Coeur (4th) lunch
Gemellus (7th) lunch
Aldehyde (4th) dinner
Ze Kitchen Galerie (6th) lunch
Nhome (1st) dinner
Don Juan II (16th) dinner and cruise
Lou Lou (1st) dinner (not booked)
There are so many more restaurants that, if I had more time in Paris I would love to visit (particularly in the 11th) but it does encourage me to visit Paris again.
I am now counting down the days until I arrive in Paris so I can start to share my restaurant experiences with you all.
Epic is right! I could dive right into your interesting list. I’ve been to most of these places with a few exceptions, such as La Petite Chaise which looks very charming. But I don’t usually seek out traditional restaurants. If I do I’m likely to order sole meunière, which is so very expensive these days. (Why is that?)
Lunch on the terrace at Anne should be delightful. It’s been a few years since I was able to do that, so I’ll be interested to hear how it goes.
I’d also love to hear feedback about NHOMe, which not many people on this board seem to be trying. We really loved the whole experience last fall.
Aside from the sole meunière at Amarante, which is a rather idiosyncratic version of it, I don’t think it is a dish that should be ordered in Paris. The brasseries that used to make it right either disappeared or don’t do it anymore. I’d rather keep that sort of order for regional cities where they still know how to churn it out. Like the fantastic Brasserie Le Français in Bourg-en-Bresse.
