Please help me find the perfect Paris restaurant!

[CClaire]

It’s a landmark birthday for me next month and le husband and I are off to Paris for two whole childfree nights! I’m hoping the wonderful world of mumsnet might come up trumps and help me find a lovely place that:

Menu
-offers special food but not too French (we wouldn’t eat foie gras/veal/cephalopods, etc), so this pretty much rules out set menus
-a veggie option or two would be great
-good cocktails
-not wildly expensive (we can splash out but many set menus seem to be €200-300 per person, €80 for a steak.. I think seeing the bill would make me wince)

Location
-is a few floors up with a great view (and ideally a terrace)
-not too far off the beaten track

Vibe
-I do love a white tablecloth and decent glass of wine but this would have to come with a warm reception and friendly service
-funky would also work

Front runners so far are:
-Le Tout-Paris (@ cheval blanc): this is so close to ticking all the boxes but the 80€ steak is alienating me
-Le jardin de cheval blanc: slightly better pricewise than Le tout-Paris but worried about the weather and the food seems a bit too casual/limited
-Kong: mixed reviews leave me nervous that the service will be upsetting! Anyone been? Did they try to bully you into leaving a hefty tip?!
-Café de la paix: something about this place really draws me in but i don’t think it has a view or cocktails. It does look lovely but it’s maybe a bit mediocre/poor value for money..?

Perhaps it’s just so long since I splashed the cash at fancy restaurants that I’m out of touch with the going rate these days!

Any suggestions/comments from people with current local knowledge would be gratefully received.

Merci d’avance ☺️

Ah I made this too long winded didn’t I!!

In short, anyone know of any decent trendy Paris restaurants with good service and views?!

Hey OP, I’ve been to Kong (many moons ago just after it was featured on Sex And The City!) and I think this could be a good option for cocktails, but not for a landmark birthday dinner. From what I remember it was full of beautiful people, beautiful staff & the decor was funky. But the music was loud & food was so-so.

I really like Le Train Bleu. Proper old school, traditional restaurant - stunning interior and good food. Not sure this meets your requirements though!!

I’m having an early birthday celebration in Paris in a few weeks - it’s the perfect city for a special dinner. We’re actually doing a special dinner and a special lunch (you only get one birthday a year 😅).

After MUCH research, we have gone for ChoCho for dinner and Septime for lunch. Budget is ~€200 for 2 people for each. We came across a few €300 tasting menus but we thought we’d leave those for the lottery win 😜

Not sure when you’re going but I can report back on these two restaurants in a few weeks! 😊

Oh you want views! Sorry the two we’re going to don’t have views - but excellent reviews nonetheless, if you decide to do drinks with a view and dinner elsewhere 😊

Thank you very much for taking the time to ~read my waffle~ post and make suggestions @Vanillalime and @Usernamen .

I was unaware of the S&TC connection, that’s funny and good to know; I’m probably too old to feel comfortable in that kind of place now 🥲

I saw Le Train Bleu crop up on an earlier thread trawl. I did check it out but will go back and look properly now that you’ve suggested it, as well as check out the other two, which I haven’t heard of.

I am thinking I might book a special brunch ahead too, maybe CB, but saving the first night for some spontaneity 😁 if that’s not an oxymoron 🤪. I’m going in a couple of weeks too @Usernamen, we can compare notes. Happy Birthday for then and amusez-vous bien!

It's not exactly trendy but Tour D'Argent would certainly fit the bill of incredible view, terrace, destination restaurant etc. have you thought about lunch instead of dinner ? That's what we do, usually lunch in these super exclusive Restos costs much less. They currently do 4 courses at lunch on set menu fir 150e. Their duck is world renowned, they used to bring you the certificate of your own duck and it was carved at the table side in an elaborate ceremony.

i got engaged at the TdA. It holds many fond memories and they sat us in the window seat overlooking North Dame. The view can't be beaten.

you could then spend the afternoon having a lovely romantic stroll around the Ile St Louis and a bateau mouche trip

If you want to really splash out I highly recommend Pierre Gagnaire. Absolutely incredible, once in a lifetime dining
they accidentally sent us an additional course in our tasting menu that was meant to go to a table on a different menu and to apologise for the "inconvenience" they sent us out another course as well 🤣 we said they could make as many mistakes as they liked if they were going to keep bringing food.
The woman at the table next door was clearly bored as hell with her husband, spent all evening in silence and ordered a specially-made-for-her dish (they were clearly regulars) which she then proceeded to leave. What a waste !

https://www.lesombres-restaurant.com/

les ombres in the quai brandy museum with views of Eiffel Tower

@DaphneDeloresMoreheadRidesOn tje tour d’argent is slightly dated now - and notre dame has no roof and a lot of scaffolding unfortunately after the fire - the duck is amazing though !

@DaphneDeloresMoreheadRidesOn Pierre Gagnard is a great call though and this is worth a listen too

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mKAQlmolcE8

https://chezkai.com/ amazing if you can get a table

This place was lovely (but doesn't fit your view criteria ) www.restaurantbaillotte.fr/

Nice for lunch too

https://anne-sophie-pic.com/paris/
la dame de pic is good but no view !

No idea about views but my strategy for Paris restaurants is to check out the budget category ("bib gourmand") of the Michelin guide. Just go to viamichelin.com, do a local search and restrict the search to non-starred restaurants. Never been disappointed yet, and prices are usually moderate.

https://lefooding.com/

this is also a good guide

This doesn't have views, but ticks all your other boxes.
We went in May for our anniversary and it was amazing. Delicious food - a tasting menu with some really interesting dishes. But the thing that made it different was the cocktail pairing. Instead of wine, we had a cocktail with each course, and they were SO good. Really interesting and tasty.
It's really central, so you can have a nice walk afterwards to take in the views.

I'd find a high up bar for a drink afterwards with views, and enjoy dinner at ground level here.

To be fair it was pretty dated when we went there in 2007 but I like a bit of old fashioned cuisine and service :). My first career was in hospitality where I worked in some very old-school hotels so I really appreciate that sort of service; I'd rather stick with old fashioned over trendy but then, I do use a Filofax 😂
iirc I had Crepes Suzette flambéed at the table. Very 1970s haha

i had forgotten about Notre Dame, deffo puts a downer on thr view.

Loving the little burst of activity, thank you very much! Some of these I’ve seen, others not and I appreciate all the reco’s.

Definitely think I’ll separate the dining from the views, makes it simpler.

I’m running out of time to decide 🙈 I’d been zoning in on Hebe but the husband is slightly dragging his heels:
http://www.heberestaurant.com/en/

Bistrot Instinct is AMAZING food and reasonable price.

if you have views and amazing food you pay INSANE prices.

I went to Paris recently and all restaurants were based on old Mumsnet thread recommendations! Definitely worth a search.

If you want to have a lovely meal in a typical Parisian restaurant then the Vaudeville takes some beating.
It tends to specialise in seafood but the steaks are gorgeous at about 30 euros each when I went last year.
As for views you may struggle, enjoy the experience of the hustle and bustle of a Parisian restaurant, its great.
Enjoy wherever you end up.

I recently ate at le Jules Verne it was amazing and breathtaking views but a bit over the budget.

also did the vip experience at the moulin rouge which was fun

Follow French Guy Theo on Instagram. He has some amazing suggestions for dinner although they're not all with a view though.

.