My family and I went to this restaurant while on vacation in France upon recommendation from a Parisian friend of mine who insisted the restaurant was worth visiting. Unfortunately, my friend forgot to include the fact that one's experience in the restaurant is directly related to how well one speaks French. After being seated for 20 minutes without being asked if we would like anything to drink, a waiter showed up. I have to wonder if this waiter would have even showed up to the table when he did if I did not persistently look him in the eyes to subtly let him now that we were awaiting service. The first thing to come out of the waiter's mouth was not a greeting. Instead, he asked us, "Do you speak French?" I was astounded at this question. This was my last night in Paris and at no point during the full 10 days that I was there eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner (at a different restaurant or cafe each time) did any waiter ask me this question. If I was unable to communicate with a waiter in French (which I have working knowledge of), I was able to communicate with them in Spanish and English (both of which I consider to be the languages I am most comfortable in). My father informed the man that we did not speak french but that we did speak Spanish and English. The waiter's disposition changed entirely upon hearing this response and the service only got worse. It took another 10 minutes for the waiter to take our drink order. For our dinner order, the waiter called in reinforcements. Another woman who had better control of the English language took our order. However, she did so in extremely bad fashion and with a rejecting disposition. If this were a small, local cafe on the outskirts of the city, I would be more understanding of the reluctance displayed by these two waiters. However, we were in a restaurant which, as the name suggests, boasts a view of the entire Parisian skyline. One would assume that as such, this restaurant would be frequented by multiple tourists on a daily basis and that these waiters would feel comfortable hosting english and spanish-speaking tourists. Please note: I do not expect them to be able to hold a conversation with me in English. However, I do believe that these waiters could have been more forthcoming in their service and not as reluctant to wait on my family because of the language barrier. It became apparent that the language barrier was behind the inefficiencies in service when a french-speaking party as big as my family of 5 was seated in the table next to us. By the time we finally received our drinks, this french-speaking table was being handed their appetizers. The waiters would frequently stop by this table to refill the glasses of water. My family was left having to refill the glasses of water and wine on our own. When we were done with the bottle of water, it took a century and a half to find a waiter to request another one to. For the main course, I ordered the duck. I was quite disappointed because it took nearly 45 minutes after the appetizers were cleared from the table for the main course to make its way to my table and when it did, it was not warm. Once we were done with our dinner, it took another 20 minutes for the plates to be cleared from the table. The third waiter in charge of clearing the plates was mindless and would not clear the table until one of the other two waiters instructed him to do so. For me, there is nothing more uncomfortable than having to sit in front of a dirty plate for long time after finishing my meal.
The restaurant itself has nice decor, but the carpet was visibly dirty. This further ruined my dining experience. The only thing the restaurant has in its favor is its great view of the entire city of Paris. However, one has to wonder if this view is worth the mediocre service and food. I am writing off this restaurant as a tourist trap in all senses of the phrase. read more