Le Moulin de la Galette restaurant in Paris
Located in the Montmartre area of the city, this restaurant in Paris is named after the historical mills that were located on the hill in this area of Paris, of which there are only two remaining today, and is an ideal place to relax with a sumptuous meal of traditional French cuisine.
A bit of history
There were once around fourteen mills on the Butte Montmarte, however, there are only two that remain today, which date back to the early 1700s and these formed the famous Moulin de la Galette.
The Debray family were the owners of these mills, where they produced rye buns that they sold with a glass of milk, but after the defence again the Prussian attack in 1814 the Debray family finds itself in major financial difficulties.
So instead of supplying milk, they changed tactics to Muscatel wine and turned the Moulin de la Galette into a dance hall in the 1860s, that became more popular than some of the other establishments in the area due to its very relaxed atmosphere.
In fact, if you go to the Musee d’Orsay you can discover a painting called the Bal du Moulin de la Gallette that the artist Auguste Renoir painted, yet this place was also immortalised by other artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec and Pablo Picasso.
Yet from being a music hall in Paris, the place then went to becoming a recording studio of French Broadcasting Service for televisition and then finally it became a restaurant, and was popular with artists including the singer Dalida.
About Le Moulin de la Galette restaurant in Paris
With a traditional feel that comes with deep red walls adorned by old pictures and posters, wooden tables and seats covered in deep red, there is also a beautiful terrace complete with wooden and wicker chairs and pergolas for a relaxing meal on a lovely warm day when you are on holiday in Paris.
Run as a family business, the Moulin de la Galette restaurant is owned by Antoine Heerah who is also a chef and the Executive Chef is Roger Heerah, and providing a warm, inviting and friendly atmosphere, they take pride in the quality of their cuisine as well as making your experience as enjoyable as possible.
Cuisine at the Moulin de la Galette restaurant
This restaurant in Paris provides French cuisine with a wide variety of fish and meat dishes and all of their fish comes from the Brittany region in France and all of the meat is of French origin. These are always accompanied by fresh produce and seasonal produce, plus there are also traditional French delicacies such as Garlic Snails from the Burgundy region.
There are actually different menus available from a Monday to Saturday and of a lunch time you could choose a starter and main course or main course and dessert for €23 as of 2013 or a three course meal for €29, and these are listed on the board.
A tasting menu comprising two starters, a fish course, meat course and dessert is available for either lunch or dinner on a Monday to Saturday for €59, however we would like to point out that this is only served to the whole table. But there is also a three course dinner menu available for €39, yet on a Sunday and on all the national French holidays, it is only the A la Carte option available.
When it comes to the French food, on the a la carte menu you could always opt for an aperitif of a cooked meat platter to share with a drink, before you consider a tempting starter such as a mushroom risotto with asparagus tips or smoked salmon with lime cream and blinis. And these range in cost from around €13 up to €17.
Fish dishes include a John dory fillet with ratatouille and sweet Espelette pepper or something more extravagant you could choose whole peeled Atlantic lobster with tagliatelle, and bisque with lemon and thyme.
The meat dishes include delights such as roasted porkling with mustard, spring carrots and peas or duck confit with potatoes and French green beans, yet perhaps a sirloin steak with homemade bearnaise sauce accompanied by French fries and mixed salad would be more to your liking.
A main dish ranges in cost from around €21 up to €36, and you could then opt for a cheese plate for €8 before trying one of the very temping desserts such a creme brulee or a rum Baba with mint chocolate emulsion for an average cost of €11.
Access to Le Moulin de la Galette in Paris
You will be pleased to know that this restaurant in Paris is open seven days a week from midday through to 11pm and offers a continuous service.
Obviously at certain times it does get busier than others and although reservations are not always necessary, it is advisable to book in advance, and it is suitable for the whole family.
Now we mentioned above, that the Moulin de la Galette is located in the Montmartre area, and there are numerous tourist attractions in Paris that are located nearby, such as the Espace Dali museum, the impressive Sacre Coeur Basilica and the unusual monument in Paris called the I Love You Wall, yet having always been a popular area for artists, why not also discover the Place du Tertre.
But perhaps as you venture back down the Butte Montmartre after a day of sightseeing, you may wish to experience something a bit different like the Musee de l’Erotisme or maybe the famous cabaret in Paris with its red windmill, the Moulin Rouge, could be more to your liking.
Anyway, whatever you decide, the Moulin de la Galette will always welcome you and there are numerous ways of getting to this restaurant, which include the metro stops of the Abbesses or the Lamarck-Caulaincourt stops via line 12 along with the Montmartrobus, which are the smaller buses that negotiate the steep winding roads up the hill.
