We had not planned to visit Royal Turenne in the Marais. Instead, the original plan was to try the instagram famous Carette to have their hot chocolate. We weren’t the only ones. Despite there being dozens of empty tables, the staff insisted on keeping a long line of primarily tourists waiting. In front of us were over a dozen “influencers” with expensive handbags, masks of makeup, pearly smiles and phones at hand, obviously all recently out of some sort of event, carrying bags of samples. After 30 minutes, we lost interest in what I decided would likely be an overrated hot chocolate anyways (if only to justify the loss), and wondered forth in search of whatever else the area might offer up. We didn’t have to walk far as we found an empty terrace with a nice view calling in the form of Brasserie Royal Turenne.
This typical, welcoming Brasserie offered up a mediocre version of a very typical French hot chocolate. Not quite as chocolatey or warm or rich as it should have been, and perhaps brought down slightly by my high expectations and desire to have the rich decadent drink that the instagrammers had promised me at Carette. But this moment without the pretentious waiters or surrounded by tourists and ending not in an overpriced but quite reasonable drink stop was very enjoyable. While we didn’t order anything else, the food looked and smelled fantastic and not a tourist in sight (always a good sign in Paris).
Royal Turenne, 24 Rue de Turenne, 75003, Paris, France. Hours: 7:00-2:00 royalturenne.fr
