Michelin 3 star restaurants are great. But let’s face it. I don’t know too many kids that are preoccupied with eating that kind of meal. Kids want to eat and go. Hippopotamus allows just that. With its easily identifiable icon, Hippo feels fun – they even play upbeat Motown music. Take one look at its menu, full of photos of what you can order and French food will suddenly become familiar … and safe. A Croque Monsieur turns out to be an open-faced ham and cheese sandwich. ("That’s recognizable") A Chevre Chaud is really a green salad with cheesy croutons on top. I can eat that ("I’ll just take the cheesy bread off"). And on we go… In fact, the menu is a perfect basic French food primer for first timers. You may even have a problem getting the kids to go somewhere else for meals, as hamburgers, juicy ribs, tender steaks and chicken are also available. Admittedly, Paris has a love/hate relationship with the Hippopotamus chain. They hate it because they perceive the formulaic menu to be too safe, and a perfect example of the dumbing-down of French cuisine. They love Hippo because they can actually take a spirited child there, let them loose, and the food is actually decent. So the French actually do dine here.

The service is brisk and the portions are large. English is spoken (but you don’t really need it with that picture menu). The restaurants are strategically placed throughout the city (20 locations), so there’s always one nearby.