Café Lapérouse Concorde — Restaurant in Paris

Loved my lunch at Café Lapérouse! After 6 days in Paris, I was tired of heavy/rich meals and the classic items on every menu. Hugo recommended the sea bass (dos de bar) Dugléré and I was admittedly skeptical about a sauced fish on a hot summer day but it was surprisingly light, flavorful, and delicious. But who doesn’t love a white wine + butter sauce?! Dugléré beurre blanc any day. The tomatoes really brighten up the sauce.

They also serve their bread warm with bordier butter (creamy, smooth, and a light dusting of salt) so I used that as a vehicle for the fish sauce. Great French wines on the list.

Service and attentiveness was unparalleled, for dining guests and walk-ins alike. Having been to other fine dining restaurants near a monument or with a view of the Eiffel, I was expecting customary French attitude but the staff was so kind, attentive, and never pushy. Beverages and food came out quickly and I was never waiting around. Yves took many flattering photos of me as well.

Ambiance was great and relaxing, despite being adjacent to a busy street (Place de la Concorde). Other dining patrons were a mix of French locals having a business lunch and a few tourists. I’d suggest combining a meal here with sightseeing in the 8th arr (Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées, the Grand Palais, Petit Palais, the Élysée Palace, Parc Monceau, the Seine) or haute couture shopping (Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves St. Laurent, etc.).

Recommend making a reservation as they only have a few tables on their outdoor terrace. There are mixed reviews online but I loved my experience and will definitely be coming back on my next trip!

Note: if taking an uber/taxi, there are limited drop zones in front of the restaurant (there are a ton of tour buses, traffic, and monuments that people are trying to see/photograph), so expect to be dropped by the place du Concorde and...

Tourist scam. Ridiculously overpriced for what you get. We thought this would be high-end and were very disappointed. The furniture was stained and worn threadbare, paper napkins. We arrived at beginning of tea time. I ordered Croque Monsieur from menu; they were out. Table next to us ordered hot chocolate; also out. We also ordered tarama; served with only three thin Melba toast. Tea was unremarkable bagged tea, no cream or honey or lemon offered, one commercial white sugar packet each. Tea pot was visibly chipped. Good luck finding the foie gras in the Pâté en Croûte; if it was there, we didn’t see or taste it. Dessert cake was very plain, no garnishment or any presentation style. It literally looked like it had been dumped out of a Sara Lee box onto the plate. We had to ask servers for more hot water and more bread; attention from servers was sub-par. Worst part was the bill. Our bill was 90€ for one glass of lowest priced white wine, one bottle of sparkling water, two teas, tarama, pâté en croûte, and lemon cake. Very overpriced and then they have the nerve to ask for a 15, 20, or 25% gratuity when you pay by credit card. In France! You do not do that here. This was clear sign to me that this whole place is marketed completely to take advantage of tourists. If you do not speak French, you probably won’t notice where it says underneath in small letters “Pas de pourboire,” which means no tip. A pourboire should be just a few of Euros; we left five in cash.

But do go see the Hôtel de la Marine museum next door, which was the only reason we were here. It is nice. And they told us very clearly they have NOTHING to do with the restaurants.

UPDATE: The one person who ate the pâté got violently ill hours later and almost went to...

I paid 32 euros but got only two pieces of bread, a disgusting steamed egg custard (which was terrible), a coffee, a juice, and a yogurt — none of it tasted good, and it was all overpriced. The host was extremely rude, and the food was overly simple and ridiculously overpriced. Avoid this place if you have other options. I sat outside, and another guest at the next table wanted to move inside because it was cold. The waiter rudely responded, saying it wasn’t cold — it was 27 degrees. However, the actual temperature was 17 degrees with strong winds. I was freezing after just 20 minutes. I was speechless at the rude and unprofessional behavior of the French waitstaff. When I finished my meal and was settling the bill, the waiter asked how it was. I honestly mentioned that there were bees constantly flying around outside, and he immediately replied, ‘That’s not our fault.’ I never even suggested it was their fault. I really can’t understand the way French people think sometimes. A city with such rude and clueless service staff is bound to decline. I’ve never experienced this kind of behavior in my own city, and among all the cities I’ve visited, France has the rudest service staff. By the way, I’m an Asian with a tourist hat speaking English, yet the waiter gave me a French menu. I spent ages translating it before finally asking for an English menu. Why didn’t they just offer the English one from the start? So rude! They couldn’t even tell by my appearance that I’m a tourist, nor did they bother to ask which menu I preferred. It’s unbelievable! This is the worst restaurant, hands down — just out to...