Berthillon and the Crazy Monkey and other Paris, France Restaurant Reviews

Restaurant Name: Berthillon

I’ve never, ever liked ice cream, but I would walk across hot coals to get half a spoonful of this stuff. It’s sold in a couple of other places around the city, but they always seem to be out of it, or they don’t have the right flavors or something. I think Berthillon does that just to keep everyone coming here. With flavors like café au whiskey (wonder how old you have to be to order that one), this place is in a class by itself. The café is fairly moderately priced, so it’s a nice choice for lunch. It’s on the Ile St-Louis, so you can take your ice cream and stroll past that fantastic accordion player who plays on the pont St-Louis, but stay away from that monkey he schleps everywhere—the monkey is a hostile lunatic. I guess I would be, too if I had to listen to “Autumn Leaves” as many times a day as he does.

Favorite Dish: Absolutely any flavor ice cream.

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Theme: Ice Cream
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Phone: 31 rue St-Louis-en-L'Ile
Address: 31 rue St-Louis-en-L'Ile
Directions: Metro: Pont Marie

Restaurant Name: Cafe de la Bastille

OK, the café isn’t really that exciting, but the people-watching is great, and if you have tickets to the Bastille Opera, this is a great place for an after-dinner night cap. It will also put you right near rue de la Roquette, which is a fun shopping street with lots of cute little no-name boutiques. None of this really matters, though—what matters, is the vanille chaud they serve. Yes, I said, VANILLE chaud, not chocolat chaud. This hot vanilla is so incredible, that I’ve literally sat outside on a frigid day when no inside table was available just to have one. It’s even better if you drop the two, yes, two sugar cubes in.

Favorite Dish: Vanille Chaud

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Theme: French
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Directions: Corner of rue de la Roquette and Richard Lenoir

Restaurant Name: Laduree

Ladurée has become much more commercial in recent years and therefore very touristy, but it’s still a quintessential Parisian place and one of those places that everyone has their own stories about—here’s mine: On a very, very rainy day, my family and I ducked into the one in the Madeline area, just to re-group and let the rain pass. As we were sitting there a woman came in who looked like a Toulouse-Lautrec character—bright red shirt, perfect posture, very interesting face—had to have been a dancer at some point. She looked like she was waiting for a date who just never showed up. Long after the skies cleared we were there putting together her story. We couldn’t get ourselves to leave until after she did.

Favorite Dish: Macaroons

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Theme: French
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 01 42 60 21 79
Address: 16, rue Royale

Restaurant Name: La Terrasse

OK, before you read this, keep in mind that I choose Paris restaurants based not only on the quality of the food, but the quality of the people-watching, which in this case, couldn’t possibly be any better. Located within feet of a fairly big metro stop, this corner restaurant is a fabulous place to sit and have a croque-monsieur and watch busy Parisians. It’s also, as I recall, near a great newsstand so you can pick up a “Trib” before taking a seat—this, of course, is to make it less obvious that you’re spying on people.

It’s basically got an upstairs and a downstairs and I’ve been going to both since I was about 13. The downstairs is a typical café with all the regular dishes—salads, sandwiches, etc. and the upstairs is a snazzy restaurant with the most incredible chocolate mousse you’ve ever had. (I haven’t been there in a while, but years and years ago, the upstairs was decorated in all these crazy mirrors and 70s furniture. It looked like a disco.). It’s not a cheap neighborhood so their pizza (in the downstairs part), which is big and tasty is a great deal—sorry I can’t remember exactly how much it is.

For reasons I don’t understand, no matter how many times I go there, it ALWAYS starts pouring down rain and for that reason, I am convinced that there is some correlation between my eating there and the weather. ;)

Favorite Dish: The pizza with olives for the downstairs cafe, and the chocolate mousse for the upstairs restaurant.

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Theme: French
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Phone: 01 45 55 00 02
Address: 2, place de l'Ecole Militaire
Directions: Right near the Ecole Militaire restaurant