FrançaisRestaurants
Good to know in French restaurants
Most restaurants are not open 7 days a week. Therefore it is always better to check the opening hours of the restaurant you want to eat at. Some are not open for lunch. Most restaurants start serving at noon for lunch and 7:30 pm for dinner. As a general rule, prices are cheaper for lunch than for dinner. It is not always possible to make a reservation in advance, but when you can make one, you usually do not have to wait too long for a table. Usually to make a reservation, you only need to give your name, a telephone number, the arrival time and the number of people in your party. In French restaurants, both the water served in a carafe and the bread are free. Don’t hesitate to ask the waiter for more bread if you want some more. At the end of the meal, you can ask for a coffee, a tea, an infusion or a liqueur.
How to choose in a menu?
In most restaurants, you will have the choice between:
- Dishes “à la carte”: you choose the dishes you want to eat on the menu. All the combinations are possible: appetizer, main course and dessert or appetizer and main course or main-course and dessert.
- “Prix fixe” meal: you choose among a selection of dishes an appetizer and a main dish, or an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert, or a main dish and a dessert. Some dishes on the menu are excluded from the “Prix fixe” meal.
In most cases, beverages and alcohols are not included in the “Prix fixe” prices. You will have to order separately the bottled water, the aperitifs, the wines and the liqueurs. Prices are always “TTC” (i.e All taxes included).
- High-end restaurants also offer tasting menus. You will not choose any dish. The chef will instead serve you a succession of dishes in small portions (their number varies generally between 5 and 9). Some restaurants will ever pair the dishes with the wines that best complement them.
What are the great classics of French gastronomy?
- For appetizers:
– Foie gras
– Quiche Lorraine
– La salade de gésiers (Salad of gizzards)
- For main-courses:
– Blanquette de veau (Blanquette of veal)
– Filet mignon (Pork tenderloin)
– Tournedos – Entrecôte (Rib steack)
– Coquilles Saint-Jacques (Scallops)
– Confit de canard (Duck confit)
– Magret de canard
- For desserts:
– Mille-feuille
– Crème brûlée
– Fondant au chocolat (Chocolate fondant)
– Mi-cuit au chocolat (Semi cooked chocolate cake)
– Tarte-tatin (upside-down tart)
– Ile flottante (Floating island)
- A few specialties that can sound surprising and which create controversy even among the French!
– Cuisses de grenouille (Frog legs)
– Escargots (Snails)
– Ris de veau (Calf sweetbreads)
– Foie de veau (Calf liver)
– Langue de bœuf (Beef tongue)
- There are various types of restaurants that serve typical French dishes:
– Crêperies
– Lyon’s Bouchons
– Bistros
– Brasseries
– Vegetarian restaurants
– Classic restaurants
– South-West France restaurants
– Provencal restaurants
If you want to take advantage of you stay in Paris to discover other types of cuisine, there is also a great variety of restaurants such as Moroccan, Lebanese, Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Mexican restaurants. There will be no shortage of choice!
What are the Michelin Starred Restaurants in Paris?
Those restaurants are very popular with tourists and Parisians. It is therefore recommended to make a reservation as soon as possible.
- The ten restaurants with 3 Michelin stars:
– Le Meurice (228, rue de Rivoli 75001 – +33 1 44 58 10 55)
– L’Ambroisie (9, place des Vosges 75004 – +33 1 42 78 51 45)
– L’Arpège (84, rue Varenne 75007 – +33 1 45 51 47 33)
– Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athéné (25, avenue Montaigne 75008 – +33 1 53 67 65 00)
– L’Epicure (Le Bristol, 112, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré 75008 – +33 1 53 43 43 40)
– Ledoyen (1, avenue Dutuit 75008 – +33 1 53 05 10 00)
– Pierre Gagnaire (6, rue Balzac 75008 – +33 1 58 36 12 50)
– L’Astrance (4, rue Beethoven 75016 – +33 1 40 50 84 40)
– Le Pré Catelan (route de Suresnes 75016 – +33 1 44 14 41 00)
– Guy Savoy (18, rue Troyon 75017 – +33 1 43 80 40 61)
- The fifteen restaurants with 2 Michelin stars:
– Carré des Feuillants (14, rue Castiglione 75001 – +33 1 42 86 82 82)
– L’Espadon (Le Ritz 15, place Vendôme 75001 – +33 1 43 16 30 80)
– Le Grand Véfour (17, rue Beaujolais 75001 – +33 1 42 96 56 27)
– Passage 53 (53, passage des Panoramas 75002 – +33 1 42 33 04 35)
– Relais Louis XIII (8, rue des Grands Augustins 75006 – +33 1 43 26 75 96)
– L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon-St-Germain (5, rue Montalembert 75007 – +33 1 42 22 56 56)
– Thoumieux de Jean-François Piège (79, rue Saint-Dominique 75007 – +33 1 47 05 79 79)
– Apicius (20, rue d’ Artois 75008 – +33 1 43 80 19 66)
– L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon-Étoile (133, avenue des Champs-Elysées 75008 – +33 1 47 23 75 75)
– Le Cinq (Hôtel George V 31, avenue George V 75008 – +33 1 49 52 70 00)
– Lasserre (17, avenue Franklin D Roosevelt 75008 – +33 1 43 59 67 45)
– Senderens (9, place de la Madeleine 75008 – +33 1 42 65 22 90)
– Taillevent (15, rue Lamennais 75008 – +33 1 44 95 15 01)
– La Bigarrade (106, rue Nollet 75017 – +33 1 42 26 01 02)
– Michel Rostang (10, rue Gustave Flaubert 75017 – +33 1 47 63 40 77)
- The forty-five restaurants with 1 Michelin star:
– Le Baudelaire (6/8, rue Duphot 75001 – +33 1 42 60 34 12)
– Yam’Tcha (4, rue Sauval 75001 – +33 1 40 26 08 07)
– Le Céladon (15, rue Daunou 75002 – +33 1 47 03 40 42)
– Le Pur’ (5, rue de la Paix 75002 – +33 1 58 71 10 60)
– Benoît (20, rue Saint-Martin 75004 – +33 1 42 72 25 76)
– La Tour d’Argent (15, quai Tournelle 75005 – +33 1 43 54 23 31)
– Fogòn (45, quai des Grands Augustins 75006 – +33 1 43 54 31 33)
– Hélène Darroze (4, rue d’Assas 75006 – +33 1 42 22 00 11)
– Jacques Cagna (14, rue des Grands Augustins 75006 – +33 1 43 26 49 39)
– Le Paris (45, boulevard Raspail 75006 – +33 1 49 54 46 90)
– Le Restaurant (13, rue desBeaux Arts 75006 – +33 1 44 41 99 01)
– Sensing (19, rueBréa 75006 – +33 1 43 27 08 80)
– ZeKitchen Galerie (4, rue des Grands Augustins 75006 – +33 1 44 32 00 32)
– Aida (1, rue Pierre Leroux 75007 – +33 1 43 06 14 18)
– Auguste (54, rue de Bourgogne 75007 – +33 1 45 51 61 09)
– Les Fables de La Fontaine(131, rue Saint-Dominique 75007 – +33 1 44 18 37 55)
– Gaya Rive Gauche par Pierre Gagnaire (44, rue du Bac 75007 – +33 1 45 44 73 73)
– Il Vino d’Enrico Bernardo(13, boulevard de La Tour-Maubourg 75007 – +33 1 44 11 72 00)
– Le Jules Verne (Champ de Mars avenue Gustave Eiffel 75007 – +33 1 45 55 61 44)
– Le Divellec (107, rue de l’Université 75007 – +33 1 45 51 91 96)
– 35° Ouest (35, rue Verneuil 75007 – +33 1 42 86 98 88)
– Vin sur Vin (20, rue Monttessuy 75007 – +33 1 47 05 14 20)
– Le Violon d’Ingres (135, rue Saint-Dominique 75007 – +33 1 45 55 15 05)
– Les Ambassadeurs (10, place de la Concorde 75008 – +33 1 44 71 16 16)
– L’Angle du Faubourg (195, rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré 75008 – +33 1 40 74 20 20)
– L’Arôme(3, rue Saint-Philippe du Roule 75008 – +33 1 42 25 55 98)
– Le Chiberta (3, rue Arsène Houssaye 75008 – +33 1 53 53 42 00)
– Dominique Bouchet (11, rue Treilhard 75008 – +33 1 45 61 09 46)
– Laurent(41, avenue Gabriel 75008 – +33 1 42 25 00 39)
– Stella Maris(4, rue Arsène Houssaye 75008 – +33 1 42 89 16 22)
– La Table du Lancaster (7, rue de Berri 75008 – +33 1 40 76 40 76)
– Jean (8, rue Saint-Lazare 75009 – 01 48 78 62 73)
– Au Trou Gascon (40, rue Taine 75012 – +33 1 43 44 34 26)
– Antoine (10, avenue de New York 75016 – +33 1 40 70 19 28)
– Etc… (2, rue La Pérouse 75016 – +33 1 49 52 10 10)
– La Grande Cascade (allée de Longchamp – Bois de Boulogne 75016 – +33 1 45 27 33 51)
– Hiramatsu (52, rue Longchamp 75016 – +33 1 56 81 08 80)
– Passiflore(33, rue Longchamp 75016 – +33 1 47 04 96 81)
– Le Pergolèse(40, rue Pergolèse 75016 – +33 1 45 00 21 40)
– Relais d’Auteuil (31, boulevard Murat 75016 – +33 01 46 51 09 54)
– La Table du Baltimore (88 bis, avenue Kléber 75016 – +33 1 44 34 54 54)
– Agapé (51, rue Jouffroy d’Abbans 75017 – +33 1 42 27 20 18)
– La Braisière (54, rueCardinet 75017 – +33 1 47 63 40 37)
– La Fourchette du Printemps (30, rue Printemps 75017 – +33 1 42 27 26 97)
– Frédéric Simonin (11 bis, rue Villebois Mareuil 75017 – +33 1 45 74 74 74)
