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La Victoire, Suprême du Coeur. Vegetarian in the Marais

Published

on December 23, 2007

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

. 1 Comment

I came across this charming Marais restaurant while searching for a much needed Falafel dinner. While I didn’t have time that night to try this restaurant, it is at the top of my to-eat list. La Victoire has everything a vegetarian in Paris wants.

Their menu (.pdf) is filled with the French standards as well as creative veggie variations on the meat-filled plates filling every other restaurant in the city. The location is on a quiet street near Hôtel de Ville. It is bright, cheery, and full of great expectations.

The restaurant also has an air of vegan-superiority wit. Be sure to grab a few of their postcards on the way out. Your Meat Eating Friends will appreciate them.

Updated: Full review of La Victoire

I had a chance tonight to stop off at La Victoire. I was craving some soup and new this place would have a selection of vegetarian soups. There are some really great things about this restaurant. But there’s one downside that keeps me from giving it my full blessings.

I think the perfect vegetarian restaurant shouldn’t taste of compromises. The food should be super tasty, just without the animal products. For the most part, this restaurant succeeds. I had plenty of tasty bites. Unfortunately, this restaurant also slipped into this trap.

First off, the winners.

1. Free wifi – woo hoo! I am able to update this blog while sitting in the restaurant. I don’t have to worry about forgetting the flavors. It’s also quiet, comfortable, and restful.
2. Onion confit – Their sweet confit of onions is served with a mushroom terrine. It tastes like a marriage between lotus-flower honey and softly cooked onions. It outshined its compadre, the mushroom terrine, which was flavorful but had no texture.
3. Tarte chocolate with pralines - The chocolate part of this tart is great. It’s rich and satisfying. Unfortunately, the crust is a bit hard, in fact a chunk went flying off the table as I was trying to cut it. It also begs for some creme anglais. It’s still a tasty dessert that any chocolate lover will appreciate.

The losers

1. The bread: Why oh why in this city of amazing bread does a restaurant have to serve dry, whole-grained bread. There has to be a better recipe. This bread would have been great in New Mexico, but not Paris. This is the kind of compromise that makes your meat eating friends refuse to return. Give us some darn good bread that just happens to have whole grains.
2. Eggplant, tomato soup. It was good, warm, and filling. It just didn’t knock me out.

That’s not such a bad list. I will return to La Victoire. It’s in a great location in the Marais. It is affordable, the people are friendly, and they have a wonderful selection of food and drinks. It’s a small oasis of veggie goodness in the middle of Paris. Now, if they could only get some better bread.

Update – October 30, 2008 – Another visit

I decided to stop by tonight for some soup. I am happy to say they ditched the bread and replaced it with the standard “Poilane” slices. This is a big improvement. I also had a pumpkin/coconut milk soup (it was better than it sounds) and a Veggie burger with fries and a salad. The salad was salty, the fries were ok, but the veggie burger was great.

Update – January 12, 2010 – the restaurant has changed

Suprême du Coeur has changed. It is no longer a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. It now serves all types of French cuisine. Fortunately it still has some vegetarian options on the menu.

La Victoire, Suprême du Coeur: 27-31, rue de Bourg Tibourg, 75004; Metro: Hotel de Ville; 01 40 41 95 03

Overall: 4/5 stars/5
Location: 4.5/5
Taste: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Vegetarian Friendly: 5/5
Vegan Friendly: 5/5
M.E.F. Friendly: 3/5

Falafel Alley in the Marais

Published

Ted

on December 23, 2007

in 4th Arrindissement, Mediteranean, popular, Vegan Friendly and vegetarian-friendly

. 5 Comments

I grew up in Southern California with a taco shop on every other corner. The greasy, salty, fatty, cheesy peasant food coming from these brightly colored drive-throughs is a part of my being. I can resist the temptations for chocolate, sugar, coffee, and other normal binge-foods. But nothing can stop me when I crave sloppy, juicy, greasy peasant food.

Crepes, paninis, pomme frites, tartines … nothing in Paris has quenched this craving for me. One night I saught a new cure for this binge. I remembered seeing some falafel stands in the Marais and I was a man with a mission. How determined was I? I passed La Victoire, the perfect vegetarian restaurant without a second thought. I zipped by Jewish bakeries filled with tempting strudels, crepe stands, and the mother of all Jewish delis (only to find out later that they had incorporated a falafel window).

Finally I found eden: rue des Rosiers. I was surrounded by falafel stands with names that reminded me of my taco-shop heroes. I spun around trying to decide between super falafel, falafel king, falafelbertos, el falafelitos, las quatras falafitas… Well maybe I am stretching it a bit. However, there are a few supers” and “kings” on the street. I finally chose one because the cook was tapping on the window, waking me from my daze, and beckoning me in for a treat.

Big shoes to fill

Don’t get me wrong, but I am a jaded falafel eater. San Jose, California has the ultimate falafel experience. All things falafel must be compared to the The Falafel Drive-In’s sandwhich. The falafel balls are the star of the show. They are crisply fried, green and moist on the inside. They fill the pita and the veggies and pita are merely supporting actors. It is fast, friendly, packed, and you think about how good your lunch was for days.

The Verdict

That’s a hard standard to beat. How did Falafel Alley hold up? They are different. Satifying, tasty, vegan, comforting, messy, but different. You have to search for the falafel in this salad in a pita. You’ll get an overflowing pita pocket with some falafel balls, cabbage, roasted eggplant, tomatoes, tahini sauce, and more.

It actually comes full circle to my original taco-shop craving. San Diego burritos are simple. A vegetarian burrito has refried beans, rice, cheese, and maybe guacamole and/or sour cream. The beans are the standout, they are cheap, and filling.

I was shocked by the vegetarian burritos in the San Francisco Bay area. These behemoths can weigh several pounds. They are filled with everything you can imagine, no ingredient stands out, they cost a bit more, and they are too filling. They leave you distended and wishing you had left half of the burrito on the plate. But you stil look forward to the next one. (El Galope in East Palo Alto is by far the best taco shop in the world. Trust me!)

So, back to Falafel alley. Give this area a try if you are craving a hearty dinner on the go, miss the peasant food of your local area, don’t want to spend a fortune (6€), and are on or near the #1 line. Take the St. Paul exit and start meandering towards the center of the Marais.