Mamie Gâteaux, a real Proust’s Madeleine

My favourite Parisian tea room ? Forget about Ladurée, Angelina & co, it’s good but it’s also expensive and I don’t necessary feel comfortable in these chic places. What I like the most is to feel warm and cosy just like at home. Impossible to do better than Mamie Gâteaux, a tea room which has all of the flair of a French country kitchen.

However, do you know what ?… The owner is a Japanese woman trained at Dalloyau in Tokyo (it explains why the website is also in Japanese) !

This vintage tea room will delight all the nostalgics : checkered oilcloths, a cast-iron stove, menus written on notebooks, wood school tables and chairs, old coat hangers, cultery and glasses like mess hall… For the ones that have been traumatized by school, it could almost make you forget your school dramas.

Now let’s talk about the food, you definitely won’t be disappointed because it’s a true traditional cooking : grandmother’s desserts (scones, French toast), pastry, savoury tarts, a large choice of tea … During summer, I’ll recommend you to have the cherry/pistachio pie with a rhubarb juice, and during winter the chestnut cake or the carrot cake with a hot chocolate served in a faience bowl with an homemade madeleine.  

Finally, the service is also pretty good, the whole staff takes good care of its customers. The only hiccup (nothing is perfect), Mamie Gâteaux is a victim of its own success because it’s always crowded ! It’s very difficult then to find a table available without having to stand in line especially after 3 PM. However, it’s still quite calm Saturday at noon (be careful it’s closed on Sunday).

Each time I’m leaving this doll house tea room, I feel like I’ve been pampered by a loveable grandma. You know, the kind that is always worried you didn’t eat enough or that makes sure you are looked after. :)

Merci Mamie !

Mamie Gâteaux 66 rue du Cherche-midi 75006 PARIS

Edit : the tea room is closed between the 25th of November 2013 and the 7th of January 2014 for expansion work. Can’t wait to see that !