I came here last night for an after work dinner meeting along with Qype's marketing manager for UK and France. It was a long day in the office and we were both tired and hungry.
First of all we went to another place but it was closed on Wednesday so we just came around the corner to L'Arcade Haussmann.
Overall it was OK. The food was good and once we ordered everything it all came quickly. The totally odd thing was the service.
First of all we sat down; I am English, my colleague is French, from Marseille. I didn't say a word; my colleague asked (in French) if we could still eat - the waiter said yes, and asked if we "want te English menu". I laughed, because this is a joke in our office - she has lived in London for 10 years so has a bit of an english accent in French.
But then the waiter went away and didn't come back for about 20 minutes! No ask for a drink, no take your order, nothing. I guess perhaps he thought i was laughing at him, I don't know. But the place was less than one third full and there were 3 people working, so not sure.
Once he came back and we ordered all was OK, but due to the wait it was long past 9pm when we got our food. Then about 10 we were told to pay as the place was closing, and the waiter then stacked all the chairs around us until we rushed our drinks and left at about 10 past ten. Eventually, he was friendly enough, but I normally I live in Hamburg and there you just wouldn't get this approach!
In summary, L'Arcade Haussmann was in a good spot, the place is nice, the food was good and the price was OK. But I can only say that the service was patchy. The guy got a tip so it wasn't a disaster however if we had been served when we came in it wouldn't have been so rushed at the end.
One starter, two main course salads, 2 pichets of house red wine, bottle of water, one coffee = 58 Euro plus 10% cash tip. Not bad considering the location, on one of Paris's most famous streets.
So this time, it's 4 stars minus 1 for the poor beginning to make 3. Not great, but not too bad. read more