Restaurant in Paris, France
Michelin-recognised seafood without the wait.
VIVE, Maison Mer holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025 and sits at the €€€ price point — making it one of the stronger cases for a seafood dinner in Paris's 17th arrondissement without committing to a starred room budget. Booking is Easy, and the 4.4 Google rating across 248 reviews supports the kitchen's consistency. A practical choice for groups and special occasions alike.
If you are planning a seafood dinner in the 17th arrondissement and want Michelin-recognised quality without the four-figure bill that comes with Paris's top-tier French rooms, VIVE, Maison Mer is the address to consider. It earns its Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 — a signal that the kitchen is cooking at a consistent standard the guide considers worth flagging , and it sits at the €€€ price point, which in Paris means you are paying for serious cooking without the full ceremony of a starred house. Book it for a couple celebrating something low-key but meaningful, for a group of four who want a credible seafood table rather than a tourist trap brasserie, or for the return visitor who has already done the obvious Paris dining circuit and wants something with neighbourhood credibility in the Ternes quarter.
VIVE, Maison Mer is at 62 Avenue des Ternes, a broad, relatively residential avenue in the 17th that sits between the Arc de Triomphe and the Palais des Congrès. The neighbourhood is not Montmartre or Saint-Germain; it is quieter and more local, which is exactly why a seafood-focused address here reads differently from one planted on a tourist corridor. Expect a dining room that presents the product as the visual centrepiece: fish-focused rooms in Paris at this price tier tend toward clean lines, maritime references that stop short of kitsch, and a focus on what arrives at the table. The Michelin Plate designation rewards the cooking, not theatrical interiors, so come for the plate rather than the spectacle.
VIVE, Maison Mer is a realistic option for group dining in a part of Paris where finding a seafood table that can handle a party without defaulting to a set menu of limited ambition is genuinely difficult. At €€€, a group booking here represents solid value compared to the €€€€ rooms that dominate Paris's private dining scene. If you are coordinating a business dinner, a family gathering, or a celebration for six to ten people, the Ternes address offers enough seriousness , two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions, a Google rating of 4.4 across 248 reviews , to justify the choice to guests who track these things. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm private room availability and group menu options before assuming the main room can flex to accommodate you; the specifics of their private dining provision are worth clarifying at the time of booking.
For those considering alternatives for a larger private event, it is worth knowing that the €€€€ houses , [Plénitude](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/plenitude), [Pierre Gagnaire](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/pierre-gagnaire), [Le Cinq](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/le-cinq-four-seasons-hotel-george-v) , do have dedicated private rooms with full service infrastructure, but you will pay meaningfully more per head. VIVE sits in a practical middle ground: credentialed enough to impress, priced to leave room in the budget for a serious wine selection.
Booking here is rated Easy, which means you are unlikely to be hunting a reservation weeks in advance the way you would for a starred Paris table. A window of one to two weeks is a reasonable planning horizon for most nights; for Friday and Saturday evenings, build in a few extra days. If you are organising a group or want to discuss a private arrangement, contact the restaurant earlier , two to three weeks minimum , to give the team time to confirm logistics. There is no evidence this address suffers from the near-impossible booking conditions of Paris's most competitive rooms, which is a practical advantage worth factoring in if your schedule is flexible only around a fixed date.
Within the Paris seafood category specifically, VIVE, Maison Mer sits above the casual end of the market represented by [Clamato](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/clamato-paris-restaurant) , which is wine-bar adjacent, no-reservations, and better suited to two people eating informally , and meaningfully more polished than a neighbourhood brasserie. It shares space in the conversation with [Dessirier](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/dessirier-paris-restaurant), [La Cagouille](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/la-cagouille-paris-restaurant), and [La Méditerranée](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/la-mditerrane-paris-restaurant) as established Paris seafood addresses, though its dual Michelin Plate recognition gives it a verifiable quality signal that not all of those carry in the same form. [Brasserie Lutetia](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/brasserie-lutetia-paris-restaurant) is the right comparison if you want grand-brasserie theatre alongside your seafood; VIVE is the right choice if you want the kitchen's focus on the fish rather than the room's history.
For seafood outside Paris, the reference points shift considerably. [Mirazur in Menton](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/mirazur-menton-restaurant) and [Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/gambero-rosso-marina-di-gioiosa-ionica-restaurant) operate at a different level of ambition and price. If VIVE is part of a wider France trip that includes [Flocons de Sel in Megève](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/flocons-de-sel-megve-restaurant), [Troisgros in Ouches](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/troisgros-le-bois-sans-feuilles-ouches-restaurant), or [Bras in Laguiole](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bras-laguiole-restaurant), it fits naturally as the Paris seafood stop rather than the destination meal.
Book VIVE, Maison Mer if you want a Michelin-recognised seafood table in Paris at €€€ that you can actually get into without a month of advance planning. It is the right call for a group dinner in the 17th, a low-pressure special occasion, or a return visit to Paris where you want a credible neighbourhood address rather than another lap of the tourist circuit. If your priority is a private room with full white-glove service, the €€€€ starred houses will serve you better. If you want serious seafood at a fair price in a quieter part of the city, this is where to look.
Planning your full trip? Browse [our full Paris restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/paris), [our full Paris hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/paris), [our full Paris bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/paris), [our full Paris wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/paris), and [our full Paris experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/paris) to build out the rest of your visit. For reference-point seafood elsewhere in France and Italy, [Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/auberge-de-lill-illhaeusern-restaurant), [Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/paul-bocuse-lauberge-du-pont-de-collonges-collonges-au-mont-dor-restaurant), and [Alici Restaurant on the Amalfi Coast](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/alici-restaurant-amalfi-coast-restaurant) are worth adding to your longer-term list.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIVE, Maison Mer | Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€€ | — |
| Plénitude | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Kei | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
How VIVE, Maison Mer stacks up against the competition.
Aim for neat, put-together casual. VIVE holds a Michelin Plate at €€€ pricing, which places it in a middle tier where trainers and beach attire would feel out of place, but a jacket is not required. Think the kind of clothes you would wear to a good neighbourhood bistro in Paris, one step up from everyday.
At €€€, VIVE, Maison Mer delivers Michelin Plate-recognised seafood in Paris without the starred-restaurant pricing that pushes bills into four figures. If you want quality seafood in the 17th that has been vetted by Michelin two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), the value case is solid. For a fraction of the cost of Pierre Gagnaire or Le Cinq, you get a credible, focused seafood experience.
It is a reasonable solo option. Michelin Plate venues at this price point in Paris typically run a counter or bar component that suits solo diners, and the easier booking profile means you are not competing hard for a single seat. The seafood format tends to work better solo than tasting-menu-only rooms where pacing is built around pairs.
VIVE, Maison Mer is a realistic group option for the 17th arrondissement, where seafood restaurants that can handle a party without defaulting to a set-menu-only policy are not common. Larger groups should book in advance and confirm group arrangements directly with the restaurant; the easy booking profile suggests flexibility, but private dining details are not confirmed in public data.
Clamato in the 11th is the casual end of the Paris seafood market — walk-in only, lower spend, no Michelin recognition. At the top of the category, Plénitude and Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen are starred rooms where budgets are significantly higher and reservations are much harder to get. VIVE sits between those two poles: Michelin-recognised quality at a price point that does not require a special-occasion justification.
Yes, within a specific brief. Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) give it enough credential for a birthday or anniversary dinner, and €€€ pricing means the bill will not dominate the conversation. If the occasion demands a starred room with full ceremony, Kei or Le Cinq will deliver more theatre. VIVE is the call when you want the occasion to feel considered without the full formal-dining production.
Menu format details are not confirmed in public data, so this cannot be assessed directly. What is documented is that VIVE holds a Michelin Plate at €€€ pricing across two consecutive years, which suggests a kitchen operating consistently at a recognisable standard. If a tasting menu is available, the Michelin recognition provides some confidence that the kitchen can sustain a multi-course format.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
