Paris restaurants (Laperouse, Procope, Ambroisie,...)
 

We are preparing a week-end in Paris for the nexth month and we would like to have dinner in a special place. We are considering the following restaurants but we’d like more information about them:
Laperouse
Le Procope
La Coupole
L’Ambroisie (I think it’s fantastic but unaffordable)
I would thank your informations about these restaurants or other that you reccommend.

These places are all really different from each other. I have not eaten at Le Procope but have heard only negative reports.

I have been to La Coupole twice. Great big noisy brasserie. No reservations, but they give you a ticket to wait at the bar (with names of composers or something like that) and the line moves prety quickly. Fantastic cold seafood platters, huge plates of choucroute with various meats and sausages, as well as a pretty large menu of less brasserie-like fare. Bustling atmosphere and a good place for an early or late meal because they serve at all hours. To me it feels very Parisian in a very different way from an intimate bistro.

We ate at Le Procope last week, and the ambience is what is the hook here....just thinking about eating in the same establishment as did Voltaire, Robespierre, and Ben Franklin. The nice thing is that the restaurant is broken up into rooms, so that you don't feel like your eating in a football stadium. Prices were reasonable for all we had($130 U.S. w/wine and three courses). Food was good. We would rank this place in the bottom of the top 1/3rd of places we have eaten in Paris (out of 20 for dinner or lunch). The main drawback was that it is one of the largest restaurants in capacity, so people are coming and going a lot. We suggest that you check it out in person, first. Go over and get a feel of the place, then decide. We have not been to the other places you mentioned so we have no comparison.

Hi alex,

We had dinner at Laperouse a couple of weeks ago.

See my report at http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34676645

Dinner was beautifully prepared, artfully presented and impeccably served, in a lovely, quiet 18th century room (the restaurant was founded in 1766) overlooking the Seine.

With wines, dinner for 2 was about the same as at L’Ambroisie.

BTW, the ambroisie is also known as "ragweed".

La Procope and La coupole are as described above. They are both interesting, but I wouldn't consider them "special places".

((I))

Though I haven't eaten recently at Laperouse or L'Ambroiserie, I have to agree with others about Le Procope and La Coupole. They're both noisy, brusque, and mediocre, IMHO, and at both I have paid more than I thought was reasonable for very unmemorable food. Definitely not "special" and not in the same category at all as the other two.

The service at Le Precope is poor and the cuisine nothing special.

As to brasseries, Le Vaudeville is hard to beat.

I dined at Procope, the food was not memorable but sitting on the wrought iron balcony was.

Thanks for all your valuable comments that I will consider. If you have, some more reccommendations, please let me know.
Ira, you said that the price of Laperouse was more or less the same as L'Ambroisie. Can you specify more, please?
Finally, you say that L'Ambroisie is also known as "ragweed". I'm sorry but I'm Spanish and I think "I'm lost in translation".
Thanks

Topping

Hi Alex,

A splurge dinner at Laperouse was 285E.

L'Ambroisie can be translated as "Ambrosia" - the food of the gods - or as "Ambrosia artemisiifolia" - common ragweed.

((I))

Thanks ira.

Do you mean 285 € per person? Very expensive!!!

Hi alex,

Sorry, that was for 2, with wines.

((I))

In Paris, I love the Buddha Bar! It's a really terrific restaurant with wonderful atmoshere.

It used to be that one was lucky to get a reservation at L'Ambroisie "only" a month in advance. I don't know whether that's still true or not.

All of these places are in different categories.

Laperouse is a fancy French restaurant in the classic style, complete with the period decor. Le Procope is a much more casual restaurant (relatively speaking) with a very long history and matching decor (lots of famous people have dined there) and lower prices. La Coupole is a giant Art Deco restaurant with pretty good food at reasonable prices, although it can be noisy at times (but some people like that kind of atmosphere). The Buddha Bar is a place to see and be seen, and gets by on its esoteric decor and trendy reputation, not on the quality of food.

Four very different places, and so not directly comparable.

Le Procope is awful. I wouldn't waste my money there. I've been vacationing in Paris, almost annually, since 1976 and I don't remember in all of these years...decades... that restaurant being any good...friends didn't like it and neither did I. Happy Travels!

I know Taillevent isn't one of the choices, but the others listed don't seem that great.

Are there any comments both good and bad about Taillevent?

Taillevent, is WONDERFUL, but Le Grand Vefour, at the same price and quality, is more gorgeous in terms of decor.

Thanks Elaine. I hope alex2 will reconsider his/her choices.

The OP says L'Ambroisie is unaffordable. Isn't Taillevent more expensive?

((I))