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Eat ethnic in Paris

Published: 30/08/2010 - Filed under: Archive » 2010 » September 2010 » Destinations » Features » Features » Destinations » Features » Destinations » Europe » Archive » 2010 » September 2010 »

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John Brunton samples an array of international restaurants in the French capital

While most visitors to Paris find it difficult to resist a gourmet French meal in a classic bistrot or brasserie, the City of Light also has a dazzling selection of ethnic restaurants. These colourful, casual locales offer a fun alternative and are often very reasonably priced. Here are ten addresses for a Parisian tour du monde. Some English is spoken in all.

LEBANON

Restaurant Liza

Open for five years, the elegant restaurant of Liza Soughayar, originally from Beirut, has quickly made a name for its creative, modern interpretation of traditional Lebanese cuisine. Located just by the Paris Stock Exchange in arrondissement two, this is popular with the business set for lunch, attracting a more glamorous crowd in the evening. Among the meze starters, try the moudardara, a rice and lentil salad with crispy onions and orange wedges, or kafta samak, a sea bream tartare with dill and chives. Desserts are irresistible, especially sfouf Liza, a saffron-scented semolina cake with sweetened pumpkin and pistachio-flavoured clotted cream.
- 14 Rue de la Banque (Bourse metro); tel +33 155 350 066; restaurant-liza.com
- Open for lunch and dinner Mon-Fri, dinner Sat, lunch Sun. Two courses €40, set lunch €16 to €21.

NORTH AFRICA

Chez Omar

Paris has a large North African population, and the two classic dishes of couscous and tagine can be found in hundreds of Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian restaurants around the capital. While gourmets looking to splash out should book at the chic Le Mansouria (mansouria.fr), in arrondissement 11, most people’s favourite is Chez Omar, a bustling locale in arrondissement three, with a splendid 1930s dining room. The couscous royale is a feast of succulent lamb, beef, chicken, spicy merguez sausages, a huge pot of vegetables in broth, and a bowl of steamed couscous. Don’t be afraid to ask for extra vegetables and couscous, as this is included in the price.
- 47 Rue de Bretagne (Temple metro); tel +33 142 723 626
- Open for lunch and dinner Mon-Sat, dinner only on Sun. Two courses €25.

JAPAN

Oto-Oto

While Japanese businessmen will probably take their clients to one of the top, ultra-expensive sushi bars that line the Sainte-Anne neighbourhood near Opera, a new address on the Left Bank by Saint-Germain is attracting more curious clientele. Owned by a restaurateur from Tokyo’s Ginza district, Oto-Oto goes beyond the classic sushi, sashimi (raw seafood) and yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers), reinventing traditional Japanese dishes using seasonal French produce such as grilled sea bream, Brittany whelks and white asparagus tempura. At lunch you can try one of the green teas, while over dinner it is difficult to resist one of the many types of tempting sake.
- 6 Rue du Sabot (Saint Germain-des-Prés metro); tel +33 142 222 156; ramla.net
- Open Mon-Sat for lunch and dinner. Two courses €39, set lunch €12-28.

GEORGIA

Deda

Rue Coquillière in Les Halles is where Paris’s equivalent of London’s Covent Garden’s food market used to be, and here a brilliant new restaurant has opened up showcasing the utterly delicious cuisine and wines of the Republic of Georgia. The cooking at Deda is an intriguing mix of influences, from Russian and Turkish to Greek and Middle Eastern. Be sure to try khinkalis, plump ravioli stuffed with beef and herbs, and wonderfully tender chakapuli, slow-baked organic lamb. The bread is freshly made in a traditional Georgian clay oven in the middle of the dining room.
- 8/10 Rue Coquillière (Les Halles metro); tel +33 153 408 240; deda-restaurant.com
- Lunch Wed-Sat, dinner Mon-Sat. Two courses €30, set lunch €17.

CHINA

Restaurant Hawaienne

The major Chinatown in Paris is centred in the colourful Belleville neighbourhood. Tucked down a backstreet, the tiny, no-frills Hawaienne was one of the earliest places to open up here in the 1970s, run by refugee boat people. Just as popular with Asian diners as Parisians, it’s known for its hearty soups – cahn chua ca is a tangy tamarind fish soup, pho tai chin is a traditional recipe from the Gulf of Tonkin, and bun bo que is a noodle soup with pork and chicken.
- 15 Rue Louis Bonnet (Belleville metro); tel +33 143 571 564
- Open daily for lunch and dinner. Two courses €15.

INDIA

Passage de Pondicherry

Paris can’t compare with the UK when it comes to Indian restaurants but it does boast its own miniscule Little India, hidden down Passage Brady, a charming art nouveau alley near Strasbourg Saint-Denis metro. Menus tend to be tailored to French tastes, which surprisingly are not very adventurous, but one exception is the Passage de Pondicherry, which opened 30 years ago. Although you can order classic tandoori chicken or fish tikka, it specialises in delicious Tamil dishes such as masala dosa, a thin crepe, and the Pondicherry royal biryani.
- 84 Passage Brady; tel +33 153 346 310
- Open daily for lunch and dinner. Two courses €15-20.

FINLAND

Mille Lacs

A snug, homely eatery serving Finnish cuisine has to be the last thing most people would expect to find in Paris, but this is a great insider’s address, quite close to the Bastille quarter. Genial chef and owner Leea Karnaattu produces creative dishes in her kitchen and then pops out to socialise with customers at the end of the evening, suggesting they try one of her dozens of vodkas. Importing most products from her native land, the gravlax salmon is outstanding, while marinated herrings are served with a beetroot and horseradish salad. Winter sees reindeer cooked with lingonberries from the Arctic Circle.
- 240 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine (Nation metro); tel +33 143 720 605; lesmillelacs.com
- Open for lunch and dinner Tues-Sat. Two courses €25, set lunch €17.

JEWISH

Yayin

While tourists seeking Jewish cuisine usually head for the historic Marais neighbourhood, locals are more likely to be found in the chic 17th arrondissement, where the city’s first kosher wine bar opened at the end of last year. Yayin offers a wide range of wines from Israel and France, and a menu that proposes two vintages per dish. The cuisine is termed nouvelle juive, but the chef is actually Vietnamese, so don’t be surprised if you find the gefilte fisch (filled fish) is steamed in a banana leaf with coconut milk.
- 33 Rue Cardinet (Wagram metro); tel +33 143 806 360; yayin-restaurant.com
- Open for lunch Sun-Fri, and dinner Mon-Thurs. Two courses €40, set lunch €19.50.

CREOLE

Corossol

The Marché des Enfants Rouges in République is one of the city’s oldest markets, dating back to 1628, but has become a fashionable location for foodies, with many stalls transformed into casual eateries offering Japanese, Moroccan, Italian and, in Corossol’s case, Creole cuisine. Charming owner N’Julienne comes from Cameroon but offers delicious French Caribbean specialities such as accra (fish cakes), colombo de poulet (chicken curry), and spicy boudin antillais sausages. The fun décor features her colourful paintings, and she makes some amazing flavoured rums.
- 33 Rue Charlot (Filles du Calvaire metro); tel +33 148 873 271
- Lunch only, Tues-Sun. Two courses €15

IVORY COAST

A LA Banane Ivoirienne

While the Francophone African countries of Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali have a large presence in Paris, finding good places that showcase their cuisine is not always easy. Kouassi N’Guessan opened A La Banane Ivoirienne in Bastille 20 years ago and has a loyal clientele, especially on Friday nights, when live music plays. N’Guessan spends all afternoon preparing traditional Ivoirian dishes including mafé de boeuf, cooked with a rich peanut sauce, and a chilli-hot poulet mango atoko. The ti punch, with rum and ginger, is legendary but lethal. Book in advance.
- 10 Rue de la Forge Royale (Faidherbe-Chaligny metro); tel +33 143 704 990
- Dinner, Tues-Sat. Two courses €25.

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