Please sign in to post.

Paris Restaurant with View of Eiffel Tower

Hi!

My boyfriend and I are headed to France in September and October for his first time to Europe and my first time to France. We arrive in Paris on a Friday in late September, and I would love for dinner on the first night to have a view of the Eiffel Tower. My thought is to be across the river from the Eiffel Tower so we can over look it. I've read a little about places like Les Ombres, Maison Blanche, Cafe de l'Homme, Chez Francis, and a few others. Does anyone have recommendations for a great view, good (but not crazy expensive) food, and awesome service for our first day in? Thanks!

Posted by
194 posts

Based on our experience, I'd recommend scratching Cafe de l'Homme off your list. We went in April for a slightly deferred 25th Anniversary present to ourselves, so we wanted to splurge a little. It had great views of the Eiffel Tower, a "happening" vibe, OK food that was a bit on the pricey side, and decidedly awful service. The guy who seemed to be in charge seemed only interested in selling our fellow diners some touristy-looking chocolate souvenirs, or hanging out with the DJ (yes, it's a restaurant, but it also has a DJ spinning tunes for the folks who are out on the patio enjoying the view with a drink).

But my wife and I were determined to look past those relatively minor annoyances and enjoy the evening, so we ordered a second glass of wine about halfway through our entree. We were also planning on ordering some dessert along with an after-dinner drink and coffee to round out the evening. But our waiter completely disappeared (this isn't an American misunderstanding the French concept of service, we had ordered more stuff that never came, and were still interested in ordering EVEN MORE stuff, but the dude went totally AWOL!)

When he finally re-appeared about 45 minutes after we had ordered the wine (completely clueless that he had forgotten that order), a full half-hour after we had finished our main course (sans vin), he asked if we wanted anything else. We asked for the check, paid and left. Too bad, because with that location, it could've been a magical evening (and our tab for the meal would have probably been double!). Instead, it just made us appreciate all-the-more the really nice and authentic Parisian meal we had the night before (at a fraction of the cost) in a little bistro on Montmartre.

Posted by
479 posts

Hi allison,
Le Ciel de Paris fits the bill for a view of the Eiffel Tower and good food but I'd put it in the category of expensive. The service was very good. We had no complaints at all in that department. We enjoyed our romantic splurge there and I would heartily recommend it but I'm not sure the price is what you were looking for.
You can take a look at the menu here http://www.cieldeparis.com/en/ and decide for yourself.
Will you be arriving in Paris from another country in Europe or directly from a long flight? If the latter, I'd worry a little about jet lag interfering with your first-night plans.
If this isn't the place for you, I'm sure you'll find something that is. A romantic dinner in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower should be a great start to your time in Paris.