Hen nights in Paris

[shilly]

Dear all

A plea for help from my wife: she is organising a hen night (bachelorette party) in Paris for a good friend. She'd like to sort out a meal on the Saturday night, with the following in mind:

1) budget of £30 to £40 per head excl wine (~50 to 60 euros)

2) lively and capable of dealing with a party of 12 or 13 loud excited women without batting an eyelid, but....

3) classy (eg not TGI Fridays) and good grub (although no need for anything sophisticated, just tasty)

4) a flexible-ish menu given that someone is likely to be veggy

5) possibly incorporating some sort of entertainment

6) relatively central

is this possible? all help gratefully received

steve hill

[fresh_a]

Stringfellow's in the 17th has done a lot of hen nights. This is a similar establishment to that in London (ie high-class strip-club)

[shilly]

Thanks for the suggestion -- I think they're probably more interested in discussing bodies than looking at them! Any other thoughts...?

Steve

[hollywood]

Maybe the Buddha Bar which I think is in the 1r. They have food.

[thefoodhunter]

I live around the corner from the Favela Chic, a supremely sexy brazilian restaurant bar nightclub with great food powerful cocktails and lots of fun people and great music. You cannot reserve but they seat large groups of people at communal tables and have a menu featuring feijoada, chicken and cashews and vegetarian lasgna. Dinner will run you about 25 euros per person and drinks are 6 to euros per. I suggest the mjitos or caiparihnas. Get there at 8 and get a table and some food, then go to the rear of the place where they have a dancefloor, live vinyl spinning DJ and even a huge bed to lounge on. The staff is all Brazilian and nice (no French attitude) This is a great place, completely unfrench and totally fun. I had dinner there tonite and the DJ played Brazilian music, the Beatles, Abba, Prince, AC DC, reggae and hip hop. The dress code is sexy and casual, trainers and jeans encouraged, they ask men to remove their ties before entering. By 1130 pm most tables are covered with people dancing, there is usually some impromptu stripping by guests, all in good fun. They never let in groups of drunk guys. If you get there after 830 pm (especially on a weekend) you will have to wait outside, maybe for up to an hour. If I was a girl and having a hen night I would go there in a minute. It closes at 1 am and there is a house/techno discotheque downstairs that opens at 1am. Enjoy,

Favela Chic 18 rue du Faubourg du Temple, 75010 Paris (near Metro Republique)

[Miss J]

Wow - Marc, that sounds great. I'm going to be in Paris in March (though not for a hen night), and I will definitely check that out!

[thefoodhunter]

Dear Hollywood,

RE the Buddha Bar: My wife Nikki had arranged an all expenses prepaid dinner for a young Icelandic couple (customers of hers) at the Buddha Bar. When the check came one of the Buddha Bar managers claimed to not know about the arrangement. The couple did not speak French and the manager called the police to have the couple arrested and thrown into jail!! The police, who are overworked and have better things to do with their time tried to persuade the manager to relent but to no avail. At 2 AM they were able to call Iceland and one of Nikki’s colleagues came to the police station to bail them out. The police had separated the couple into different cells. The Buddha Bar manager was still waiting for the money!!! The next day the Buddha Bar called to apologize for their mistake and offered the couple a free meal as compensation. What a nerve!!! I heartily encourage any visitors to Paris to boycott this establishment. It is expensive, loud and about as appealing as a soggy egg-roll (one of their specialities!)

[shilly]

Merci Marc!

The Favela Chic sounds great! I'll pass on the suggestion

Steve

[fresh_a]

Favela Chic is fun, but it's not very central, and the food is not that great.... and it's REALLY crowded. But fun.

[cabrales]

I agree that Buddha Bar is not a good venue. I have visited twice, and consider the clientele to be people thinking they are cool. It is full of younger people too, and extremely noisy. Certain parts of the restaurant can be somewhat dark too (in lighting). The sushi platter I had there was passable, though, for a non-sushi venue.

[fresh_a]

It used to be the place to go, people cared only about the cool atmosphere. Nowadays, it's full of tourists with backpacks taking pictures of the giant Buddha downstairs...

Edited February 5, 2003 by fresh_a (log)