Has anyone eaten lunch at the restaurant in Musee d'Orsay in Paris? How was the food? What is the price range?

There are three places to eat at Musee d'Orsay: a nice cafe where the food is quite good, you may wait in line to get in and the atmosphere is lovely and the prices not cheap;, a next level cafe where the food is "ok" and you can get in quite fast and prices are more expensive than they should be for the quality; and a sandwich bar where if the whether is nice you can take your lunch outside and have a fabulous view of the Seine, the Tuilleries and the Louvre. All in all, a nearby brasserie would be better but they will each do if you need a break, a cafe or a pot of tea.

The place I have cited often doesn't match any of those descriptions. Four-plus elegant in decor, in what used to be the grand ballroom of the hotel that sat above the train station (before it was transformed into a museum, about 30 years ago). Prices reasonable, food good and (what was important to me) acceptable to American teenage palates. Service fine. Definitely not a "cafe", in my book - - not a cafeteria "line". Ordinary sitdown service. Maybe a buffet bar of some salads or something (I don't remember that specifically, but I have some pictures, and it seems like there is food out, in the center).<BR><BR>An excellent use of time to make it the main meal of the day and break up your visit to the wonderful collections there -- 60-90 minutes before and after makes for a great day.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

The main dining room at Musee d'Orsay, the one with the beautiful ceiling, is a good place to eat. I rate it better than average. We have eaten there twice and both times our lunch was delicious. Last time I had dover sole and it was cooked to perfection. The tiramisu was fabulous. (I "collect" tiramisus and this one was a top 10 in any league.) As tiramisu lovers know, that stuff can be addictive, and this one was.<BR><BR>The problem with the dining room is that it is hard to eat and admire the ceiling painting at the same time. It is gorgeous. There might be a short wait in line, but that gives you time to study the ceiling. You can look at the Tuilleries Gardens later when you walk through them. Or take a short break from painting gazing to survey the landscape to the north, which includes quite a bit of territory. <BR><BR><BR>

There is an outside terrance next to the cafeteria with a great view of Paris. I just grabbed a ham baguette and and Orangina from the sandwich cart and looked out over the city.

The main dining room at the d'Orsay with the beautiful ceiling and windows is wonderful! It is definitely sit-down service and the food is very good. It is a little on the expensive side for lunch but the ambience is worth it!

I've also eaten lunch in the beautiful, sit-down restaurant and think the prices are just average for that type of cuisine and restaurant (probably about US$20-30). The food was also very good and it's a very nice way to relax and breakup your sightseeing. <BR><BR>I also would not describe them as Grasshopper did, or things vary drastically on different days. That place is not a cafe, it's a restaurant and one reason I went there instead of the average cafe is there were no lines of any kind, even in peak tourist season when the lines outside the museum were a block or two long. The average cafe had a very long wait for a table. Up some stairs from the avg. cafe was the fast food place which was so distasteful-looking to me (and very hot) that I could not even go there. I really won't eat vending machine and packaged food, though, I'd rather not eat. The atmosphere was really unpleasant, also, although if you could go out on a roof, that would help (it was raining when I was there, and even then, there was no line at the nice restaurant).

I go along with Christina on this one, but also want to add that The big clock is a great short looking through it.

Just an update re the terrace outside the cafeteria. Because of security concerns it is no longer open. At least it wasn't last Oct and Dec. Hopefully it may open again - because the views are fabulous.

I love the main restaurant in the D'Orsay! We eat there every time we are in Paris and they have never let us down, there is always something nice and tastey for lunch and the wines are good, the rooms are so pretty!

Just to give you an alternative (but I also like the main restaurant at the museum)---about 2 blocks south of the hotel down Rue Bellechasse, perhaps 3 blocks, on the corner is a very nice little bistro with great lunch food. For something a bit different, you might give it a try also.

to the top, for marylou<BR><BR>