Boring tagine in Morocco

It’s possible to get vegetarian food in Marrakech. Most restaurants will sell a vegetable tagine. However, I found them to be quite boring. Perhaps I needed to visit better restaurants.

Earth Cafe

You can imagine my delight when walking through the market and spotted some hand made signs for “Earth Cafe” a vegan restaurant. I had to find this place and enjoy a good meal, it did not disappoint.

The first thing you see as you step down into this cafe is the open kitchen, a beaming chef will greet you with pride as you enter her domain. As you pass the kitchen the restaurant opens vertically. What seems like a small space grows to several floors with an open space in the center.

The menu

I was surprised to see the menu lacked tagines and couscous. How very non-Moroccan! How very refreshing after dealing with some rather banal versions found in other places.

Instead you’ll find a creative assortment of dishes that span the North African and Mediterranean flavor spectrum. My meal had a variety of vegetables wrapped in filo dough, baked and placed on the plate with mango sauce. It was delicious and very filling.

Earth Cafe also features some yummy smoothies that will hit the spot on a warm African afternoon. The friendly hosts speak French and English. The waiter even walked with me through the souks to find a hammam.

You’ll owe it to yourself to visit Earth Cafe when visiting Marrakech. You’ll get great food, great service, and a jovial, peaceful environment. The flavors are so great that your meat eating friends will also enjoy the meal.

Lebanese cuisine is filled with vegetarian options and Beirut Down Town’s Assiette Vegetarienne features 7 items for the reasonable price of 11.50 euros. It includes hummus, tabouli, labneh, 2 feuilletes (turnovers) of spinach and cheese, falafel, stuffed grape leaves, and pita bread. It’s a nice variety of dishes for dinner. They also offer a variety of vegetarian sandwiches and plates.

I was looking for something different and this seemed like the perfect place for dinner.

I have to say that I was underwhelmed by the food. It didn’t taste as fresh as I would have liked. I felt like some of the items were pre-packaged or made for the previous day’s lunch time rush (I visited it on a Saturday evening).

However, I have to give them benefit of doubt. The asbestos removal construction across the street had made the nearby restaurants seem like ghost towns. I was the only one in Beirut Down Town.

Student Dining

Beirut Down Town is next to the University of Paris and probably does great business during the week when students are hungry. The portions are large, there’s a nice variety of dishes, and the location is convenient.

I don’t know if I would go back again, but I would suggest it for people in the area looking for something other than another cheese sandwich.

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Taisho Ken – Miso Soup Bar

In the center is a small Japanese miso soup restaurant that I’ve been finding myself eating at more and more. It’s a simple place with an open kitchen, large pots of boiling miso broth, and a friendly, bustling atmosphere. This is a simple place that may remind you more of a roadside diner than a French bistro.

Miso soup normally brings to mind a small bowl of broth with a few small chunks of tofu floating amongst green herbs. I was greatly surprised when I ordered the vegetarian soup bowl and was presented with a Texas sized spoon and a big bowl of broth with fresh vegetables and noodles. This is a meal by itself, you won’t need any rice or dumplings.

Paris is a great place to have a big lunch with friends and a simple dinner of soup or salad. I’ve added this place to my list of regular stops. It’s especially nice on a cold rainy night when the windows fog up and you are surrounded by the smell of the broth.

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I had heard about some good restaurants north of Gare du Nord but never found this mysterious Hindu Eden. While flying from San Francisco to Paris on Air France I came across an article that described this small neighborhood of saris, sweets, and restaurants. I took the magazine home with me and read the article several times. Finally I had a weekend to do some Paris exploring and jumped on the metro a couple weeks ago to La Chapelle (metro 6).

Rue Cail

Rue Cail seems to be the heart of the community. You’ll find a great assortment of vegetarian restaurants, sweet shops, grocery stores, jewelry shops, and places to find Saris, shirts, and more. My first visit was also punctuated by an impromptu protest rally for an event in India.

There are two restaurants that get the most attention. Krishna Bhavan and Dishny. Both straddle the street with dual identities, formal and casual restaurants. Krishna Bhavan is 100% vegetarian and this makes me very happy. I love being able to order anything off the menu.

Krishna Bhavan

I visited the casual version of Krishna Bhavan. It reminded me of the neighborhood taco shops of San Diego or similar simple restaurants of any city and culture. They serve dosas, rice dishes, samosas, as well as a hearty fixed price menu.

I ordered the basic menu at 13 euros. This includes a drink, entree, dinner, and dessert. For the drink you get your choice of a lassi (mango, salt, sweet, or banana). Entrees include vegetable, tomato, or broccoli soup, potato, onion, eggplant, or banana dumpling, or a green salad. The dinner is either vegetable curry with your choice of rice (coconut, lemon, or yogurt), Biryani, Capatti, Barotha, or Poori. Finally for dessert you have the house cake, gulab jamoun (soft ball in a honey liquid), or laddu (a sweet ball with cardamom). It’s a big meal for a small price.

The vegetable soup (dal) is very nice. It’s a light flavored lentil soup. The vegetable curry w/rice was more like rice with curried vegetables. The rice is the star of the plate with the eggplant and potatoes as supporting actors. As with other authentic dishes, you need to be a bit careful eating the rice. It had some hard seeds that could cause pain if bit into them unexpectedly. But don’t let that stop you from enjoying it. The rice is very light; almost floating on the fork. Mine was mixed with coconut, onions, and spices. Finally, when you think you couldn’t eat another bite it is time for dessert.

Chai

One of my fondest memories of visiting Bangalore was this small opening into the kitchen of the Yahoo! offices. From this little passage came cups of the strongest, sweetest chai tea you can imagine. Forget what you now of chai from Starbucks. Chai should fill you body with warmth.

Need I bother mentioning my excitement when I looked into the small hole of the kitchen and saw the cooks making what looked like chai. It’s awesome! This is worth the visit alone.

Shops

This is an area to enjoy during the day. There are several grocery stores to purchase indian spices, teas, and ingredients. I also found my beloved instant meals that you can find at any Indian grocery store. These packets are filled with good, spicy curries that you simply heat and eat.

You’ll also find a variety of Hindu god and goddess sculptures, henna tattoos, jewelry, music, videos, saris, and other clothing. I found one shop that specialized in arts and crafts from around the world. The back of the store has a huge selection of jackets, pants, and shirts from Tibet and South Asia. The styles are fairly western but with the strong colors and unique lines of the region.

Indian Sweets

Indian sweets are hard to describe to someone that hasn’t experienced them before. They are brightly colored, geometric, soft, sweet, and full of spices. They are very different from the sweets you’d find elsewhere in Paris. They are typically softer and less sweet than you’d expect. Frankly most Americans that I know are not big fans of the Indian sweets. That said, they are better than any I’ve tried in California.

A little bit of nostalgia, comfort, and spice in Paris

I can’t believe it took me so long to discover this corner of Paris. Rue Cail brings back my fondest memories of eating with colleagues in Bangalore, shopping for spices with Jim, teaching my mother about curry and naan, and the joy of food cooked without a fear of spice. If you like Indian food you’ll love the rue Cail area. If you love Indian food and culture you will have found one of the finest places to visit in Paris.

Krishna Bhavan

24 Rue Cail (10°)

01 42 05 78 43

Metro: La Chapelle

Indian Restaurant

Wheelchair Access: bathrooms are in basement. Entrance is accessible.

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

Dishny Restaurant

25 Rue Cail (10°)

Metro: La Chapelle

Indian Restaurant

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• Jacques new restaurant: La Bélière. I’ve already written about my favorite chef. He’s got a new restaurant and Jazz bar. I’m planning on going this week to see his latest creations. review coming soon
• Rungis market, the largest market in Europe. It’s a massive distribution center for all kinds of produce, cheese, meat, and fish from around the world. This is where restaurants, market sellers, and stores go to get their supplies. It’s open to the public, but fruits and vegetables are only sold on week days.I will be visiting Rungis soon with the owner of Paris Sweet Bar cafe as a guide.
• Dans Le Noir: the restaurant where you eat in total darkness.
• L’Atlantide: supposedly the best couscous in Paris. I’ve been told they have good vegetarian options.
• I’ve been holding on to an old Air France magazine filled with addresses for Indian restaurants and shops in Paris. Dishny and Krishna Bhavan on rue Cail both sound inviting. New Review: Petite Mumbai de Paris
• I also have an old Gourmet Magazine (September 2008) with some great ideas: 11/12th arrindissements, 19th/20th arrindissements, 10th arrindissement by Alexander Lobrano

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I was about to eat at Restaurant aux Artistes as they mentioned several vegetarian options on their menu. However, it was getting late and I wasn’t ready for dinner in a restaurant filled with laughing, chatting, debating clients. Not that it is a bad thing, just not for last night. I wanted something more relaxing.

About a block further I came across a small pizzeria with a quaint facade and interesting options on the menu. Pizzeria Hinno is a small place with about 15 tables and several vegetarian pizza and pasta options.

I ordered the namesake pizza Hinno. It includes mushrooms, cream, an egg, and bacon. Naturally I requested it without the bacon. They have other options that would be good without the meat component, such as the 4 seasons pizza.

Pizza Hinno’s great food and service

The pizza was great. The cream and egg gave it a smooth taste. It was a very thin crust pizza and the flavors and textures blended perfectly. While I thought I was pacing myself; the plate was empty before I knew it.

No matter how good the pizza, it is only secondary to the service. The owner is the friendliest I have ever met. He has a smile that could melt Greenland and makes you feel like you are the only person in the city when he takes your order, delivers the food, or even the bill.

I left the restaurant satiated from the pizza and feeling much happier. I’ll definitely return to Hinno. It’s a destination restaurant, not the convenient place you stop off on the way home or to the hotel. I would gladly go out of my way for Hinno.

Location

Pizzaria Hinno is at 56, rue Falguière near metro: Pasteur (#3 and #12). As you exit the metro, walk towards the Montparnasse tower and it’s about a block away on the right side.

Vegan options and Accessibility

I don’t remember seeing anything on the menu that was vegan specific. I’m sure there was a green salad. However, they are very accommodating and would certainly remove the cheese from an existing pizza option.

Pizzaria Hinno has a small step at the entrance and I don’t know if the bathrooms are wheelchair accessible. The interior is small but not cramped.

Pizzeria Hinno

56, rue Falguière (15°)

01 43 27 01 14

Metro: Pasteur

Pizza restaurant

Wheelchair friendly: Entrance has a step

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

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The cafe has matured over the years. The massage chairs have been replaced with more dining tables and an increased attention towards dining instead of dozing. However you can still get your fortune told and enjoy a no stress dinner.

Chef Dean to the Rescue

I’ve mentioned my favorite chef in Paris, Jacques. What I may not have mentioned enough was his partner and sous chef Dean. The two of them created a menu that kept the No Stress Cafe from becoming a one line joke, “hey did you hear about the cafe with back rubs near Pigalle…”. Jacques has moved on to other restaurants and Dean is now the chef of the No Stress Cafe.

I can tell you from experience that Dean is a masterful chef. He has an international approach from his Asian heritage and years of cooking in Paris. His menu at No Stress is a fusion of Mediterranean, French, and Asian recipes.

Vegetarian Options

The standard menu features several vegetarian and vegan options.

• Lasagna Vegetarienne
• Salad La Vegetarienne
• Salad La Chevre Chaud
• Wok Vegetarienne

However, you can also request the Tapas menu to be vegetarian. This is what I had the other night and it was excellent! Dean gave me a bit extra but you can expect an assortment of tempura, pickled vegetables, lasagna, and other seasonal vegetables.

Dean also makes a killer bowl of vegetarian french onion soup. He uses white wine instead of stock and it blows away the french onion soup at Potager du Marais. It’s not on the menu, but he’ll make it the soup of the day if you make your reservation a few days in advance. Tell them Ted sent you.

Eating at No Stress cafe reminded me of sharing a dinner at chez Jacques and Dean. Ample portions of food from around the globe served family style with great affection.

No Stress Cafe

24 rue Clauzel (9°)

01 48 78 00 27

Metro: Pigalle, St. Georges

Cafe

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

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Restaurant Tibetain Dolma provided one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in a long time. It’s a small, intimate restaurant filled with charm… and that includes the people. The menu is a cross between Asian and Indian food; the flavors of India with the preparation of China.

I found the restaurant after walking around the city for hours and needed a place to plop down and eat something warm. I hardly got a chance to plop as the service was so warm and the food so interesting.

I started with a large pot of Chai tea. This is the real stuff, not the frappe-sweet version from Starbucks. It’s spicy, hot, and not too sweet. It was the second best chai I’ve ever had. The first was in the lunchroom of Yahoo! in Bangalore. The third was in a tea shop behind Pikes Place in Seattle.

The entree sounded like a curry. The menu described it as potatoes and peas in a curry flavor. What arrived were two racquetball sized, fried dumplings filled with potatoes and peas and seasoned with curry and other spices.

On the side was a home made chutney. Watch the chutney, there are some hard spices that could break a tooth. They look like raisins but are more like solid pepper seeds. Just don’t chomp down on them.

This was followed by two steamer baskets of spinach and cheese dumplings with another custom pepper sauce. The dumplings were great and quite filling. The waitress probably guessed I was American and thought I’d enjoy some chili sauce. After asking, she brought over some thicker pepper sauce. While I like the heat, the first one was more complex and tasted better with the dumplings.

The final course was home made yogurt with honey. This was the perfect finish to a fairly light lunch in a city filled with heavy crêpes. I planned on returning the next day but got sidetracked by a trip to Mont St. Michel. Which was definately a good idea.

Don’t miss this restaurant when you travel to Rennes. You’ll find warm service, great food, and a memorable meal.

Restaurant Tibetain Dolma

36 rue St. Melaine, Rennes 35000

Metro: St. Anne

02 99 36 84 63

• Overall: 5/5
• Vegetarian Options: 4.5/5
• Vegan Options: 4/5
• Value: 5/5
• Location: 4/5

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I found a few reviews; the following one in French summarizes the attention to luxury and food.

Très bonne impression

Idéalement situé face au théatre des Bouffes Parisiens, le Old Jawad est un indo pakistanais de qualité. La décoration, chic juste ce qu’il faut et moderne, donne une ambiance chaleureuse et cosy. On jouit largement de l’espace avec des tables bien disposées où on ne profite pas de la conversation des convives voisins. Le service est très efficace et sympathique et en plus l’apéritif et le digestif sont offerts. Une bonne adresse avec un rapport qualité/prix excellent.

RestoAParis.com

Old Jawad

1, Rue Monsigny (2°)

Metro: Quatre Septembre, Pyramides

01 42 96 16 61

Indian/Pakistani Restaurant

Gridskipper, a travel web site describes the special connection between France and Lebanese culture

Those in the know will visit Paris for excellent terroir cuisine to be sure, but they will also know to look for certain regional fare such as Meditarranean food. In that category (a diverse lot ranging from North African to Greek and Jewish cooking), Lebanese cuisine is a heavy hitter and a favorite amongst the locals. Narrow historical ties between the two countries (Lebanon was a French UN mandate from the end of WWI until WWII, earning Beirut the nickname of “Paris of the East”) have led to a steady influx of Lebanese immigrants into Paris, which of course has translated into a vibrant and bountiful restaurant scene.
Best Lebanese Dining in Paris: La Taverne du Nil

I visited this restaurant with a meat eating friend. We chose the Mézzé platter at 43 Euros to share family style. This is a selection of 9 small dishes. There was an assortment of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, from Hummus to sausage. We simply asked the waiter to bring a variety of mostly vegetarian and a couple meat dishes. You could also request purely vegetarian or vegan options. They have enough to chose from.

While this is a collection of small dishes, it certainly was not a small meal. The platter was seemingly bottomless. It’s a pricey meal at 43 Euros, but not a bad value. The food is fresh and well prepared. The service was great, the environment was great for conversations, and the location is central.

La Taverne du Nil

16, rue Le Regrattier (4e)

01 40 46 09 02

Metro: Pont-Marie

Lebanese restaurant

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

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