Breakfast at Claus

I love a good breakfast and I'm not one to skip it, but it's usually just a quick bowl of often boring cereal for me. So eating breakfast out is a bit of a luxury. 

Besides the staple croissants, pain au chocolat or a baguette with butter and jam, Paris isn't big on breakfast. Not like in London where most cafes and restaurants serve it, and if all else fails there's always the greasy spoon for a big fat fry up. But one place that does it well in Paris is Claus.  Located just near Palais Royal, behind a beautiful white store front and one of the prettiest wreathed logos (this place looks like Santa's grotto at Christmas, but without the tat), founder Claus Esterman and his team dish up all the usual cakes and croissants, but also eggs - a choice of boiled, scrambled or poached - omelettes, pancakes, fruit and muesli, in a truly lovely space that you could honestly spend the whole day in. If the weather hadn't been so great at the weekend, I think I would have just curled up in a little corner and had a post-food snooze.

I went for poached eggs (cooked to perfection) with extra crispy bacon that was not in the least bit greasy, and my date opted for an omelette with ham, avocado and cheese, all washed down with lots of coffee. We were served by the owner himself, which I'm embarrassed to admit I only realised after we left, but he was was every bit as charming and unpretentious as I'd heard and even humoured me as I spoke my broken French, which doesn't happen very often in Paris. 

We were lucky and grabbed the last spot at the bar, but everyone that followed us in, and there were a lot, were politely turned away or told to make a reservation for Sunday. So if you're planning to go, I suggest you book.

Other good breakfast/brunch places: 

Hollybelly

Marcel

La Chambre aux Oiseaux

Photography by Marissa Cox.