Ephemera, the first immersive restaurant in Paris

This post is also available in: Français (French)

Hello my dreamers,

I hope you are well 🙂

I hadn’t planned to write a new article about a restaurant at all right now, but the restaurant in question blew my mind…so much that I thought that it deserved an article on my blog, to post my photos and tell my experience in detail.

This is the Ephemera restaurant which has just opened in March 2022 in Paris. I thought it could be useful to translate my original article into English for non-French speakers if you look for a unique restaurant in Paris.

I wrote a lot of things so to help you, here is my summary:

1. Interesting to know
2. My experience
3. Conclusion
4. Pros
5. Cons
6. Current restaurant menu
7. Practical information
8. Contact information
9. Videos

1) Interesting to know

There was a beta version of Ephemera in Lyon (a big French city) to test the concept, which was obviously successful enough for a real restaurant to be launched in the capital. It is the first immersive restaurant in France, with the theme Under the Sea.

I learned that this restaurant was in collaboration with MK2 cinemas (there is one on the same avenue). Moreover, the decorations were created by a film decorator, on 4k screens.

Finally, the restaurant menu changes, and I read that the decorations too.

2) My experience

It all started when on Instagram, I saw the promotion of Ephemera on the @sortiraparis.officiel page on March 9. I found the decor stunning, which immediately prompted me to make a reservation (the dishes looked pretty good too). At that time, there was a lot of availability but I chose to come 2 and a half weeks later when I was more available.

Honestly, I thought I would pay especially for the decoration/concept that really reminds me of an exhibition, and being a little disappointed in terms of taste, but that was not the case.

First of all, the restaurant is located on avenue de France in the 13th arrondissement, a nice area. From the outside, you couldn’t see anything. The front door was open but the entrance was hidden by thick curtains. We were immediately greeted by a hostess who quickly directed us to our table.

My sister and I were fascinated. On the floor, there was carpet with wave patterns, and on the ceiling, fake hanging plants. There were beautiful royal blue velvet chairs and tables with glass tops through which an underwater image could be seen. Other tables looked like a cut tree trunk. And above all, there were huge screens, quite transparent, on which were projected fictitious but rather realistic videos of the underwater world.

The images were superb and we had the sound to match. According to my sister, it lacked a little background music but personally, these discrete sounds of the sea and animals were okay for me. Especially because sometimes, we had sound and light animations on all the screens simultaneously.

In the room, we could not see anything from the outside, there was no visible window. The room was only lit by the multicolored lights emitted on the fake plants and those on the screens. But due to the several projectors permanently on, I found that it was very hot.

The waiters were dressed as sailors. The one who took care of us was very friendly. We were surprised by the lack of choice on the menu. But it was written that it was voluntary to focus on the quality of the dishes, which moreover, were not really defined as starters or main courses. Sharing the dishes is encouraged because the portions are not that big and 2 dishes per person are recommended.

The detailed menu of the moment is at the end of my article. In the meantime, I let you discover in picture what we ordered:

=> Avocado toast, grilled octopus with vegetables at 11€ (no longer appears on the menu), prawns, and ceviche (large pieces of sea bream). I was pleasantly surprised because the dishes were up to par, everything was good and we were sated after the desserts.

=> They called it Miso but it’s not Japanese soup lol. When the waiter explained to us that there were pieces of vegetable charcoal, I was quite puzzled but in the end, I liked this dessert even if I preferred the very good unstructured lemon tart.

3) Conclusion

I would say that my experience at Ephemera restaurant was a mix of exhibition-restaurant-show. My sister and I liked it very much. We recommend this restaurant and we will be back. Regarding the concept, I had never been to a restaurant like this. It is original, beautiful, and modern. I think it can appeal to a lot of people, the place is beautiful and very Instagrammable ^^, the food is good, the prices are correct (we paid 38.25€ each) so in my opinion, success will be there.

4) Pros

• • nothing bad to say about the service (little wait, friendliness, efficiency)
  • good dishes
  • wow decoration
  • sound and light animations
  • vegetarians can eat there too
  • the prices are not exorbitant
  • the tables are quite spaced
  • the menu via a QR code (even if it is becoming very common now)
  • the list of allergens for all dishes
  • a bar down the hall (good music, by the way)
  • open 7/7
  • you can come without any reservation (but better to book to eat)

5) Cons

• • the heat in the room because of the projectors
  • the few choices on the menu (but the quality is there)
  • portions a bit small for big eaters
  • pay 1€ more for water (personally, tap water is enough for me)
  • no restaurant parking (but you can find a free or paying place not far away)
  • no phone number
  • the less wow decoration of the toilets (banal) and the corridor leading to the bar (simple frames on the wall)

=> On this last point, let me explain. Every detail is important (including in the toilets :p), especially when you want total immersion and a wow effect, right? In fact, we were so amazed and carried under the sea in the restaurant room, that we did not expect to come back to the surface so quickly by crossing one of the corridors of this same restaurant. We hoped to emerge only by leaving Ephemera.

6) Current menu of the restaurant (the dishes change)

• Prawns (16.50€)

Prawns snacked and marinated in spices, green curry coconut milk sauce, sweet potato and peanuts.

• Trout tataki (15€)

Trout tataki, lemon and Yuzu, quinoa.

• Avocado toast (12€)

Homemade brioche bread, avocado cream, red pepper chutney, sumac, shrimp (shrimp available in vegetarian version).

• Burrata 125g (13.50€)

Puglia burrata, seaweed brioche, basil pesto.

• Tuna (16€)

Spicy tuna with Sancho, Thai rice and Sriracha sauce.

• Squid (16€)

Chimichurri sauce, fennel cream, caramelized fennel, verbena berry.

• Asparagus velouté (14€)

Velouté of green asparagus, burrata, seaweed, herbs, pumpkin seeds.

• Ceviche (17€)

Sea bream ceviche, mango, passion fruit, kaffir lime, coconut milk, lime, coriander.

• Unstructured lemon tart (8€)

Breton shortbread, light lemon cream, lime gel, dill and tarragon.

• Miso (8€)

Chantilly caramelia, Granny Smith apple, almond/sesame praline.

• Pineapple (9€)

Panko pineapple, creamy caramelia, candied kombu seaweed.

• Homemade puff pastry brioche (3.50€) 

• Seaweed butter (4.50€)

7) Practical information

• Open 7 days a week, from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. then from 7:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
• Some tables are available without any reservation but it is preferable to book online.
• Please note that the day before your arrival, you will receive an e-mail to confirm, modify or cancel your reservation.
• Tables are no longer guaranteed beyond 15 minutes late.
• It is possible to come and have a drink at the bar without any reservation.
• The restaurant does not have parking but there are paid parking lots and free parking spaces around.
• Some dishes are available in a vegetarian version. If so, it is specified on the menu.
• Their still and sparkling waters are filtered and unlimited, which involves a 1€ charge per person.
• Their fish is from France.

8) Contact information

📍 Ephemera (Under the Sea)

160 avenue de France

75013 Paris

Website: https://ephemerarestaurant.com/

Facebook page Ephemera Restaurant: https://www.facebook.com/ephemerarestaurant

Instagram page Ephemera Group : https://www.instagram.com/ephemeragroup/

9) Videos

Here, I only posted photos but if you want to see videos, including sound and light animations, go to my Facebook and my Instagram pages where I posted them in my story (they will remain in the highlight story “Restaurants 2”) and in reel.

 

And you, what do you think about Ephemera ? Are you going to try the experience?