L'Essentiel offers an "estudiante" lunch deal where you get a drink, sandwich and pastry for a set price. You have a few choices on for each item. It was quite reasonable for a good lunch at a sit down cafe. I had the Norwegian salmon panini - a little dry, but otherwise delicious, filling and fresh.
The bread and pastries that I tried were also excellent. I brought some macarons home to friends in the US, and even the next day, after a dry, ten hour flight, the cookies were magnifique.
There were a few cute tables outside, made extra pretty with artificial orchids. I watched one of the bakery staff wipe the tables down and arrange each chair just so, creating a welcoming vignette.
Unfortunately, there wasn't that much of a welcome from the humans at the shop. Normally, I would not have returned and possibly would walk out without buying anything from a place where I felt so unwanted. Because my French is almost nonexistent, and because everyone has bad days, I persevered. The day that I stopped by for lunch, the salesgirl was totally wonderful, and worked very hard to help me get my lunch.
Buying the macarons turned into an ordeal of epic proportions, where I thought the salesperson might throw the cookies at me. Whoever got the ones she put back in the case got a taste of hate. One other salesperson at the shop, though not actively hostile, seemed to be utterly disdainful, and to prefer not having me as a customer. Perhaps I disturbed his contemplation of the meaning of life, the origin of the universe, or some other lofty intellectual pursuit.
The cafe is right down the street from where I was staying, on a street lined with interesting shops, but this was the only combination bakery + lunch cafe. The quality of the baked goods was undeniable; in fact, I found out that they are an award winning bakery with multiple locations (ask Google - Anthony Bosson). read more