L'Hortensia — Restaurant in Paris

One of my favorite brasseries when I come to teach in Paris.

Attentive, warm, and genuinely sensitive service—rare enough in Paris to be noted. The food is consistently flawless: impeccably cooked, thoughtful, unpretentious, and grounded in real culinary know-how. The kitchen respects both ingredients and diners.

It’s a small space, but well laid out—tables are spaced just right, you never feel cramped. The atmosphere is calm and authentic, a world away from the typical noisy Parisian brasserie.

Long opening hours make it dependable (especially helpful when you’re teaching full days and need flexibility).

And yes, quality has its price—but here, it’s the right price. Fair, honest, and fully justified by the experience.

I’ll always keep coming back. A place that understands hospitality,...

We had an excellent dinner here on a recent trip to Paris. The server was a wonderful woman who was incredibly friendly and helpful. The food was served quickly, which was great for us as we had a concert to get to afterwards, and everything tasted wonderful. There were two older French women sitting near us who began speaking to us and we had the best conversation with them despite a bit of a language barrier. They were twin sisters and obviously locals. That conversation made the entire experience very unique and something we'll never forget. Would definitely go back here for the food &...

I'm really shocked at how terrible the price-performance ratio is in this restaurant. The food and especially the meat tasted like it had been spoiled for months. When we confronted the service person, he didn't even look at us. Unfortunately, this service person was characterized by unfriendliness. It is questionable in this restaurant how such a high price can come about with such absolutely...