Today we look at the 10362 Parisian Cafe, first in the latest ICONS subtheme, Restaurants of the World. This set raised some controversy when it was revealed because of its low profile and closed back, in a world where so many sets either occupy a full 32×32 plate or open up at the back like a doll house. So, is this an exciting new direction for LEGO sets – reaching for a new casual audience, with limited display space? Or is there something for the established AFOL as well? Thanks to the LEGO Group for sending this set out for review: all opinions are my own.

Let’s take a closer look. Along the way, we will gain a few insights from Designer Hoang Huy Dang, who I had the chance to talk with at a round table discussion about the set.

Hoang started his professional life as an industrial designer working in the automotive/electric vehicle space, while building MOCs to relax after work. Then a few years ago, he applied for a job at the LEGO Group. His previous designs include the Retro Radio, which was released last year. But, in the background, this model had been evolving as a passion project.

The set comes in the now-expected ICONs Black box, with the greeble strip in sand green across the bottom. There are NO minifigures included, and the set is made up of 1101 elements.

There are (9) paper bags included in the set I received, as well as a few loose parts: two black 8×16 plates

Let’s take a look at the parts for the set: once again, the Knoller in Chief has taken the time to lay parts out for us to examine what we have in store:

The first couple of bags are predominantly black and grey elements, used to build up the base of the model. We have medium stone grey 1×2 arch elements in abundance. They are used to form form the cobblestones. By tesselating these arches as SNOT elements, we end up with a convincing cobblestone effect, albeit with a flat surface. While the set features lots of clever geometrical whiz-bangery as well as buckets of unanticipated parts usage, this is the part of the build that left Huang most satisfied. The brightly coloured elements act as hidden fillers: let’s see how it progresses:

We start by creating stacks of the 1×2 arches, facing in alternate directions. The base measures 8 studs deep, and 32 studs long. A sleek row of tiles across the front edge gives us a nice clean look.

We fill in the gaps, including the lower level of pavement outside the cafe. Meanwhile, some bewitching geometry is afoot, thanks to some reflected triangles joined by a plate hinge.

Will this ingenious use of geometry give us a good looking facade? Will the designer paint himself into a corner requiring an unexpected solution? We will find out, eventually.

Moving forward, we see the makings of the cafe interior: the Green doorframe with the printed window elements. There are NO STICKERS in this set. We have a selection of 2×2 reddish brown window frames with dark brown inserts, as well as green 2×2 and 2×3 windows with decorated panes. We have lots of sand green elements – plates as well as SNOT elements (brackets, plates, and bricks) while some pale nougat plates and tiles start to appear.

Let’s see how they come together.

We start by putting together the checkered floor of the cafe, and furnishing the interior, with a single char and table. I really enjoy the way the chairs have simply come together: the use of a mint inverse tile, with connector bars inserted to act as legs, and supporting a stud with bent bar, which supports the 3-way handle used for the chair back. We also built up the front door of the cafe with SNOT Bricks, covered by layers of nougat plates and tiles.

We build up the angled wall to the right of the door. The window elements are placed on their side, with wedges and curved bricks on either side. They attach to a central SNOT Core and are placed on a singe stud at either end. The use of cheese slopes at the left end of this panel helps fill the gap brought about by the angle.

The back of the model is built up. According to Doang, this is for a couple of reasons: the alternating colours contribute to the wallpaper (and the brown windows resemble wood paneling.) Plates also pass from the rear to the front to secure the angled wall. As you can see, book cover elements are used where the acute angle between the walls would prevent any bricks from fitting in, comfortably.

We add in a similar panel to the left of the door, and fill in more bricks on the rear of the build, making the internal structure inaccessible. Note the use of quarter circle tiles around the place, where the angled elements might slightly overlie or intrude into the space if a straight plate or tile were used.

Lets take a look at the next selection of elements: The remaining elements include a cluster of reddish brown elements, come dark orange and a remarkable number of medium nougat elements, including cheese slopes, 1×2 cheese slopes and arches along with a collection of elements for the outside furniture and plants.

I shall reiterate: there are NO Stickers in this set. This will be welcomed by many, particularly the target demographic: the occasional LEGO Builder, looking for a pleasant display piece. The newspaper tile has been seen before, but the printed verandah/transparent window elements and the cafe signage are new.

We begin by securing the top of the facade and adding a small arched window. The brown bricks across the back also serve to secure the construction across the back. The hinges on either side of the window will spring into action shortly.

With hinges also attached to SNOT Bricks, we have a combination of plates and pale nougat 2x1x2/3 slopes wrap around the arched window. They line up nicely before we obscure the front side with some leaves and golden decorative elements.

We add the roof, and follow it up with panels of upper facade – dressing up the higher parts of the building. I love the way the reverse side of the headlamp bricks are used here, tucked away between the scroll bricks.

We add a similar panel on the other side of the entrance and brought some arches up over the window. They aren’t a perfect fit around the built-up arch, but I feel this adds a bit of additional character to the build.

From here, the building is all but complete:

All that remains is to decorate the facade and add some fittings and furniture, and we will be done.

The railing around the arches was a little tricky to install, but was satisfying to get into place, providing an elegant framing of the arch above the door.

We see the drill elements, first seen in Nexo Knights (similar to ones seen in Power Miners), recoloured in dark/earth green they are used as small, potted conifers.

The tables are made from round minifigure shields, supported on a single leg, with a clip attached to the back. This single stud is used to attach a tray of coffee and a cupcake, a croissant or more. We see the same mint/white chair and table design outside as we did in the one internal chair several pages ago.

The set’s designer, Hoang Huy Dang, is particularly proud of this chair design, and it is ingenious, albeit not at minifigure scale(more on this shortly). Four of the two-module long bars fit into the holes in the studs of inverse round tiles in mint. A stud with bent bar is fixed on by one of these, and that is then capped by “Handle #4” – a round element with 3 holes for a bar, as well as 3 points for a handle to grip – also in mint. The final effect is not unlike enameled metal chairs I have seen around the world, and they don’t feel out of place here.

Finally, the introduction of satin-clear 1×1 cylinder bricks gives us a new design for a lamppost that feels right in place.

But what about the scale?

On finishing the model, I thought I might attempt to give it a bit of life, by adding minifigures. While 90’s waiter and the CMF connoisseur from the CMF are perfectly suited to fill in this set, they are, at the end of the day, just a bit too small for the scale used for the building!

The final model is a larger than minifigure scale – and indeed not made for minidolls either. It is designed to be a display piece to sit, in isolation. This does feel as though it flies in the face of the traditional use of LEGO as a storytelling medium. At the same time, I find myself imagining the patrons sitting in place, watching the world go by.

Given that the model is a little larger than minifigure scale, perhaps I should look at some larger than minifigure scale figures. Perhaps the most useful scale here might be the Jack Stone/ 4-Juniors scale of figures. These work well for the door. Please imagine young Max paying his way through university by waiting tables, while Jack Stone takes a short break from saving the world.

This scale isn’t perfect either: the seat of the chairs come up to the hips of these figures and they have no knee articulation to make sitting at the table just a little impractical.

I even gave Fabuland a try . It looks ok, but I think that is because the heads are a larger scale than the rest of the body. The anthopomorphic figures are still too short.

None of these are ideal. Perhaps we should just work with a little forced perspective?

In Conclusion

This set is a very interesting build. It has been designed for the occasional LEGO builder, someone looking for an interesting display piece to put on the bookshelf. The typical AFOL looking to integrate this model into their LEGO City might find it a little frustrating, however there are a lot of advanced construction techniques in use here: from the cobblestones to the wall panels (to say nothing of the use of amusing geometry), to the arch above the door. The decorated elements all have the potential for reuse in the future, while the design of the furniture is inspired. So long as you aren’t looking to place minifigures on them!

As an AFOL who is rapidly running out of display space, I appreciate the way that the set has been designed, and the composition on its base: it brings maximum display value to a tiny form factor, even if it is a little too big for a minifigure.

As an existing builder and MOC creator, I was reminded of a number of ways to turn the geometry of bricks and triangles to my advantage, while the additional pale nougat elements used here are a welcome addition to my armamentarium.

Suppose you are looking for a complete building to put into your favorite LEGO City. In this case, you WILL be disappointed: the scale is not really in keeping with minifigure scale, and the effort required to expand the back of the cafe so that it can open up as play set might be a bit much. BUT the set was not created for this.

The was designed with the part-time builder looking to create a model to go on display, but without using up every bit of your shelving real estate. And in doing this, it absolutely excels.

The French Cafe will go on sale on March 1 2025 for $AUD129.99, USD79.99 €79.99 £69.99. The set has 1101 pieces, and non minifigures.

At this stage, we have no formal idea as to what ideas might be on the horizon for 2026, or even if this series will continue. I hope it does: The model fills a niche, and offers some magnificent building techniques. Even if you do not wish to buy this set, I would encourage you to take a look at the manual, to see how some of the technical whiz-bangerry was able to be done.

I’d love to know what you think of it: leave your comments below.

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Until Next Time,

Play Well!