Review : LEGO ICONS Restaurants of the World 10362 French Café

Today we take a quick look at the contents of the LEGO ICONS Restaurants of the World set. 10362 French Café, a box of 1101 pieces which will be available from March 1, 2025 via the official online store as well as in LEGO Stores at the public price of €79,99.

As you already know since the official announcement of the product, this box is in principle the first of a new collection of sets around emblematic restaurants and other cafes of the world. The collection is therefore launched with a French brand, or more precisely Parisian, the product making more or less direct reference to the Flower Coffee located at 38 avenue de Suffren in Paris.

When the set was announced, I saw it more as a Mexican bodega, due in particular to the lack of context around the construction which led me to imagine the cornice roof of a Santa Cruz shop rather than the front of a café set up at the foot of a Haussmannian building.

The bias of this new collection is based on the possibility of accumulating and displaying small narrow constructions with flat backs on a shelf. We could discuss this choice but LEGO is addressing here directly, once again, an adult clientele who have neither the desire nor the space to fill their living room with imposing structures. This product must therefore be able to integrate into a decoration in which the LEGO bricks are just one more detail and not the central element. On this point, it is successful with a block 30 cm wide by 6 cm deep and barely 16 cm high which will be discreet.

Although I am not really convinced by the typical and representative nature of the subject treated, I must admit that the product has some surprises in store: we quickly realize during its assembly that this is a real demonstration of strength in terms of the construction techniques used and the instruction booklet is not stingy with descriptions and explanations about the different solutions imagined to obtain the expected result.

From the cobblestone floor to the top of the façade, we discover with a certain pleasure the different techniques at work and it is sometimes very original. We will keep a good memory of the few hours spent building this model before putting it away in a corner, half of the mission is therefore in my opinion brilliantly accomplished even if the product itself does not really reflect all the efforts that are in the service of the promised experience.

Knowing that you have to pay €80 for these few hours of pleasure and that there is still something left to display in a corner, the set seems to me to keep its promises for those looking to discover some original and surprising techniques. The collection effect will necessarily be present from the announcement and marketing of the second volume of the collection, it will then be difficult to resist the urge to accumulate an assortment of representations, admittedly a little caricatured judging by this first reference, of buildings from different regions of the world.

I think I will be more sensitive to the other proposals even if I expect an approach that always falls into the cliché, I do not find here the symbolism of French coffee with this product clearly inspired by a brand that nevertheless exists but which is more of an idealization of the Parisian street in the manner of Emily in Paris than a true representation of a French coffee in the broad sense. We all know that you just have to add a croissant to be in the theme, it is there, placed on a table.

This product, which is not lacking in technical merit and which does not require stickers with pretty pad printing, will undoubtedly please tourists returning from France, fans of original construction techniques as well as those who want to add a discreet touch of LEGO to their interior.

This is already very good with a target audience large enough to ensure commercial success for this emerging range. Those who were hoping for a product on the scale of minifigs with a deeper interior and a finish on all sides can move on, this is indeed not a Modular, nor a playset.

Don't spoil too much for yourself the various construction techniques at work here if you want value for your money, they are what make this product interesting. For the rest, it will be up to each individual to see if they should align these flat-backed facades on a dedicated shelf.

Note: The product shown here, provided by LEGO, is as usual involved. Deadline fixed at February 23, 2025 at 23:59 pm. Just post a comment under the article to participate. Your participation is taken into account regardless of your opinion. Avoid "I'm participating" or "I'm trying my luck", we suspect that this is the case.

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