Restaurant in Monte Carlo, Monaco
The break from French fine-dining worth taking.
Em Sherif brings Lebanese mezze dining to the Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo, with consistent Michelin Plate recognition and an upward OAD ranking trajectory from #54 in 2023 to #22 in 2025. At €€€€, it works best for groups of four or more who want something other than French fine dining. Book if you want a communal, occasion-worthy format; skip if you are dining solo or want a starred kitchen.
If you are choosing between Em Sherif and one of Monaco's French fine-dining institutions for a serious dinner at the Hotel de Paris, Em Sherif makes sense when your group wants something other than another Provençal tasting menu. It occupies a different lane from Alain Ducasse's Louis XV or Les Ambassadeurs by Christophe Cussac — Lebanese mezze and grills rather than classical French — and at €€€€ pricing, you are paying for the address and the setting as much as the food. That trade-off is worth understanding before you book.
Em Sherif is the Monaco outpost of a well-regarded Lebanese restaurant group that has built a consistent reputation across the Middle East. The Monte Carlo location sits inside the Hotel de Paris, one of the most recognisable hotel addresses on the Riviera, which immediately anchors the experience to a particular kind of occasion dining. The room carries the weight of that setting: expect a formal, polished atmosphere that suits a long, leisurely meal rather than a quick stop.
The restaurant has held a Michelin Plate across 2023, 2024, and 2025, which signals consistent kitchen quality without the pressure of star-chasing. In parallel, Opinionated About Dining has tracked it across three consecutive years, ranking it #54 in 2023, #33 in 2024, and #22 in 2025 in its Casual Asia rankings , a consistent upward trajectory that suggests the kitchen has been improving rather than coasting. For a returning diner who visited a year or two ago, that ranking movement is a reason to come back and reassess.
Lebanese cooking at this price point is built around abundance: a spread of cold and hot mezze, flatbreads, grilled proteins, and desserts that arrive in waves. The format is inherently communal, which makes it a natural fit for groups of three or more. Two diners can work, but the format rewards sharing broadly across the menu, and larger tables will extract more value from the experience both economically and in terms of range.
For a group considering a private or semi-private experience, Em Sherif's position inside the Hotel de Paris gives it a structural advantage over standalone restaurants in Monaco. Hotel de Paris properties typically offer dedicated event support, which means larger parties have more infrastructure to draw on than they would at an independent restaurant. If your occasion calls for a cohesive private room rather than a section of the main dining room, it is worth contacting the hotel directly to understand current options , the database does not confirm specific private room configurations, so verify before committing.
What the format does confirm is that Lebanese mezze-style service translates particularly well to group dining. The communal, sequential nature of the meal keeps a table engaged across two to three hours without the rigidity of a tasting menu, and it accommodates mixed dietary preferences more fluidly than a single-protein classical format. If your group includes people who do not want a fixed menu, Em Sherif's structure is more accommodating than, say, L'Abysse Monte-Carlo, where the omakase format leaves little room for deviation.
For comparable Lebanese group dining in other cities, the broader Em Sherif network and similar operators offer a useful reference point: Al Mandaloun in Dubai and Almayass in Abu Dhabi operate in a similar register. In Europe, Base Kamp by Aïnata in Courchevel is worth noting for anyone who moves between Riviera and Alpine circuits.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, which is notable given the Hotel de Paris address. That said, Monaco's dining calendar compresses heavily around the Grand Prix weekend in May, summer peak season (July and August), and major yachting events. If your visit falls into any of those windows, book well in advance regardless of the general accessibility rating. Outside peak periods, securing a table should not require significant lead time.
The restaurant is located at Place du Casino in Monte Carlo, sharing the address with the Casino de Monte-Carlo, which means it sits in the most tourist-dense block in the principality. That context shapes the room: you are likely to be dining alongside a mix of hotel guests and occasion diners rather than a local crowd. Em Sherif's own identity as a Lebanese restaurant within that setting means it draws a more international guest profile than most Monaco restaurants.
Dress code is not confirmed in the database, but the Hotel de Paris standard and the €€€€ price point both suggest smart attire is expected. Monaco in general skews formal in its hotel dining rooms, and arriving underdressed at this address would be conspicuous.
For broader planning around a Monte Carlo trip, see our full Monte Carlo restaurants guide, our full Monte Carlo hotels guide, and our full Monte Carlo bars guide. If you are considering dining outside Monaco proper, Hostellerie Jerome in La Turbie is the most compelling nearby alternative for a different style of serious meal. For a more casual evening on the same trip, Beef Bar Monaco is the obvious choice at a lower price point.
Lebanese dining options worth knowing if you encounter the cuisine elsewhere: Amal in Toronto, Beirut Sur Mer in Abu Dhabi, and Beity in Chicago cover the major international markets. Across Monaco's wider food and drink scene, including experiences, Em Sherif sits at the upper end of both price and occasion gravity.
Book Em Sherif if you are in Monaco for a multi-night stay and want one dinner that diverges from the French fine-dining circuit. It works for groups of four or more who want a communal, generous format in a serious setting. It is less suited to solo dining or to diners for whom the Lebanese format is unfamiliar , at €€€€ pricing, you get the most value when you are comfortable ordering broadly and sharing. For a returning visitor, the upward OAD trajectory from 2023 to 2025 is a genuine signal that the kitchen has sharpened, which makes a second visit more defensible than it might have been.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Em Sherif | Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #22 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #33 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Asia Ranked #54 (2023) | €€€€ | — |
| Pavyllon, un restaurant de Yannick Alléno, Monte-Carlo | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Alain Ducasse- Louis XV | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | — | |
| Blue Bay Marcel Ravin | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| L'Abysse Monte-Carlo | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Elsa | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
It works for solo dining given the Hotel de Paris setting, which provides a polished environment and attentive service that holds up for a single diner. Lebanese mezze formats are also naturally accommodating for one person ordering a selection of dishes. That said, the €€€€ price range means solo diners pay a premium for what is partly a sharing-table format — if budget is a consideration, a solo visit here costs more per dish than it would at a casual Lebanese alternative.
Bar seating availability at Em Sherif is not confirmed in current venue data, so this cannot be guaranteed before you call ahead. The restaurant sits inside the Hotel de Paris, which has its own bar infrastructure, so walk-in bar dining may route you elsewhere in the building. Contact the Hotel de Paris directly to clarify before planning a casual drop-in.
At €€€€, Em Sherif is priced on par with Monaco's French fine-dining circuit, and it holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and a top-25 ranking on Opinionated About Dining's Casual Asia list — credentials that support the pricing. The value case is strongest if you want one dinner in Monaco that diverges from classic French formats: Lebanese mezze at this level, in this setting, is not replicated elsewhere in the Principality. If French fine-dining is the priority, Alain Ducasse at Louis XV is the more direct spend at the same address.
Yes, the Hotel de Paris address carries enough weight to frame any occasion, and Lebanese sharing formats work well for celebratory tables where conversation and variety matter. The Michelin Plate recognition (2025) gives it the credibility expected at that price point. For a more formal, course-by-course occasion meal, Louis XV at the same hotel sets a higher-stakes benchmark — but Em Sherif is the stronger pick if the group wants a looser, more sociable format.
The Hotel de Paris has an established dress standard, and Em Sherif's position inside it means arriving dressed accordingly — no shorts, trainers, or casual resort wear. Beyond that minimum, the room skews toward the clientele you'd expect in Monaco at €€€€: business casual at the floor, with plenty of guests dressing up further. When in doubt, err toward what you'd wear to a serious dinner rather than a relaxed lunch.
For French fine-dining at the same address, Alain Ducasse at Louis XV is the direct comparison and carries three Michelin stars. Blue Bay Marcel Ravin at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel offers creative Caribbean-influenced cuisine with a Michelin star and a lower entry price. L'Abysse Monte-Carlo is the pick if Japanese omakase is the format you want. Elsa is the option for a lighter, Mediterranean-focused meal. Em Sherif is the only Lebanese option in this tier in Monaco, which is its clearest differentiator.
Tasting menu details including pricing and structure are not confirmed in current venue data, so a direct verdict on format value is not possible here. What is confirmed: at €€€€ and with a Michelin Plate (2025), the kitchen is operating at a level where a structured menu is likely to deliver. check the venue's official channels to confirm whether a set menu is offered and at what price before making the booking decision.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
