Paris Digest
Paris city guide since 1997
Paris restaurants with a view are in high demand. The fancy Jules Verne restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and the more affordable Madame Brasserie on the first floor both provide spectacular views of the city. An affordable Seine dinner cruise ideally combines views of Paris and French gastronomy. Ciel de Paris on 56th floor of Tour Montparnasse, Les Ombres, Kong and La Tour d'argent are top restaurants with a view. Book long in advance. The top 30 restaurants in Paris.
Ciel de Paris, at the top of Tour Montparnasse, the second tallest building in Paris, has the best view. The expensive Les Ombres on the roof of Quai Branly Museum is very close to the Eiffel Tower. Enjoy its open air terrace when the weather is good. Consider the magical dinner cruise as the Eiffel Tower is on the river banks, probably the best option.
Looking for a famous restaurant in the city with a view of the river and the Eiffel Tower. Select the Seine dinner cruise.
At 100 euros, (child 3-11 years old: 40 euros), you enjoy a great French dinner and the best view of the city, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame and the Louvre.
For dinner, the chef offers a menu with an assortment of starters, a main course and a selection of desserts. A selection of French wines is suggested on board. Sample of menu. First course: Scallops in the shell, fresh bean sprouts or Tartare style lightly cooked beef or Snail pie with cream cheese, sundried tomato. Main courses: braised chicken leg, purple potatoes and yellow carrots, mixed herb sauce or Cod loin fillet with seaweed cream, pea and dried tomato risotto. Desserts: Passion fruit eclair, spicy ginger cracker or Coconut milk quinoa pudding, red fruit coulis.
Everynight except July 14, December 24, 25 and 31, February 14 and special events. Departure: 9pm.
Book Seine dinner cruise.
At 200 meters from the ground, Ciel de Paris is the highest restaurant in the city with unique views of the Eiffel Tower. Lunch or dinner at Ciel de Paris is a great experience which souvenir will stay in your memory for a long time.
The Montparnasse Tower is one of the most significant testimonies of the 1970ies. Built in 1973 on the site of the old Montparnasse train station, it stands its 58 floors in the heart of the Rive Gauche, as the overall redevelopment highlight of the sector in line with the axis created by La Defense, the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower.
Quality restaurant. Set lunch menus (Starter - Main Course or Main Course - Dessert) start at 32 euros for lunch.
Tour Maine Montparnasse. Metro: Montparnasse station. Paris map.
Les Ombres is the restaurant in town with the most impressive close-up view of the Eiffel Tower. Les Ombres is the restaurant on top of Quai Branly Museum, the spectacular museum of primitive arts on the Seine river banks designed by Pritzker Price winner Jean Nouvel. The Eiffel Tower literally soars over Les Ombres.
Chef Rui Martins offers a menu paying homage to French cuisine's 100 cult recipes that change with the seasons. Select set menu (58 euros for lunch) and entry wine. The terrace, when the weather is good, and the view are extraordinary.
There is the possibility to head to the newly opened terrace lounge bar, which offers a range of cocktails and nibbles to consume sitted on confortable sofas.
The Eiffel Tower is by far the highest building in the city. Its two restaurants provide an incredible view over Paris. The Jules Verne is one of the most spectacular restaurants in the world. Madame Brasserie opened in 2022 on the first floor.
The Jules Verne is on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower at 125 meters. Having lunch or dinner there is a breathtaking experience. Taking the private lift up to the second floor is unique. Many tables have a superb view and they should be booked long in advance. The restaurant is managed by Fréderic Anton, famous for 3 star Pré Catelan in Bois de Boulogne. The lunch set menu is at 140 euros from Monday to Friday excluding public holidays, a reasonable price for the quality and the setting.
Managed by Thierry Marx, a famous French cook, Madame Brasserie is on 1st floor of Eiffel tower (at 58 meters)..
Metro: Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel on RER C, Bir Hakeim on line 6. Paris map
Notre-Dame is one of the most beautiful monuments in town. Two restaurants provide a good view of Notre-Dame. The very high end and spectacular La Tour d'Argent overlooks the Seine River, Notre-Dame and Ile Saint-Louis. It has one of the best views in Paris. Le Flore en l'Ile in Ile Saint Louis has a quiet terrace and a beautiful view of Notre-Dame. Book in advance one of the tables with view inside. It serves good French food at affordable prices, but is often crowded.
La Tour d’Argent is one of the most famous restaurants in the world and the setting for scenes in the movie Ratatouille.
A restaurant of that name was there in 1780. The Terrail family bought the restaurant in 1912 and still runs it. La Tour d'Argent is on the fifth floor of a fine corner building on the river left bank. The dining room is glorious, looking out over the Seine and the skyline of Paris, with Notre-Dame Cathedral nearby. The view is one of the finest of any restaurant in the world. The wine list here is legendary, offering over 15,000 wines selections from a cellar of 450,000 bottles. Choose 110 euro set menu for lunch.
Cross the Seine river from Notre-Dame over the Saint-Louis pedestrian bridge. You are in Ile Saint-Louis, a romantic island built in the 17th century, and you face the Flore en L’Ile, a restaurant with an always crowded terrace in the summer.
The key advantages of this restaurant are its terrace, its quietness as there are no cars around, and its unique Notre-Dame view. We have lunch there regularly, preferably off season. It is a nice and very parisian place. The food is affordable, except for the famous Berthillon ice creams, which are very expensive. The restaurant does not serve the highest gastronomy in town, but solid traditional French dishes, what first time visitors would like to taste. Skip it in high season.
On the 5th floor of a Haussmannian building near Louvre Museum, Kong is one of the most amazing rooftop restaurants in the city. Each window offers a different view: the Pont Neuf crossing the Seine River, the Samaritaine Department Store Art Deco by Henri Sauvage or Art Nouveau by Frantz Jourdain, the headquarters of Louis Vuitton.
The fusion menu between Paris and Tokyo is signed Fumiko Kono including the langoustine tartare, Black Cod with miso and the duck breast with teryaki sauce. The vanilla tart is a creation of Pierre Hermé. From 10 pm. the volume goes up, the window blinds are raised and the golden youth, models, high rollers, come to have a drink. For dinner, remember to reserve a table under the glass roof.
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