2008 April | Vegetarian Experiences in Paris

Monthly Archive for April, 2008

Tien Hiang – Vegetarian Chinese Restaurant in Paris

Published

on April 13, 2008

in 11th Arrindissement, Asian, Ethnic, Vegan Friendly, popular, restaurant and vegetarian-friendly

. 2 Comments

This popular chinese food has your traditional Chinese vegetarian dishes as well as an assortment of creative “faux” meat choices. It’s a popular destination for vegetarian tourists and is located near four metro stops. Pere Lechaise and Voltaire are the easiest.

Tien Hiang review

I had been planning a trip to Tien Hiang to try their food and imagine my surprise one night when I walked past it on a warm evening stroll. Although I wasn’t hungry, I had to stop off for a meal. This restaurant is great fun for small groups and the menu is a smörgåsbord of vegetarian Asian food.

The Menu

While this restaurant is listed as Chinese in many guides, their menu is sprinkled with dishes from across the Asian spectrum. Vegetarians are used to deciding between one or two dishes on a menu. It’s difficult to actually choose between 50-60 dishes. Prepare yourself for ten minutes of indecision.

Tien Hiang has a good fixed menu to make that choice easier. You simply choose two appetizers, dinner, and desert from a smaller set of dishes. The menu prices are outrageously affordable. 10 euros gets a full meal!

I chose to skip the fixed menu and ordered a bowl of Thai soup and Vietnamese omelet. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going to choose and finally pointed at a random customer and said “I’ll have that.”

The soup was fantastic. It had coconut milk, pepper, tomato, fake chicken, and basil. It was a great mix and I’ll probably come here more often for just a bowl of soup. The omelet was good, but I was satiated after the soup and earlier meal. So, I wasn’t prepared to really evaluate the dish.

Popular + small = warm

Tien Hiang is a small, popular restaurant. The place was packed with a wide range of alternatives, hipsters, families, and hippies (faux hippies). In other words, it’s a casual, come as you are restaurant. However, it’s also a small place and it gets warm with all of the bodies. I can only imagine what it will be like during the late summer months.

Summary

I really enjoyed this restaurant. The menu is expansive and you’ll probably find yourself wanting to come back and try something else. The dishes range from Pho, clay pot, steamed dumplings, fried rice, and much more. You’ll find vegetarian versions of the most popular Asian dishes. The prices are super cheap, the service friendly, and the community unique. It’s not the easiest place to find, take a map with you. Unless you’re lucky like me and stumble across it accidentally.

Tien Hiang: 92 rue Chemin Vert (11°); 01 43 55 83 88; Metro: Pere Lechaise, Voltaire; Chinese/Asian Vegetarian Restaurant

Overall: 4/5
Location: 3/5
Value: 5/5
Taste: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Vegetarian Friendly: 5/5
Vegan Friendly: 5/5
M.E.F. Friendly: 3/5

Off the Menu [via Zemanta]
Kampuchea: Yes, But Is It Authentic? [via Zemanta]
Dining Briefs [via Zemanta]
Stir-Fried Tofu Recipe with Scallions, Garlic, Ginger, and Soy Sauce [via Zemanta]
A Herbivore Tells All [via Zemanta]
Flushing’s Vege Eats Goes Beyond Gardenburgers [via Zemanta]
Vegetarian Chinese Without Regrets [via Zemanta]
A Public Choice theory of Chinese food [via Zemanta]

Pizza Bastani – Left Bank Pizza and Pasta

Published

Ted

on April 9, 2008

in 5th Arrindissement, Ethnic, Italian and popular

. 0 Comments

First things first: Pizza Bastani is not a vegetarian restaurant. It’s not a destination restaurant that inspires you to cross the city with dreams of a great meal. It is a good pizza and pasta joint in the middle of a Greek/Italian restaurant mecca filled with tourists and students.

Vegetarian Options?

Pizza Bastani is also very close to the very popular Maoz Falafel and Le Grenier de Notre Dame. So, what does this funky little joint offer vegetarians? It’s a fun restaurant with a funky decor. The prices are decent and they’ve got some surprising vegetarian pizza options.

I had a pizza with blue cheese, spinach, and an egg cooked sunny-side up in the middle. It was damn good. I saw a half dozen veggie options, which is much better than the standard margarita and 4 cheese pizzas.

Unfortunately, their vegan options are going to be fairly limited. I did see a pasta with eggplant, tomato, and olive oil. I don’t know if they have egg-free pasta.

Summary

If you are roaming through the small, cobblestone streets of the left bank with your friends (and you want something other than falafel) try this restaurant. It’s worth a shot.

Pizza Bastani: 16, rue Xavier Privas (5°); 01 55 42 03 56; Metro: St. Michel; Italian pizza/pasta

Overall: 3.5/5
Location: 5/5
Taste: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Vegetarian Friendly: 3/5
Vegan Friendly: 1/5
M.E.F. Friendly: 5/5

Piccolo Teatro in the Marais is now closed

Published

Ted

on April 6, 2008

in 4th Arrindissement, Vegan Friendly, restaurant and vegetarian-friendly

. 21 Comments

The Piccolo Teatro was a small, romantic restaurant in the Marais district. After reading reviews on the internet, I was anxious to try it. Unfortunately, this restaurant’s web site (the web site is also gone) states they are closed and in fact the place is for sale.

Gordon Ramsay Steps In

This restaurant was featured on Gordon Ramsey‘s television show. He tried to give the owner a new chance to succeed. Alas, this wasn’t successful. I’ve posted this information to let people know the status, there are plenty of outdated mentions on other sites.

Piccolo Teatro: 6, rue des Ecouffes (4°); 01 42 72 17 79; Metro: St-Paul; Closed Restaurant

Dining Calendar [via Zemanta]
Top 10 hidden art gems in Paris [via Zemanta]
Paris travel guide: shopping [via Zemanta]
Chef Michael Chiarello dishes on his future television endeavours (uncork29.com)
Diner’s Journal: Open Tables, Even at Per Se (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)
Chef Michael Chiarello dishes on his future television endeavours (uncork29.com)
Diner’s Journal: Open Tables, Even at Per Se (dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com)
Gordon Ramsey Called Her a ‘Lesbian Pig.’ She’s Neither of Those Things (queerty.com)

Market based daily specials

Published

Ted

on April 3, 2008

in farmers market and words to look for

. 0 Comments

Last night, while walking home, I came across a table filled with amazing artichokes in the evening farmers market of Bercy. There were bunches of frost-kissed baby artichokes as well as some of the most beautiful full sized artichokes I’ve ever seen. This is saying something as I’ve been to the world famous Artichoke festival and the artichokes from the Santa Cruz area rival any in the world.

I purchased a bunch and made artichoke/white asparagus withe eggs for dinner. The artichokes tasted as good as they looked.

Today’s lunch special at Parisian Sweet Bar – Artichoke pasta

The Parisian Sweet Bar sits about 50 yards from that table of artichokes. I was pleasantly surprised to see today’s special of artichoke pasta. This pasta was great and at 6 euros a bargain to boot. These were not the marinated artichokes of cheaper pasta dishes. These were fresh baby artichokes from the market.

That’s the beauty of food in France. You don’t have to be a fancy restaurant to offer fresh, seasonal food and the prices are not inflated. Parisian Sweet Bar boasts regular specials based on the farmers market. Soups, pastas, and salads are based on what’s available for the season.

Restaurant La Gazelle

Published

Ted

on April 1, 2008

in 17th Arrindissement and Meat Eating Friends

. 0 Comments

“Be careful with this sauce, it’s hot” the waitress warned. Hah! I grew up on the border of Mexico, nothing in Paris could possibly be hot compared to what I grew up on. Well, let me tell you… respect the heat of the sauce placed next to a basket of bread sticks. We’re not talking salsa, we are talking gasoline. A Molotov cocktail exploded in my mouth after I piled the sauce onto a chunk of bread. I barely recovered by the end of the day.

Restaurant La Gazelle is a nice Cameroon restaurant in the 17th arrindissemont. I was hoping for a large selection of vegetarian food, ala Ethiopian cuisine. Unfortunately, the menu is filled with goat, chicken, and fish. The vegetarian options were very slim. However, the super-model waitress said they’d be happy to create a vegetarian menu option if you call in advance.

I ordered fried plantains and potatoes. The dishes were superb. They were tasty and satisfying, albeit more like side dishes than a meal.

Restaurant La Gazelle is a good choice for your meat eating friends. However, you should try to call in advance. The food is very good, the prices are reasonable, and the service was friendly and nice. Just be careful with the hot sauce. It’s a doozy!