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Monday 2 Apr 2018    Things to do in Paris

©MuseeJacquemartAndre

Brain Food - Our Favourite Museum Cafes and Restaurants in Paris

We bring you our selection of the best museum cafés in Paris.

This month we brought you our Monthly Map of Brain Food, but where’s the real food? Right here! We’ve brought together the best museum cafés in Paris and of course the best museum restaurants, because really - what’s a museum visit without a treat afterwards? Man cannot live by culture alone! There must be cake, and tea, and coffee, and lunch, and dinner, and then more cake.

The Café at the Musée Jacquemart André

For those looking for a little old-world grandeur (and killer cakes).

This mansion-turned-museum is one of our favourite cultural spots in Paris, thanks to its combination of stunning architecture, stately private apartments, incredible art and other-worldly elegance. However, it has another hold on our hearts thanks to its beautiful café! Open independently of the museum itself, you can sun yourself en terrasse during the warmer months while feeling miles away from the bustle of Boulevard Haussmann just outside the mansion's walls. Inside, the tea room is one of the finest in the city, made perfect by pastries whipped up by the likes of Stohrer and à la Petite Marquise. Foodwise, the Café creates a bespoke menu inspired by the latest exhibitions, which we happen to think is ingenious.

158 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris

©MonsieurBleu

Monsieur Bleu & Les Grands Verres at the Palais de Tokyo

First, we give you Monsieur Bleu, the Palais de Tokyo’s Art-Deco-inspired restaurant, where green marble meets plush velvet and huge chandeliers hang from the lofty ceilings. And that’s just inside. If you’re lucky enough to reserve a table on the Terrasse, you’ll be treated to amazing Eiffel Tower views as you enjoy a Parisian apéritif or indulge in the minimalist, international menu.

For something a bit more laidback and buzzy, Les Grand Verres is all pendant lightbulbs, cosy booths and potent cocktails. Beneath the cavernous ceilings that are the Palais de Tokyo’s signature look, Les Grands Verres is the work of Quixotic Projects - the crack team behind some of Paris’ trendsetting institutions including Candelaria, Mary Celeste and Hero. Open until 2am.

20 Avenue de New York 75116 Paris

©MonsieurBleu

©LesGrandsVerres

Musée Picasso, Café sur le toit

A rooftop sun-trap for a relaxed coffee stop.

We love a good view, and since the Musée Picasso has its very own terrace sur le toit (on the roof), there’s no better time to head over into the Marais for some culture. The food here isn’t anything to write home about, but you will find a selection of sandwiches, soups and salads available alongside a sharing platter of Spanish charcuterie. We just really like a rooftop view with our post-Picasso coffee.

5 Rue de Thorigny, 75003 Paris

The Musée de la Vie Romantique

The Museum of Romantic Life has a garden that lives up to the name.

©Museedelavieromantique

On a quiet Sunday morning in Spring, when the city is sleeping and the streets are quiet, sneak into Southern Pigalle with your favourite book and while away an hour or two in the garden café of the Musée de la vie Romantique. It’s a rudimentary little café where a smattering of cakes and coffees are ordered inside a beautiful old greenhouse, but the lush gardens, towering trees and pretty chairs and tables will transport you to….well - a lush Paris garden with towering trees and pretty garden chairs and tables. Because where else would you rather be?!

Hotel Scheffer-Renan, 16, rue Chaptal, 75009 Paris

Petit Palais

Free and fancy, the Petit Palais hides a beautiful inner garden.

©PetitPalais

One of our favourite museums in Paris (and not just because the permanent collection is free) the Petit Palais also boasts a beautiful café at its heart. If you can manage to commandeer one of the tables in the covered colonnade, you’ll be looking out over an enclosed garden where mosaic-tiled pools reflect the exotic plants above. A popular spot for light lunches, coffees and treats, the Petit Palais is a great option to have up your sleeve - and you may want to look out for the free lunchtime concerts which are regularly hosted by the Palais.

Avenue Winston Churchil, Paris 75008

Grand Palais

Channel your inner aristocrat in the colonnades of this fancy yet unpretentious restaurant.

©MiniPalais

The Petit Palais’ big sister, the Grand Palais is really very grand (we're using our best French accent). The gigantic glass roof is spectacular to see from inside, while the Palais’ wings play regular host to some of the city’s biggest and most hotly-anticipated exhibitions. With such stately proportions, the opportunity for a stunning restaurant finds full realisation at the Mini Palais. You can imagine how mini it is (hint: not very). Take a table on the terrasse for the full experience, where you’ll be dining amidst towering columns and palm trees while perusing the latest monthly menu by Eric Frechon of Le Bristol Paris.

Avenue Winston Churchil, Paris 75008

LouLou at Musée les Arts Décoratifs

Elegant lunches are a go.

©Loulou

If you suspect you’re feeling a little bit chic, LouLou will remove all doubt. Overlooking the Tuileries Gardens, this swish restaurant has a breezy terrace full of white parasols and cushioned chairs perfect for whiling away the afternoon over a lunch of imaginative Italian fare. It’s a bit of splurge, but when you can see the Eiffel Tower through the bubbles of your Champagne or snap a photo of the Louvre from your lawn-fringed table, it’s to be expected. What’s more, the service is friendly. Just imagine.

107 rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris

Le Georges at the Pompidou

Just focus on the view.

We have a couple of disclaimers for this one. In fact, this entry is not so much a recommendation as a “well, all things considered, it’s worth it. Probably.” Yes, Le Georges is expensive. Oui, the food is patchy. Bien sûr, the service may fulfil a few unfortunate stereotypes…. But that view though. Perched at the top of the Centre Pompidou, there really are few places better positioned for rooftop views in Paris than Le Georges - so whaddya gonna do. Take the rough with the smooth we say, opt for a lunch rather than dinner, splash out on a nice glass of wine, snag a table on the terrace and you’ll at least be playing the odds.

43 rue Saint-Merri, 75004 Paris

Here's a handy little Map with the suggestion above and more. Come check out our Map here !

Central Paris Location

Last Minute Course Places

1 Apr 2024

  • French Technical Classes / French Bistrot Lunches
  • Le Soufflé

    Au menu:

    a traditional savory Soufflé au Fromage (cheese soufflé)

    plateau of fromage (a selection of fine French cheeses)

    salade with a traditional French vinaigrette

    a delicate and sweet Soufflé au Chocolat (chocolate soufflé)

    After all that hard work (and fun), enjoy lunch with your classmates and a glass of wine while admiring wonderful views across the Seine to Notre Dame.

  • La Cuisine Paris, 80 Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, 75004 Paris     Time: 10:30 - 13:00
  • Price: €119.00     Availability: 5+ places left

2 Apr 2024

  • French Market Tour and Cooking Class / Marché Maubert
  • Spend the morning like the locals, with a typical Parisian experience. A full immersion in to French culture with a French Market Tour followed by a hands-on French Cooking Class right in the heart of Paris !

  • Meet at 18 Place Maubert in front of the fountain, next to Metro Station Maubert Mutualité     Time: 9:30 - 13:30
  • Price: €189.00     Availability: 5+ places left

4 Apr 2024

  • French Technical Classes / Mastering Classic French Sauces
  • Three hours of mastering the French Classic Mother Sauces - the grand canon of Cuisine Française. We’ll tackle emulsions, roux, reductions and more!

  • La Cuisine Paris, 80 Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, 75004 Paris     Time: 10:00 - 13:00
  • Price: €119.00     Availability: 4 places left

4 Apr 2024

  • French Pastry / Technical Tartes
  • This class is a comprehensive look at the celebrated Classic French Tarte and will have you learning techniques that you can use in your baking beyond these treats, back home.

  • La Cuisine Paris, 80 Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, 75004 Paris     Time: 14:00 - 17:00
  • Price: €119.00     Availability: 1 place left

4 Apr 2024

  • French Market Tour and Cooking Class / Marché Maubert
  • Spend the morning like the locals, with a typical Parisian experience. A full immersion in to French culture with a French Market Tour followed by a hands-on French Cooking Class right in the heart of Paris !

  • Meet at 18 Place Maubert in front of the fountain, next to Metro Station Maubert Mutualité     Time: 9:30 - 13:30
  • Price: €189.00     Availability: 5+ places left

For the Chocolate Lover

Thursday 14 Mar 2024

We love Chocolate at all times of year - but if you really love Chocolate in Paris, you'll enjoy a little Food for Thought as well as where to go to feed your belly!

Read more

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