Paris Restaurants

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée Review

The dining room at Alain Ducasse's flagship Paris restaurant gleams with 10,000 crystals, confirming that this is the flashiest place in town for a blowout meal. Clementine-color tablecloths and space-age cream-and-orange chairs with pullout plastic trays for business meetings provide an upbeat setting for the cooking of young Ducasse protégé chef Christophe Saintagne. Some dishes are subtle, whereas in others strong flavors overwhelm delicate ingredients; service is also a little inconsistent, with occasional long waits between courses. Even so, a meal here is delightfully luxe, starting with a heavenly amuse-bouche of perhaps langoustine with caviar and a tangy lemon cream. You can continue with a truffle-and-caviar fest, or opt for more down-to-earth dishes like lobster in spiced wine with quince or saddle of lamb with sautéed artichokes.

    Contact Information

  • Address: Hôtel Plaza Athénée, 25 av. Montaigne, 8e, Champs-Élysées, Paris, 75008 | Map It
  • Phone: 01--53--67--65--00
  • Website: www.alain-ducasse.com
  • Metro Alma-Marceau.
  • Location: Champs-Élysées

    Restaurant Details

  • Jacket required.
  • Reservations essential.
  • Credit cards accepted.
  • Closed weekends, 2 wks in late Dec., and mid-July-mid-Aug. No lunch Mon.-Wed.

Member Reviews

  • calbertdeparis, from ny
    3/25/11

    Located in Champs Elysées is rather big, of good taste and contemporary. The reception and the service is warm and very pro. The kitchen is divine and very creative, we have pass a wonderful meal and it was full.
    I suugest another restaurant also the citrus etoile with Gilles epie amazing !

    Ratings details: Food: 5 | Atmosphere: 5 | Service: 5 | Value: 5
  • nfza13, from USA
    9/13/09

    We had an amazing lunch! The food was amazing, the service was impeccable, and the dining room was beautiful. It may be one of the few $$$$ worth the $.

    Ratings details: Food: 5 | Atmosphere: 5 | Service: 5 | Value: 5
  • marston, from Epsom, Surrey
    12/31/07

    My husband and I were finally able to reserve a table on 20 December for dinner and made our trip to Paris with great anticipation. Unfortunately the experience did not meet our expectation. Although my food was delicious my husband's was average - hence only a 3 for food. But the service was lacking in all ways. When the restaurant was quiet at the beginning of the evening the service level was correct for a 3 star restuarant however once the restaurant began to fill service levels fell to a level that we would never have expected in a restaurant of this standard. Waiters were almost bumping into one another with trays, we noticed orders were being mixed up (this happened at least twice from the delivery table that was positioned in front of us. But what was worst was that fact that we were left with dirty plates on our table for far too long despite the fact that many waiters walked past our table empty handed. We would not recommend this dining experience.

    Ratings details: Food: 3 | Atmosphere: 2 | Service: 1 | Value: 1
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