It’s no secret that our guests absolutely love the Jardin du Luxembourg, just a few minutes from all our hotels. Actually, we did a comprehensive visit and photo report for the blog not so long back (that you’ll find here) with details of all the hidden treasures to discover.

However, you might not know that there’s a proper restaurant in the garden, surrounded by trees, with birdsong and a light summer breeze to keep you cool.

Now that summer has finally arrived in Paris, we decided it was time to go check out La Terrasse de Madame, not far from the Senate building and stunning Médicis fountain (which has recently been restored).

So, was it a good experience or just a tourist trap? Read on…

The Terrasse de Madame restaurant in the Jardin du Luxembourg (precisely here) is run by a group that manages over thirty prestigious venues including Brasserie Lipp, Le Procope and La Coupole, all generously-sized, historic spaces.

La Terrasse de Madame is probably best visited during the warm weather, as it has two large outdoor terraces perfect for summer dining. The tables and chairs (metal, painted light green) have been deliberately made to blend in with the furniture of the park, perhaps not the most comfortable choice when eating, but not terrible either.

The staff is smiley and fairly speedy, and the menu offers classics of French cuisine with fixed-price menus at average prices: two courses for 23€ or 29€ for three. Oh, and there’s a kids menu available fro 14€ too.

It’s a very agreeable spot for some food, and quite reminiscent of the cool leafy garden at the Hotel & Spa la Belle Juliette…

For startes, we ordered an egg mimosa (which turned out ot be 1½ egg mimosas) with lettuce hearts and Espelette pepper AOC (a French specialty you should try), which we found not bad at all, but the mayonnaise had a little too much vinegar in it and might have been better with a little mustard in the mix (although perhaps that’s not possible if you want to taste the Espelette pepper). All in all, a remixed version of a French classic, and a nice start to our meal.

For the main dishes we went for a ‘seasonal bowl’ with a host of different ingredients – falafel, feta cheese, watermelon, cherry tomatoes, roasted aubergine, bulgur, grenadine, almonds, tahini and a citrus vinaigrette.

And the second dish was something to remind oneself of childhood, sure to be a success with both kids and adults – coquillettes pasta with herb-roasted ham, a parmesan cream sauce and emmenthal.

The bowl’s mix of sweet and savoury worked really well (top marks to the watermelon for being so succulent) despite the disappointingly-bland falafels, while the pasta was (unsurprisingly, but agreeably) very cheesy, and the ham extremely tasty.

And to finish off, we decided to have just one dessert, a tiramisu with coffee and amaretto, which was as creamy and light as we had hoped. Perfect for the end of a summer lunch when paired with an espresso coffee.

We believe that La Terrasse de Madame is a sensible choice if you want to try French classics with a slight twist in beautiful surroundings. It’s also open all day, and does not accept reservations, so there’s no need to plan ahead – just turn up!

The prices are not excessive (although as you might imagine, not the cheapest in town either), but the fixed-price menus are pretty good value if you can accept their very limited choice.

So make the most of summer with a typically French meal in a typically French setting! Then go for a stroll in the amazing gardens afterwards for a perfect Parisian afternoon!

---

La Terrasse de Madame (here) is open seven days a week non-stop, morning to night

No reservations

Website / Facebook / Instagram

What3Words ///funds.mergers.buffoon

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by La Terrasse de Madame (@laterrassedemadame)