Chez Marianne — Restaurant in Paris

The restaurant is directly opposite a glacier (ice cream shop) also known as La Boule au Miel (The Scoop of Honey, more or less). You can sit at one of the outdoor tables at the restaurant and order and be served ice cream from just across the street. If you do, be prepared for deliciousness -- especially if you order a "maboule," a scoop of ice cream in pate a choux pastry. I ordered one with the establishment's "chocolat & orange" ice cream. It came embellished with some chocolate sauce, a bit of whipped cream hidden inside, and chopped nuts on top. It was my first time eating an ice cream dessert with a knife and fork, and it was more than worth the effort. You can also have your ice cream in a more traditional sugar cone, cup, or bowl, as my wife, who tried and loved the sesame-halvah ice cream, did -- but you can do that at home.

Service was friendly enough, but our young server had to be reminded to bring the coffee and water we also ordered. He also disappeared before he brought our check, which was delivered by one of his colleagues. But we really didn't mind watching people go by while we waited. After all, next to eating great food, that's one of the most enjoyable activities to...

While waiting on line, I went to use the bathroom and water was overflowing to the Resrurant from above so I went back to line! I should have been alarmed by that! When our turn came to sit, we showed our cards I had 3 shots as I used Pfizer, my husband two as he had Maderna. The guy made a face ! So we sat down and he came back and told us that my husband suppose to have 3! I said no, as when we left the country it was not approved for him to have the 3rd shot! Then he proceed showing “in France you have to have 3!” & I said “I told you when we left US in October it was not approved!” (neither of us are 65 yet which is requirement) so I said If there is a problem we leave, and we left! At this point we did. It won’t give him a dime! However he was unmasked and talking with us unmasked and telling us about this! Mind you the airlines, hotels, best restaurants in Italy and France did not make one bit of fuss! Than when I passed the front of the store, I was glad I did not eat there and you can see why from the picture. So my advise to you, go next door and stay in line. Their food is...

Decent, but doesn't quite live up to the hype in terms of food. The different types of mezze (we had 5 total IIRC) were hit and miss, with some heavily spiced and some nearly completely unseasoned. Also, placing meatballs directly on and in the fish egg paste is a bit of a strange thing to do - some more attention to the plating would be nice.

We also had the pita stuffed with beef, but that was underseasoned and uninspiring. At least the fried potatoes were good, as well was the harissa (much better than you can find in a normal store).

On the plus side, the lemonade and pomogranate juice were excellent.

Then what looked like one tiny bathroom for the entire restaurant... there was a line right through the restaurant. 5+ people waiting in front of the bar and next to other diners' tables... safe to say I would have been annoyed if we'd been seated in there.

Most of all, I was puzzled by the price of beer. Seemed twice as high as any other restaurant in the area. Pilsener Urquell (so nothing that's usually expensive anywhere in Europe) for what was...