Ideas for one great meal in Paris

[Anonymous]

Our family will be traveling to Paris in April and need suggestions for a nice place to have a memorable French meal. We will be traveling with our kids ages 10 and 12. Any ideas?

[Anonymous]

If money is no object, Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athenee. One of the most memorable nights of my life. Truly a French experience.

A second place would be Jules Verne up the Eiffel Tower.

A third place would be any cafe in Montmartre, especially if it raining. I think the cafes there are charming and walking the streets at night in the rain is beautiful.

For a wonderful truly French experience lunch, go to LaDuree. It will be jam-packed and expensive, but worth it.

[Anonymous]

I will say that I have found "memorable" meals can often be the ones you put together yourself from either the local stores, or the giant food stores (Grande Epicerie, or in Galleries Lafayette). and that some of the most memorable foods can be found at the high end patisseries like Pierre Herme.

That said, if you want someplace reasonably high end but not crazy high end you might look at places like La Grande Cascade or Chez L'ami Jean. I seem to recall someone once telling me the Christian Constant restaurants (Violon D'ingres, Cocottes, Cafe Constant) were welcoming to families, but that is a very hazy recollection.

[Anonymous]

i second Laduree. or at least get the Macaroons there. I still think about the rose Petal macaroon...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say that I have found "memorable" meals can often be the ones you put together yourself from either the local stores, or the giant food stores (Grande Epicerie, or in Galleries Lafayette). and that some of the most memorable foods can be found at the high end patisseries like Pierre Herme.

That said, if you want someplace reasonably high end but not crazy high end you might look at places like La Grande Cascade or Chez L'ami Jean. I seem to recall someone once telling me the Christian Constant restaurants (Violon D'ingres, Cocottes, Cafe Constant) were welcoming to families, but that is a very hazy recollection.

8:58 here. I complete agree with this as well and should have said so! Grab some items from these stores and a blanket, go down to the Champs de Mars by the Eiffel Tower and have a picnic. Another great memorable meal.

[Anonymous]

Le Christine. My kids (14 and 16) still rave about it. Very expensive, though.
http://www.restaurantlechristine.com/lechristinev2/intro.html

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the great ideas! I can't decide if we should go really, really high end - haute cuisine. I wanted to see what others have done.

I've been searching on several blogs and love David Lebovitz's blog about Paris. He has a cool pastry app - I think I'm going gain some serious weight on this trip. I found out about Les Cocottes on Anthony Bourdain's site and will definitely plan to go there for a meal - it looks family friendly and affordable.

We will be staying in an apartment and this will also give us an opportunity to shop at the markets like pp suggested. I just want to be as strategic as possible. Thanks so much for sharing the info.

[Anonymous]

L'As du Felafel is a semi-famous felafel place in the Marais with a park a couple of blocks away so that is another possibility.

I actually think paying for 4 meals at a super high end place would be so crazy expensive as to sap some of the enjoyment for me, but YMMV! )

[Anonymous]

La Tour d'Argent.

La Grande Cascade is overhyped, IMHO. Plus the Bois de Boulogne has been getting more unsavory these days.

[Anonymous]

We just got back from a week in Paris and we had grand plans to go out to specific restaurants each night that friends had recommended. It only happened one night because there were so many amazing restaurants right by our apartment. (We were also exhausted from touring the city all day.) The one night we followed through with our plans was at the Eiffel Tower. We didn't eat at the really expensive place (Jules Verne) suggested already. We ate at the less fancy (but still very nice) restaurant on the first floor called 58 Tour Eiffel. We had our two kids with us (middle school aged) and they loved it. By making dinner reservations, you also avoid waiting in line to get up into the Eiffel Tower. If you make reservations early, you can get a table at the window. Have a great time in Paris!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:La Tour d'Argent.

La Grande Cascade is overhyped, IMHO. Plus the Bois de Boulogne has been getting more unsavory these days.

I agree you might not want to go for an after-dinner walk in the Bois, but I don't think that should stop anyone from going to La Grande Cascade (and between there and La Tour D'Argent you think the former is more overhyped? I'd disagree but I guess it depends a lot on what you like and you've heard/read from others.)

[Anonymous]

Please, why would you recommend la tour d'argent? I doubt a 10 & 12 year old want to sit through a 3 hour dinner of rare duck! Save that for your date night in Paris. I think laduree is a great idea- get hot chocolate and pastries!