Reviews Le Restaurant De Paul

Such a nice authentic bakery where everything is made and served freshly at reasonable prices, beautiful ambience and atmosphere with the help of a very friendly and professional staff as well.

I went to Le Restaurant de Paul for a hangout with friends.

This place has really good as it had very good interiors with the best designs.

The chocolate brownie cake was very delicious.

This Paul is how they are in Paris: A Bakery as well as a Restaurant offering formule breakfasts, lunches showcasing their delicious baked goods as pictured with good comfortable seating as well as the traditional take-out. This outlet is my favourite Paul in London.

The annual Afternoon Tea this year was at Le Restaurant de Paul. It was to be a French take on the traditional Afternoon Tea. The restaurant area is located at the back of the premises, after the takeaway area and the counter displays. The dining area is chic and has comfy seating. It feels light, airy and relaxing. The staff are friendly providing service with a smile. They were accommodating with all the dietary requirements.

Paul is Paul where ever you find it. I like these chain of patisserie-bakery whereby you can find delicious stuff especially for breakfast. Once you find a Paul patisserie, just jump in and watch the beautiful vitrine. I am sure you'll have the difficulties to choose the right one... Like me.

PAUL is about having a standard, consistent experience. I used to frequently grab a late lunch from Paul in the form of their tasty pastries. They are all reasonably priced and always good. Have tried their eclairs and can vouch for them.

Most of you will know Paul as the French bakery chain (personally I think they’re one of the few places in London to do authentically great croissants on par with ones you would find in France).

But they’ve now got a proper sit down restaurant attached to their Covent Garden branch. As you might have guessed they do classic French food at very reasonable prices, especially given the touristy location. The pre-theatre menu is £9.95 for 2 courses or £12.95 for 3!

We went for breakfast and kicked off with a selection of beautiful, buttery pastries including fabulous dark chocolate pain au chocolat and fluffy butter croissants, which came with pats of French butter and pots of homemade Strawberry jam.

J got talking to Carine (Head of Marketing for Paul UK) as he was impressed by the way they had converted the beautiful old style traditional open-plan French bakery with its lovely beige tiles, and she informed him that they had tried to maintain that traditional atmosphere of walking into a traditional bakery but wanted to have that modern feel. Their kitchen is now a beautiful black and stainless steel design with half-glass walls, so you can still see the theatre of the kitchen like you could previously.
 For the main affair, I had the oeufs royale (poached eggs with smoked salmon on toast) and J had the oeufs Florentine with spinach.

We also indulged in a shared brioche French toast which came with a crisp outer exterior as they had caramelised the sugar almost like a crème brulee! This comes with a choice of crème anglaise, apricot coulis or warm chocolate sauce – the perfect accompaniments to a brioche perdue. (Our waiter was kind to us as we could not decide between these so he brought us both the apricot coulis and the warm chocolate sauce.)

Our sights are on the Salade Aveyronnaise (with smoked duck breast) and the Croque Madame (Croque Monsieur topped with a fried egg) to try next time we visit for lunch!
 A little hidden gem tucked behind the church in Covent Garden.

Le Restaurant de PAUL- Bringing a bit more of Paris to London: When Paul first open its doors in London, it was to sell artisan French breads.  The sort of bread that up until then you could only get in really good French restaurants, or when you visited France. My teenage summers spent in the French Alps would come flooding back every time I went into one of their shops.  Aged fourteen or fifteen I was fit enough to cycle down the hill to the nearest village to pick up cherry brioche for breakfast every day.  Or more accurately, fit enough to make it back up the hill without having to walk!  I’d been brought up on my mother’s attempt at home made bread, which would have been made with regular plain flour (I don’t think you could buy the strong flour that is necessary for good home-made bread in those days) or sliced loaves.  The cherry brioche was a revelation – apparently a local speciality, it was at once soft and milky with a piquant fruit filling.  Something like the Tarte au Citr

Arriving exactly 24 hours late for the reservation – something which was taken with very good grace by the manager – myself and my cousin Polly took our seats and spent the next hour or so discussing how an afternoon tea from a chain cafe could be quite so fantastic.

I’ve enjoyed and endured various afternoon teas of late, so it was extremely refreshing to experience something so straight-down-the-line decent.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a high-end high tea offering like you’d find at The Ritz or Claridges – but then it doesn’t pretend to be.

This was an Authentic French Afternoon Tea: a very Gallic we-can-take-your-tea-and-do-it-better-than-you kind of affair.

Now I don’t wish to alarm you too much, but this French makeover meant no scones. None. At all. In their place sat a pair of briochettes – looking all smug and shiny and European, and tasting irritatingly delicious.

Below them sat a plate of sandwiches (chicken, salmon, cheese) which looked just as good as the official press shots and easily lived up to their fancy marketing descriptions.

But I feel I should give special mention to the top plate – which as a savoury-lover I never usually give my full attention.

The carrot cake was a solid offering but the Fraisier really put the icing on the Genoese sponge, crème mousseline, marzipan and strawberries. What the hell do they put in this thing? How can all that stuff make something so light? Any less weight and I would have had to Sellotape it to the plate!
Am I going a little over the top? Well, perhaps. But here’s the hook…all this decent food is just £9.95 per person. And add a glass of sparkling wine and it’s £11.95. Push the boat out and go for Champagne and it’s just £13.95.

I’ve been to lots of afternoon teas now – fancy ones, basic ones, amazing ones, disappointing ones…this one just ticked all my boxes – an unpretentious, innovative take on a British afternoon tea, served by friendly people in a West End cafe chain.

Loved it!

My friends and I were missing our Sunday morning, New York City brunches, so we decided to try Paul to get our fix of eggs and bread. They definitely brought their A-game with the latter. Ordering a bread basket is a must because you'll be sorely missing out if you don't try at least a bite of a few croissants and rolls. The warm, crispy, soft, gooey goodness just melts in your mouth so you forget about all of the carbs you're consuming.

I ordered the Oeufs Royale, which is Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon on toast. I highly recommend it, and for a price of 7.25, it's not a wallet killer either! (So use the leftover money and order some more bread). Coming from New York, I was expecting a fuller plate (American portion sizes, anyone?) because I wasn't entirely full after finishing. Then again, I came in absolutely famished.

If you're planning on the Covent Garden location, do make a reservation as the restaurant was packed when we came. The staff is funny and kind, the ambiance is lovely, and the food is pretty good. All in all, a good experience if you're looking for some great bread.

The space is a continuation of the bakery, styled with the theme of 'French antiques' complete with velvet chairs, marble-topped tables, ornate lighting fixtures and murals adorning the walls. You’ll find the classics that would be nothing less than sacrilege to omit on a menu traditionnel, including saucisses de Toulouse, soupe à l'oignon, baked Camembert, pâté de campagne, and andouillette for the adventurous.

Then there are the likes of tomatoes stuffed with sausage and peppers stuffed with vegetables and rice, two weights of entrecôte, calves flank, roast chicken with tarragon, and baked salmon with vegetables.

No-cook plates such as the charcuterie ride on the success of the quality of ingredients. Here you’ll find a board laden with saucisson, jambon cru, coppa, rosette, terrine, pickled baby onions, cornichons and of course, PAUL bread. A joyous assembly. And the Camembert, relinquishing its molten innards at the de-robing of the milky white jacket, was as good as it always is straight from the oven (£5.95).

A cast-iron pot presented the coq au vin; fishing in its murky depths will reveal tender chicken and pancetta, served with a chunky buttery mash (£10.50). Confit de canard, with its crisp skin on the leg, had meat that was easy to shred, and came with more buttery potatoes, a red wine sauce with piquant black olives (£10.50).

For desserts, there are all manner of delights from their patisserie that are equally at home with a coffee in the pitstop between one shop and the next during a West End splurge. Think tartelettes, macarons, millefeuille, and éclairs.

The dark chocolate cake is made on site, like a great indulgent slice of very good brownie (£3.55). You can also get a decadent slice of brioche French bread (coated in sugared egg and fried), doused with a creme anglaise, apricot coulis or warm chocolate sauce. Bit hard to ignore, that one (£3.95).

Breakfast is served from 7am - noon and is essentially a list of oeufs every which way possible; brioche oeuf cocotte (baked with yoghurt), a la coque (boiled with soldiers), Bénédicte (bacon and hollandaise), Royale (smoked salmon and hollandaise), Florentine (spinach and hollandaise), pochés ou au plat (poached with tomatoes and bread), brouillés (scrambled), omelette. Along with entries from Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame, naturellement.

Le restaurant de PAUL is a new dining offering worthy of attention. When the hankering is for traditional French food and some vin rouge, at a reasonable price point in the thick of London’s tourist district, it’s good to know there’s a familiar name you can turn to.

A beautiful place to have a coffee, sandwich and pastry. The food is high quality and very tasty. It was my breakfast stop during my recent stay in London. Will definitely be back.

Update : after the whole 3 years (thanks to the pandemic) tried to phone the restaurant this morning to make the group reservation again, but got answered rudely (sigh) (Think they’ve changed a bit since the lady left, she was the manager there, very organised and friendly, we used to contact her for all our bookings) So one star less now for this place. ——————————— Had afternoon tea here, and even booked it for my groups. Food is lovely and staffs are friendly and helpful, highly recommended!! 👍👍

An amazing French patisserie. We came back for breakfast day after day. We also took sandwiches for the day

Paul’s was a lovely little cafe which offers a wide variety of lunch and pastry ideas. I had a chicken & pepper baguette with a raspberry macaroon for lunchtime dessert. The team are very friendly, and it’s an all round lovely pit stop for a busy day in London. Little on the pricier side but still a pleasant trip!

Big fan of Paul's and this is a great example. Don't be put off by the current exterior scaffolding inside the food is excellent. Custard pies were a huge success. Flat white also excellent and definately a good one for the coffee lovers. Kid friendly also

My favourite spot for coffee. Good vibes, nice seating area, great tasting long black (americano) and beautifully fresh food daily.