Le Montebello — Restaurant in Paris

We stayed in Paris for two nights celebrating our daughters 21st birthday. She chose the restaurant when after walking passed earlier in the afternoon. We were 20 minutes late but the manager insisted we stay and promptly brought two more tables out to the section where my daughter wanted to sit. We all chose the 16.50€ set menu which had supplementary charges for some items. Each course had at least 7 or 8 items and we chose duck terrine with onion marmalade, escargot, cheese ravioli with a herb and cream sauce. Main courses included boeuf bourgignon, steak tartare, spicy tomato pasta and cream and pesto pasta. Our dessert selections were vanilla and strawberry ice cream (both freshly made), tarte tatin and crepes with sugar. Our daughter was surprised when the staff brought her dessert with a lit candle (we hadn't arranged this) and sang happy birthday, it was really very special. We couldn't have had a better evening which was made more special by the staff. The food was delicious and the setting fantastic - sitting outside on a balmy summers evening looking across the Seine through some trees to Notre Dame.

We will definitely visit the restaurant again and can't thank Mateu and his team enough for making it such a memorable night....

Getting straight to the point, the food was passable, now the experience, was something to write about. We were traveling with a baby so we asked if there was a changing table available. They pointed is to the restroom upstairs which barely had space for one person and no changing table. We pointed that out and asked if there was an actual changing table available. The answer should not have been "we are not a nursery", but that's what they said. A simple No would have been OK. We asked for some chilli flakes for our pizza, we were given hot oil, which was totally fine. We were using it and in the middle of our meal when we were still using it, a woman who may be was the owner (not sure) walked by took it away from our table, no questions if we were done with it, or if she could take it, she just takes it without making eye contact. The attitude of the actual waiters was fine, the ones wearing the black shirt, however, were that they were unhappy with serving us. For what it is worth, we found the attitude and service towards some fair skinned customers to be much better. Take what you will out of that. The 2 stars was for the food alone. I didn't want to rate...

Can't have had a more contrasting experience than all the one star reviews. Great meal. Fun and friendly staff. Went twice - including our last night in Paris (made a point of going again). Perhaps not cheap but we thought it good value (not expensive by any means). Entre and mains from 16 Euros. A little extra for some options. Staff didn't look down at us for being non-Fench speakers. Recognised us a greeted us warmly on our return. Venue is classy but not snooty and musty like some venues. We were inside in winter. Close to Notre Dame and the Seine if you like a stroll after your meal. I had the escagot and salmon. Both beautifully prepared. 22 Euros. I'm disappointed that my new favourite restaurant is on the other side of the world to home (Australia). Perhaps there has been a change since some of the other reviews... Highly recommended - worth the small detour if you're not in the...