Corail — Restaurant in Paris

UPDATE: THEY CHARGED US £100 per person even though the manager said we wouldn’t get charged because we weren’t a no show. We just decided not to dine there because of our experience. We confirmed with him that we would not get charged. It’s honestly terrible business. if we knew he would charge us £200 we would have just bought their mediocre fries for £20 and left after. HORRIBLE FOR LYING AND STEALING FROM CUSTOMERS

Corail, don’t bother changing your name from Forest, change your manager to a man that actually cares about customer service and replace your devil host.

This was hands down the worst dining experience I’ve had in Paris, and it started the second we walked in. The red-haired girl at the host stand treated us with clear attitude and bias. The restaurant had just opened for dinner and was completely empty, yet we were sat in a not ideal location. We politely asked to sit near the balcony and were told it was “too busy.” Too busy for what? We were literally one of the first guests there.

Every table with a nice view was given to white customers who arrived after us. I asked the host again if we could move. She said she would check, then walked by our table multiple times and deliberately ignored me even when I clearly said “excuse me” multiple times. The behavior was dismissive and humiliating.

When I finally asked to speak to the manager, he defended her, calling her “lovely” and insisting there was no bad intention. If that’s the case, why did she keep walking past our table, rolling her eyes and giving attitude? She made us feel like we didn’t belong there and the manager clearly had no interest in addressing that.

At that point, we asked to leave without ordering. It wasn’t worth ruining our time in Paris over mediocre food, a mediocre view, and completely unacceptable service. Go to Girafe, where the team was actually welcoming and made you feel like you were having an elevated experience with the view was...

This restaurant of the Museum of Modern Art was very surprising! It's not a café or coffee shop but a real fine dining restaurant with linen napkins, etc. which is open for lunch, dinner and drinks. Their outside dining area is lovely but is was a cool day so I had lunch inside. What a revelation in terms of the physical restaurant layout, furnishings and decor. Very atmospheric, felt chic and elegant. There were five other tables of customers there so it is certainly known. (All French folks.). In fact of the three places where I’ve had a nice lunch, there were no Americans. Always a good sign for an adventurous traveler.

The menu had several appealing options and I chose the schnitzel, which was moist, tender and yet crisply fried. The rice was flavorful and aromatic and there were some vegetables that I can't remember. I asked for bread which had great flavor and crust, and the butter had those great hits of salt.

Service was attentive but not annoying. Something unexpected that I really enjoyed was their background music - a great playlist (including put on your boogie shoes, sitting on the dock of the bay, tell it like it is, delovely, Bette Davis eyes, son of a preacher man and other great ones); some by the original artists and others were covers. Normally I don't pay attention to background music because it's background? But I found myself really listening and realizing what song it was, wondering who the artist was, etc. In addition to enhancing my experience as a solo traveler with no one to talk to, it added to the overall atmosphere which I characterized as "very sophisticated, cocktail drinking, heels wearing".

I HIGHLY...

We reserved a table there for a bachelorette party on May 31st, and we got way more than we expected. The service, the food and the view are all 5 stars!

Firstly, the kindness and attentiveness of the staff - not something you expect when you reserve in a hype restaurant with a view in Paris. From the moment we entered to the moment we left everything was great, and we give special thanks and shoutout to Alex who was taking care of our table! He gave us time to have a look at the menu, choose the wine and answered all the little questions we had, made sure our glasses were never empty and just generally made sure the evening was going fine. This is really an exception in Paris and just for the service points we will come again for sure.

Secondly, the food is really good - the portions are well balanced, the quality is really there and you feel quite full after the dinner unlike most of other places of this type. We all really loved what we saw on the menu and when it came, it was even better! We all loved the Spring salad!

So if you are looking for a place with great food, even better service (thanks Alex!), an amazing atmosphere and a magnificent view - this is the place (yes, places like this STILL exist in Paris!)

PS - We honestly don't understand why people write negative reviews about portions, the dishes are tasty & healthy and the amount is just enough to make you feel full, it's not an all-you-can-eat buffet or a brasserie/bouchon and neither do they market...