Ethnic restos in Paris: esp Malaysian, Turkish

[tonkichi]

Host’s Note:

I’ve moved some restaurant content from the topic on Shopping on Sundays here to separate the two subjects.

John

Tonkichi 3/25 said:

…..Les Pates Vivantes is a fairly new pulled-noodle joint in rue de Fauborg Montmarte, it is open Sunday evenings……For mainland Chinese food I go to Le Jardin Mandchourie in rue Vivaldi like every six months. As for other Chinese food I wait until I get to London, all the rest like Likafo, Sinorama, Mirama do not do it for us. though in a pinch I might settle for any cafe along Belleville. Thai: my favourite is Krua Thai in rue Montparnasse. There is also a small traiteur near Porte Maillot called Chez Chung which every Singaporean knows about because Singapore Airlines staff staying at the nearby Meridien hotel have been eating there for nearly 20 years and teaching them how to cook Singapore style fishball noodles, chicken with prawn paste and even sauteed kangkong. As for Indian I've tried a few places (vege and non-vege) from the budget ones along rue Cail and its environs as well as upmarket places like Ratn and honestly do not like any of them, the exception is Archana on rue Telegraph but it is rather far from where I live. The best thing about all these places are that they are open during the weekends.

Ptipois replied:

……I agree about the poor quality of the food at Paris Indian restaurants, including the cheapie ones between gare du Nord and Marx Dormoy. There are some nice snack shops though like Ganesha Corner on rue Cail, good chai and rotis. And the food shopping is terrific in that area. Best rasgullas I have found in Paris are sold in the lower part of rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis, in a Pakistani cafeteria right near the Arch.

There is a Turkish soup bar in the same street that I have to try someday... they even have tripe soup. Yum!

And I'd love, tonkichi, to hear more about Malaysian food here.

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There are 2 Malaysian restaurants that I know of. One is Chez Fung in the 15th, I didn't try it because in the TimeOut guide it describes their rojak as a salad with soy and honey dressing. Rojak sauce is made with fermented shrimp paste, sugar, lime juice, chilli paste and shredded gingerbud if available. Soy and honey do not figure. Plus the place is not open on Sundays.

The other is Malaysian restaurant on rue Cail. It was originally an Indian restaurant but an ex-Malaysian Indian bought it and added Malaysian dishes. The new menu did not take off, the dishes we tried were lamentable and the place is reverting to Indian again. The workers from the nearby Cash and Carry recommends it for Indian meat dishes though....

We try to cook Malaysian food at home. Once or twice a year the Malaysian embassy organises food-centred events that the public can join in, e.g. last year's Hari Raya celebrations at the end of Ramadhan and also tourism promotion activities. The Indonesian embassy also organised a very successful event last year. If I have any news of such activities I will disseminate it from my blog or by email e.g.

http://umami.typepad.com/umami/2007/10/selamat-hari-ra.html

http://umami.typepad.com/umami/2007/05/the_price_of_sa.html

Edited March 26, 2008 by John Talbott (log)

[tonkichi]

There is a Turkish soup bar in the same street that I have to try someday... they even have tripe soup. Yum!

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Thanks Ptipois, your knowledge is astounding and I'm learning so much from you.

Turkish soup bar eh? We've just came back from a delicious trip to Istanbul but I did not eat any tripe soup. Have to go try it out!

Edited March 25, 2008 by tonkichi (log)