Le Cinq — Restaurant in Paris

I don’t know why it took me so long to write this review. But I think it is well deserved. This was the first ever Michelin Star restaurant I had experienced. I had always wondered if it was really worth the price tag and how good could the food really taste for the price?

I flew from Halifax Canada for this meal. I had never been to Paris and this was the main reason for going. I had saved for this trip and decided to go all out and book a 3 Star Michelin experience. I went in November of 2022 and had their special celebration of 20 years tasting menu (See photo).

From the moment I got there I was blown away. The staff was waiting as I walked into the hotel, knew me by name already and claimed they had been waiting for me to arrive. I was walked to my table by the staff and seated. I was already blown away.

The restaurant was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been and the staff were beyond friendly, especially towards someone who had no idea what they were doing in a place like this.

I had eaten at some high end restaurants in Canada, but man the food I had that night was something I will never forget. There was no waiting, the courses flowed perfectly one after the other and each one was a spectacle as they brought it to the table and explained it in detail.

I felt like I had my own dedicated staff the entire night ensuring I was happy and made me feel special for coming all the way to eat there.

I wasn’t sure how much food I would be getting or if I would be hungry after, but it ended up being A LOT. I was stuffed towards the end as the dishes kept coming, but every dish was so amazing it was impossible not to finish. The smoked eel dish with the wine sauce was perhaps the best thing I had ever eaten (as were most of the courses here).

Towards the end of the meal your presented with a massive cart desserts and a special surprise desert from the chef of a baked croissant type bread from his childhood (I forget now) I was so full I could not finish it, so the staff gave me extra to take with me for breakfast the next day (again blown away by this small touch) I was also given a beautiful gold menu to take with me as souvenir and some chocolates.

Was it worth it? I spent almost $900 CAD on the meal, and for me, it was worth every cent. Nothing I have eaten since has even come close and I have dined at a few more 1 Star Michelin restaurants in Toronto since. Not something I could do very often, but I have zero regrets. It was the meal of a lifetime, and I will certainly be back next time I...

Le Cinq’s dining hall is spacious and gorgeous matching the outstanding food and out-of-this-world hospitality that takes place within.

The staff here are mind readers and hands down the best I've experienced to date. I've dined at 51 other Michelin-starred restaurants so far and they should all train here. From the hostess who can notice when you're coming back from the bathroom outside of the dining hall to your seat, to the light-hearted and even whimsical conversation with guests. They notice every little detail without you noticing it. It's light, graceful, humorous, generous, and incredibly warm and genuine. I'm not sure if I'll ever have this level of hospitality at a restaurant ever again.

As for the food, not a single course including dessert was off-course. From the pebble foie gras, the truffled green asparagus (I'm convinced that the French are the best in the world with asparagus), the caviar and buttermilk warm smoke salmon, the hits kept coming. This momentum continued into desserts with the crunchy grapefruit preserved and raw (I could have eaten several of these in a row), the chocolate and hazelnut crisps with malt whiskey ice cream (the twill work on the crisps, bravo!), and finally the Kouign Amann, the best I've had in my life so far.

This was all washed down by a bottle of 2017 Coche Dury Meursault. In France, you can't leave the restaurant with a bottle as it must be opened but based on the relationship with wineries restaurants can sell wines at a lower cost than stores. It's the opposite in the US. This Meursault was priced at half the price of retail cost in the US if you can find it and one-fifth the cost at a restaurant if you can find it. No brainer! And yes, incredibly good wine despite its youth. Maybe California or Washington will produce a Chardonnay like this in a few hundred years?? Or however long it takes for the right terroir to take shape?

Is a dinner at Le Cinq worth the money? At a cost of month’s rent that answer is debatable. Would I pay that kind of money again for this level of food and hospitality? I absolutely would again without hesitation. A top 10 meal so far and THE top hospitality by a mile or should I say a kilometer!

A bientot et merci...

TLDR: A refined and excellent dining experience in an upscale setting that is sure to impress.

I have waited to write about Le Cinq, not because I was conflicted, but because my remembrances of the dining changed and grew over the days following our reservation. Le Cinq has truly excited us in a way only the smallest handful of restaurants have in the past.

We attended Le Cinq for or 20 ans, and scheduled our reservation over a month prior. We scheduled via the online link and had little problem here other than I confused the dates and had to contact the restaurant to change. This was an easy fix and the staff was eager to help.

Attire is a jacket for men and likewise appropriate attire for women. We saw varying degrees of this dress code represented while we ate, but every man had a jacket and most women wore a dress.

As is typical for us, we opted for the set course menu, and as usual at an establishment such as this, we were not disappointed. Le Cinq named their set menu "An Epicurean Escape" . It is posted on the website.

The dishes provided varied from the comfortable and nostalgic to the exciting avant garde that clearly factored into Le Cinq's Michelin Stars.

The dishes and wine were orchestrated under the watchful eye of the head waiter and the the service was flawless. All of the staff we encountered spoke excellent English and easily made up for our poor language skills. Le Cinq excelled at the art of being attentive without hovering.

For the wine, we simply asked the sommelier for his best recommendation (we were unfamiliar with most wines on the list), to which he graciously complied. The wine was a near perfect pairing for the courses.

The dessert for the course menu is delivered in 3 separate servings. The most notable dessert in my opinion was the Crunchy Grapefruit, it offered a truly dazzling display of taste and texture profiles that has become something we speak os frequently.

Le Cinq has easily slid into the top 3 of our favorite restaurants around the globe and we plan to make this a standard stop on our trips to Paris.

My highest recommendation to visit and my deepest gratitude to the staff who made the night...