If you’re visiting Paris you’re most likely going to want to try some traditional French food and drink. Angelina Paris is well-known for being one of the best hot chocolate locations in Paris but is it worth a visit as a family?
History of Angelina Paris
Austrian confectioner Anton Rumpelmayer arrived in the South of France where he opened several “Rumpelmayer” stores and became very famous.
Driven by his success, Rumpelmayer set out to conquer the French capital. In 1903, he and his son René founded a tea room called “Angelina” at 226 rue de Rivoli, in honor of his daughter-in-law, who was named Angelina.
https://www.angelina-paris.fr/notre-histoire
Where is Angelina Paris?
226 Rue de Rivoli,
75001
Paris,
France
Angelina Paris also has locations in the Middle East, such as China, Qatar, Dubai as well as in New York.
Website: https://www.angelina-paris.fr
Opening times
*Opening times are correct as of 20th November 2023
Monday: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Tuesday: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Wednesday: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Thursday: 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
Friday: 8:00 am – 7:30 pm
Saturday: 8:30am – 7:30pm
Sunday: 8:30am – 7:30pm
Expect to queue to get in
Unless you’re a real early bird and arrive before Angelina even opens, you can expect to queue to get in. Angelina is an extremely popular tourist attraction and people from all over the world visit when they are in Paris. We arrived at around 4pm in late October and the queue looked huge however, it moved quickly. In the end, we waited around 20-25 minutes.
Don’t want to queue? Visit the shop instead!
The queue to get in is for the Angelina tea room but there’s a way you can visit without queuing too. At the front of the building to the right hand side is a shop and you do not have to queue to visit this area (unless it’s extremely busy). You can buy Angelina’s famous patisserie in the shop, as well as take-away tea and coffee, or jars to take home.
You’re also welcome to visit the shop after dining in the tea room. This is a great chance to buy gifts for friends and family back home, or to buy yourself more cake!
Our experience at Angelina Paris
Hot chocolates all round
As Angelina is famous for the hot chocolate, (aka chocolat chaud) we all knew that we had to order some. For €8,30, it’s not a cheap option but you can choose from regular hot chocolate or white hot chocolate instead.
Angelina’s hot chocolate is not the same as what you might expect here in the UK, and the taste is quite different. The hot chocolate comes served in a jug, with a little bit poured for you initially. The hot chocolate itself is very thick, much like pure melted chocolate. The taste is actually quite bitter and not at all as sweet as I was hoping. You do get served whipped cream on the side, which did help.
As we ordered three of this rich hot chocolate, we soon realised that we had way too much. None of us really loved the hot chocolate and struggled to drink much of it. It also goes cold quite fast so that didn’t help either. I would have liked to have tried the white hot chocolate too so maybe consider then if you plan on visiting.
Patisserie to die for
Anyone with a sweet tooth will be in for a real treat. Angelina is also famous for French pastries and cakes. I had looked online ahead of our visit to see what was available in the way of cakes so I already knew what I wanted to order.
The Mont Blanc pastry is Angelina’s signature dessert and has been made the same way since 1903. Beautifully made, this cake is a combination of crackling meringue, airy-light whipped cream and chestnut cream vermicelli. If you want something a little different, there is a pistachio version too, which is what John had.
I’m not sure I have ever tasted anything quite as delicious as this. The chestnut cream vermicelli topping is sweet and rich, with the cream in the middle being the perfect thing to go with it. When I got to the meringue I was surprised because I didn’t know it was there. It was nice to have the crunch to go with the sweetness.
Everything was a little overwhelming for Erin at this point and she just couldn’t decide on what she wanted. In the end, she went for a piece of vanilla-chocolate cake but wasn’t really impressed as it ended up having nuts on it.
Macarons are a must
If patisserie isn’t your thing then why not try a macaron instead? You can opt for one big macaron in one flavour or go for a set of mini macarons for €10.40. You can choose from a variety of flavours with the mini macarons and they’re absolutely delicious. Erin much preferred these to her cake and we ended up letting her eat most of them instead.
Is there anything other than cake?
Angelina has a full menu and serves various other options throughout the day (be sure to check times). Some items from the menu include breakfasts with orange juice and a plain or chocolate croissant, a brunch menu, or lunch with Croque Monsieur or a range of salads and omelettes.
Are children catered for?
In short, no, not really. Although we didn’t ask if there was a children’s menu, we very clearly had Erin with us and were not offered anything different. The menu doesn’t have a children’s section and nothing jumped out at me as being particularly aimed at younger guests.
Would we go back?
Visiting Angelina was a bit of a luxury for us. Three hot chocolates, three cakes and mini macarons set us back €64.80, which was a lot more than we spent on other full meals in Paris. However, walking into the beautiful tea room with its crystal chandeliers and marble tables was really something special. The likes of Coco Chanel have been here in the past! This isn’t something that Erin gets to do often so it was nice to take her somewhere really special and a bit different.
I had actually planned on going for breakfast, which would have worked a lot better for us. I think we overdid it with the sweet items, considering we ordered hot chocolate as well as all of the cake. Should we ever go back to Paris I would definitely visit Angelina again but I would do things differently. I would either go for breakfast and have more savoury items with a cake to take away or, go for cake but have a different drink. There really is such a thing as too many sweet things!
Read more about our holiday to Paris:
- How to spend 3 days in Paris with kids
- Travelling to Paris by Eurostar
- Staying at the ibis Styles Paris Montmartre Nord
- An underwater adventure at Aquarium de Paris
- Our experience at Angelina Paris
- Visiting the Eiffel Tower with kids
- A day at Ménagerie du Jardin des Plantes
- 10 things to do in Montmartre as a family
