The real doyen of Paris restaurants

If you have a business meeting in Paris there is a bewildering selection of restaurants on offer.

But if you want something special, Ledoyen is the place for you: it is centrally located just off the Champs Elysées, with a leafy view and a spacious, quiet dining room where neighbouring diners won’t be able to eavesdrop on your conversation.

It has three Michelin stars, and unlike some of its rivals it does a moderately priced lunch menu at €84: a price that would scarcely buy you a starter at some of the city’s three-star eateries.

The food is divine, with superb seasonal ingredients exquisitely crafted into sublime dishes.

Although the food is classical, there is great technical skill in the kitchen, and presentation is so skilful that at seems a shame to actually eat the food.

Spaghetti, for example, is presented as a vertical wall enclosing a filling of ham and cream sauce and topped with morel mushrooms. It tastes as good as it looks.

Save room for dessert, because they are as good as any in France, with a ‘flight’ of five on offer if you have the time.

One of the finest examples is a pretty layered dish of grapefruit infused with vanilla and lime and accompanied by grapefruit sorbet separated by delicate toile biscuits, with just enough sugar to balance out the citrus.

Service is attentive but not obtrusive. This is one of the world’s great restaurants.

For more of Andy’s reviews, click here