What should you eat in Paris?
- lisa71541
- Nov 27, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 29, 2022
When you think of eating in Paris, do you think of crepes, gelato, coffee, cheese, and lots of carbs? But is it better in Paris than at home? Here are my favorites and what I recommend you can skip.
The Crepes
I think a crepe a day is a requirement when visiting Paris. I decided to make this a fun experience and pick three recommended spots for crepes, and do a comparison to find my favorite. One key thing about crepes. While we may think of it as a breakfast item, you will find it on the 'dessert' section of the menu in the Cafes. And they are available all day long.
Pictured below (from left to right) are the 3 crepes I tried.
Creperie de St Germain - a small stand on the street. Look for a green awning. These were very yummy. I ordered the Nutella and banana crepe. They had both savory and sweet crepe options. Ordering it from a stand and watching a Parisian make crepes in front of you is a bucket list experience.
Café La Belle Ferronnière- This is a couple of blocks from Champs de Elysse (the famous luxury shopping street in Paris). The cafe is on the corner of Rue Pierre Charron and Rue Francois 1er. We ate here for breakfast twice. Check out the section below on Cafe's for more details about this spot and tips for Cafes. Dark chocolate is delicious. It is a LOT. As you can see from the middle picture below, they pour on the chocolate. You can ask for less or scrape it to the side, Pair it with your coffee, which is a tasty treat.
Cafe Breizh - is located in the upper Marais. They have a unique selection of crepes here, and they are delicious. Well worth the hype of this spot. We had a raspberry jam crepe and dark chocolate with a scoop of vanilla. Plus, the spot is on a corner street which makes it ideal for people-watching.
All you need to know about the paris cafes
You've heard about them and seen them in movies. The Paris cafe with the chairs facing the streets. I was very enchanted by them and couldn't wait to visit and have this experience. It was first on my list of things to do. Now the real question is, what should you order at a Cafe?
The short answer is to keep it simple. This is not your spot for fine dining or expecting a well-prepared dish. This includes breakfast items, coffee, wine and cheese, salads, and sandwiches. Lots of light bites. Below is what I ate and loved and what I would probably skip.
What you absolutely should order in a cafe
Breakfast and coffee.
Dessert- crepes
Wine, cheese, and bread
Light lunch, such as sandwiches or salads.
What NOT to order in a cafe
Dinner
Sitting in a cafe hungry, I asked one of the locals sitting next to us what they would recommend. Their responses were very quick. We do not order food here at cafe's so we do not know what to recommend. We ended up ordering a pasta dish, but we did pay attention to every cafe we visited, and none of the locals were ordering real dishes.
Top Cafe Tips
1. You do not need to tip the wait staff in Paris, even if they say you are free to add a tip. They did that to us once as Americans.
2. Avoid the cafes that are right next to landmarks. Such as Eiffel Tower and Champs de Elysse. We had better experiences going a block off the main path. We also had a waiter try to give me the wrong coffee & asked us to tip as a tourist cafe. Thinking we would not know better.
3. If you want that iconic view, order simply like a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.
The most Instagrammed cafe in paris
Did you know...Cafe de Floreis the most Instagrammed cafe in Paris? It is also the oldest. This cafe has had some famous visitors, such as Pablo Picasso, and has also appeared in several films and Emily in Paris.
It was the only cafe we had to wait to be seated because everyone wanted that iconic view outside facing the street. It is also a great people-watching spot because you will see a ton of tourist taking selfies and videos.
We both ordered a glass of wine and split a cheese and breadboard. Yes, the bread is so good, I carb-loaded all week like it was my job. But I found the most surprising was how creamy the butter was in Paris (and London). I later found out it was made from sheep milk. Unlike goat's cheese which is flaky and chunky, the sheep cheese and butter had the same consistency as those from a cow but were so creamy. It was delicious!
Funny insight. I was randomly interviewed as a tourist. while we were sitting at the cafe. They were asking about how pandemic changed travel and what we most enjoyed about Paris.
If you are in the market for a Louis Vuitton item, shop at the store next to the one by Cafe de Flore, vs the other 2 in Paris. The sales clerks are much friendlier, and the wait is shorter. Subscribe to my blog posts, as I will be doing an upcoming post on luxury shopping tips.
Other Surprise foods we loved
I was surprised by the wine pours in the French cafes. The pour was to the rim, and for $5 a glass, the wine was very good. I would never order a $5 glass of wine back in the U.S. I would wake up with a headache, and I know I would not enjoy the taste as much. But do not be afraid to order wine at the cafe.
The butter was so creamy. They offer cream from cows and sheep, and the sheep's milk and cheese were creamier than any other I have tasted. Make sure you try the butter.
I love a good Croque monsieur sandwich, and I wanted to try one in Paris to see how it compares. It was so different and ABSOLUTELY amazing.
I ordered the sandwich at our hotel restaurant and Angelina's at the Louvre. I found Hotel Monsieur Georges just a bit better. Still, they were both delicious, and both exceeded my expectations regarding what I have tasted in the U.S. They were A bit creamier, of course. The cheese was amazing, but the ingredients used and the way the sandwich was prepared were also different. I am not sure I will be able to enjoy one here in Ohio quite the same again.
What was your favorite thing you ate in Paris? Do you have any questions about other foods I did not address and would like to know more about? Feel free to comment below.
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