Valerie N.
Yelp
My guidebook recommended this spot for lunch and I figured, we could give it a whirl since it was convenient to our itinerary. We walked in and were immediately greeted and seated. First off, its absolutely jaw-dropping beautiful in this restaurant. The ceiling is luxuriously painted - I spent the bulk of my lunch just looking up! There are also several lovely statues situated throughout the restaurant. The chandeliers are also quite stunning!
The menu isn't extensive, and to me, isn't particularly french, but since this is a touristy place, I assume they're catering to the palates of a touristy crowd. No problem with me! I was pleased to see several reasonably priced menu options. I quickly settled on the 22 euro appetizer+main combo, selecting the caesar salad and mushroom risotto. I also ordered an iced tea to go with it, which ended up being extremely refreshing after our long walk from the Opera House to the d'Orsay (via a stop at Place de la Concorde and l'Orangerie).
The petite caesar salad was a surprise. First off, its HUGE! It also came with grilled chicken. It wasn't the best caesar I've ever had, but after that long walk, it was refreshing and delicious and I ate the whole thing. Hubby and I easily could have split it and I wish we had, just to save some euros.
My mushroom risotto was tasty - again, not the best I ever had, but great fuel for our day of museum trekking. Hubby won the prize - he ordered the fish and chips, which may have been the best I've ever had outside of Ireland. The fish was delicately battered and fried, but had terrific flavor and crunch to it. The fries were also super tasty, and oddly enough, wrapped in Obama newspaper articles. Hmm. Both main courses were huge, and again, very splittable.
They offer carafes of water, so if you're looking to save some euro, don't get the bottled water - just get the carafe!
Service was so-so. I think that they were understaffed for a Saturday as it was clear that our waitress had too many tables to manage. For this reason, it wasn't the speediest of lunches, but the beautiful ambience really made me not want to rush anyway.
I would definitely recommend this cafe if you've planned a super duper busy museum day! Menu found here: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/fileadmin/mediatheque/integration_MO/PDF/panneau_restaurant_nov_2013.pdf