Went to Paris a few weeks ago for a long weekend:
-Le Meurice (**) had the 4 course lunch tasting menu. The dining room is absolutely beautiful. Felt almost like a museum because there were so many paintings. Two main courses were lobster ravioli and lamb. The ravioli was served pretty cold and the lamb was just ok. I was kinda disappointed here as the pacing was SLOW. I waited nearly an hour for the lamb and also, I found it odd that I could hear the chef start yelling in the kitchen (I don’t speak French, but by the tone of voice, he wasn’t happy). Service otherwise was good.
-Le Pre Catelan (***) had a la carte dinner here. Restaurant is pretty far out of the way, but in a nice park setting. The main course of sweetbreads were fantastic, some of the best I’ve had. Their dessert cart was also really good! This was the least memorable of the meals, which by no means is a bad thing. But I’d say a pretty standard experience.
-Le Cinq (***) had the four course lunch. Simply amazing lunch here, the tomato tartare, seafood pasta, and pork belly were all nicely prepared and presented. Cheese and port carts were also standouts (I had cheese cart at each place, this was the best). My table captain was also less rigid than the others, which I really liked.
-Pavillon Ledoyen (***) had a la carte dinner of almond starter and pigeon main. Both dishes were again nicely done. Pacing was again an issue here. Also got a complimentary avocado dish that I thought fell flat, very one dimensional dish that was basically just some slices of avocado. Service seemed odd here, I don’t know if it was language issues or what, but I was definitely not given the best service here. Beautiful dining room again, set in a building that originally opened in 1792.
If I had to rank them, this is how I would (favorite to least):
-Le Cinq
-Pre Catelan
-Meurice
-Ledoyen
I’ll try adding photos later, but I’m posting from mobile right now and having some issues.