The official LEGO® Set 10243 – Parisian Restaurant has been one of the most beautiful and popular LEGO® modular building that LEGO® has released in the past 15 years. Most would consider it at the top 5 of their sought after retired sets from the modular building series and rightfully so. It has a unique building style especially with the roof. The color scheme and overall façade stands out in a good way in any LEGO® city it’s placed in, the best position of which is when the right side (with the stairs) is not blocked by another building.
Having such a solid design both for the exterior and interior, people would think there isn’t much LEGO® builders could do to improve this set without resorting to using 2 sets or doing alternate designs. However, as this blog would show, there is always room for improvement and ways to make your modular building uniquely your own. Here are a few of the modifications that I have made on the Parisian Restaurant on budget.
The outdoor seating of the Parisian Restaurant is very important to the look of the building. By placing the Parisian restaurant beside a building that doesn’t block the stairs or seating on the second level, it creates an open and welcoming ambiance as well as showcase the design of the chimney that leads up to the roof of the building. I’ve also managed to add a few more tables and chairs to the adjacent baseplate which connects it seamlessly. Any builder of the Parisian restaurant would remember the “CHEZ” word placed on the floor of the outdoor seating in front of the restaurant. So, to add further easter eggs, I’ve added the word “AL” on the extension seating as reference to the name of the restaurant “Chez Albert”. I’ve also added dark pink flowers on the vines on the trellises to connect them further with the theme of the restaurant.
Upon entering the restaurant, there would be an empty set of bricks that separated the kitchen from the dining area. I’ve placed an alcohol/hand sanitizer dispenser next to the door and a cash register on the reception area for more details.
Being a high-class restaurant, I couldn’t imagine Chez Albert not having a proper toilet for its customers. Given the large amount of free space at the back of the restaurant, I modified and added a toilet, which, once you look at it makes sense in the position it was placed in.
For the apartment on the second level of the Parisian Restaurant, I used tan, dark tan and reddish-brown tiles for the floor to match the ground floor tileworks. By placing the reddish brown and dark tan tiles in the middle part, it splits the room into 3 different sections; mainly the fire place, bed space and kitchen. I’ve added more details such as drawers on each side of the bed and a small sink in the kitchen
Taking advantage of the door that leads a back balcony, I’ve added a small bathroom 6×6 that has a shower, toilet and sink. It may be small but it is very detailed considering the size and it fits really well with the staircase layout
If you are interested in adding the toilets in your own Parisian Restaurant, you may download the parts list and instructions at FOR FREE.
For the top floor, I used the same color scheme for the floor tileworks which made the room look brighter. I also added a small table and chair for the artist to write and do sketches on. For the part near the door which is mainly inaccessible, I added another painting holder and a drawer with painting materials.
Looking at the back of the modified Parisian Restaurant, both toilets aligned with the staircase making it look like it was part of the original design all along.
Like the modifications I made on the Birch Bookshop set 10270, Police Station set 10270 and Assembly Square set 10255, most of the pieces I used are common and easy to collect. They may already be in your collection and adding them to the Parisian Restaurant can make the building more interesting than it already is. I’m sure that there are more ways to improve its beauty both on the interior and exterior. This is a good way to practice being resourceful and innovative which will lead to you becoming better at MOC’ing and modifying.
If you have your own suggestions, please leave a comment below so others may also get some ideas for their own Parisian Restaurant. I intend to post more improvements for the other modulars so be on the lookout for other blogs. I hope this post has been helpful for you. Until next time, keep building and having fun with LEGO!
If you are interested in reading the previous posts I made, you may visit:
LEGO Set 10255 Assembly Square
LEGO Set 10270 Birch Bookshop
LEGO Set 10278 Police Station
