Best Vietnamese in Paris?

[Jason Perlow]

I've been told by many that Paris has some of the best Vietnamese food in the entire world.

What Vietnamese restaurants in Paris would you recommend, and why?

[Bux]

David Russell, in his very long list of recommendations noted Tan Dinh (60, rue de Verneuil, 75007 Paris, 01.45.44.04.84). It's the one Vietnamese restaurant I keep hearing about. One of the things people talk about is the excellent wine list. You might not favor wine with Vietnamese food, but this is Paris. Tan Dinh is not far from the Musée d'Orsay. You can read David's comments in the Inexpensive Restuarants in Paris thread. I haven't been there, nor have I eaten in a Vietnamese restaurant in Paris in years. The Michelin Guide has a list of 14 Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants all lumped together. Sometimes the names are a give away to the cuisine, but not always.

[Fat Guy]

At the risk of sounding hopelessly provincial, you'd have a very hard time convincing me to eat anything in France other than French food.

[robert brown]

Steven, generally you're correct. It's just that after several days one might get a hankering for something different. I find switching to a meal at a Chinese and/or Vietnamese place a pleasant change. I can't recommend a Vietnamese place "per se" in Paris. Chinese-wise I always stuck to the upscale places like Tse Yang, or the one in spitting distance of the Beaubourg whose name escapes me, for finesse Chinese unlike just about anything you can get here. And they're not really pricey.

[Fat Guy]

How many days is several? 365? :)

[robert brown]

I suppose you're right if you consider it junk food.

[Bux]

In my first visit to Paris on a student budget, I think I ate about half my meals in middle eastern and Balkan restaurants in the 5th arrondisement. They seemed very French at the time, perhaps because the French have tended to remake all restaurants in the French image and all those little restaurants served a three course meal, albeit three very simple courses and dessert might have been prepackaged ice cream of yoghurt. These days, you'll find a host of gyro and pita sandwich places in the same area and the French are less successful at molding others into their own image but Tan Dinh still has a great selection of red wines.

My instinct is to agree with Fat Guy and stick with local food, but you know the locals eat other things and it's kind of interesting to try them as well. How long you're going to be in an area is always a factor. Hong Kong supposedly has some interesting western restaurants, but I wasn't there long enough to make a dent in the Chinese restaurants. I wouldn't find it unreasonable to choose a Vietnamese restaurant or one serving couscous after a week in Paris.

[Orik]

Tan Dinh is a very nice vietnamese restaurant, but coming from the US, you'll be underwhlemed by the price/value ratio. For a meal consisting of two appetizers (examplary shrimp spring rolls and duck rice-violis) and a good main dish of beef fillet slices in five spice sauce, we paid 600FF (including a half bottle of some cheap young red Bordeaux). Normally I would agree that you should focus on French food in Paris, but we arrived there after a week of force feeding on foie gras and it was late, really.

Note that Tan Dinh has two floors - the top one being a reasonably elegant dining room where you're expected to spend much more on wine than on your food, while the lower floor looks and feels like your neighborhood chinese take away joint (the wine list is more limited to match the atmosphere). If you come without a reservation you'll be seated downstairs.

[marlena spieler]

why not just take the metro to belleville and walk around there. on.....oh, lets see rue louis bonnet there is one place i've enjoyed.....also i really like the big one on the corner, but only for pho. the thing i like about the food in belleville is that it hasn't been frenchified and as much as i adore most things being frenchified, and of course the fact that vietnamese food is by its nature somewhat frenchified, i still like the real thing, with the plate of herbs and sprouts etc. (some parisian vietnamese places actually serve the pho as a very refined soup with herbs and sprouts already in it--mon dieu!).

i've heard the the thirteenth (ie chinatown) is full of vietnamese places but i always end up at l'avant gout when i get out in that neighbourhood.

and there is a place right at arts and metiers which is good, and cheap, but only open til 3 or 4 every afternoon......and what use am i anyway: i forget its name!

do try belleville though.........

bon appetit,

marlena

[edm]

i've heard the the thirteenth (ie chinatown) is full of vietnamese places but i always end up at l'avant gout when i get out in that neighbourhood.

Hi Marlena,

how do you like "l'avant gout" ?

Been there in January, had the 30 euros menu. Left me with mixed impressions. Had the "saumon marine comme des harengs", which was nice, but was disappointed with a "tendron de veau, puree de celeri-rave et beurre noisette" : too dry, and sauce didnt quite do it. Left me feeling like i should have gone for the 10 euros lunch menu, which is a really good deal.

Paris' chinatown has indeed some really good and inexpensive vietnamese places. Used to go there every week-end for nearly 20 years, and still go back to the same spots.

Try "le tricotin", near the Porte de Choisy subway station. Open non-stop from 9am to midnight, always packed. Really good, simple, reasonably-priced

vietnamese. Tasty soups ! But everything there is fresh and satisfying.

"La mer de Chine", also in the 13th. Heard a lot of good things about it, and i'm sure it's worth a shot.

I deeply miss Paris for the amazing overall quality of the food. The little bakeries, the "Banette 1800" for breakfast, cheese shops, caves a vin and other treasures...

[thefoodhunter]

PIMENT D’OR

My friend Christelle is having a professional crisis. She has decided, at the ripe old age of 25, to embark on a career change. She wants to apply her well-honed marketing skills to the catering industry and has asked me to advise her. Christelle is Vietnamese so I suggested she take us to her favourite Vietnamese restaurant, Le Piment d’Or to discuss the project. Christelle ordered in Vietnamese and I enjoyed a Perrier with salted prune cocktail as we waited. Sounds like a weird aperitif? It is. A dried salted prune is covered with sugar and ice topped off with Perrier and stirred until the prune falls apart and turns the water brown. This is an acquired taste, a bit like salted liquorice, but very pleasant. Piment d’Or seats about 40, there were mostly Vietnamese clients during our visit. It is cheerfully decorated in yellow and red and so authentic you need a native speaker, or this review, to know what to order.

Our first dish was ‘salade de boeuf et liserons d’eau’, cold cooked chopped beef and chopped bindweed (a celery like vegetable) on a bed of greens and marinated vegetables topped with chopped peanuts and crispy fried onions. The next dish, ‘crepes de lune à la vapeur’, is small disks of rice crepes topped with chives, taro paste and dried shrimp flakes. They fit on the tip of a spoon and are wonderful when dipped in ‘nuoc mam’ (fish) sauce. I finished my salted prune drink and ordered some jasmine tea for the rest of the meal.

We devoured ‘ravioli vapeur’ (rice flour crepe stuffed with shredded pork and black mushrooms and topped with slices of Vietnamese sausage. You are meant to wrap the ravioli in lettuce with peppermint, mint, and a leaf Christelle described as ‘fish’ leaf that has a very fishy taste. Then we had ‘crepes de lune frites’ the fried version of the steamed ‘crepes de lune’ above topped with a whole shrimp, fried and served with mixed greens and marinated vegetables. TOur next dish was a “crepe Vietnamienne’ a huge crepe filled with bean sprouts, shredded pork, shrimp and taro paste. It looks like an omelette and you cut it into pieces and wrap them in lettuce leaves with mint to make a crunchy refreshing nibble, though a tad too messy for catering. The ‘porc et poisson au caramel’ is fish and pork chunks slowly cooked in spicy caramel in a cast-iron pot. It is a sweet and savoury extravaganza!

We decided the ‘brochette de boeuf’ would be another good catering choice. Cooked marinated shredded beef and chopped herbs are wrapped in a ‘la lôt’” leaf (also known as a pepper leaf) into little bundles that look like Greek dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) and are served on angel hair noodles topped with chopped peanuts. Next we ate delicious ‘crabes en mue’ sliced deep-fried soft-shell crabs with a salt and pepper coating. Christelle told me only a few Vietnamese restaurants serve this dish using fresh soft-shell crabs. The ‘crevettes sel et poivre’ are addictive and we polished off two whole plates of the crunchy titbits. Our last dish was an exotic ‘soupe de poissons au tamarin’ a tureen of fish, shrimp, chopped fennel and spring onions in tamarind juice. Tamarind is sometimes known as an ‘India date’. It has small seeds and a sour-sweet pulp that is used like lemon juice in Asian cooking. It is also one of the main ingredients in Worcestershire sauce. The total price for our meal came to € 105.76 euros for 4 people.

Piment d’Or

111, avenue d’Ivry

75013 Paris

Tel: 01 53 79 20 60

Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

[marcus]

I stopped in once at Tan Dinh a number of years ago when it still had a Michelin star and was underwhelmed, Piment D'Or reads like a much finer choice. Tan Dinh's claim to fame is its list of Pomerols, perhaps the best in France. It is also notorious for not accepting any credit cards, which is extremely unusual in Paris today, and if you plan to order one of their very expensive wines, you need to be prepared.

[pirate]

It's been several years but I've twice enjoyed Le Palanquin in the 6th near San Sulpice.

[menton1]

At the risk of sounding hopelessly provincial, you'd have a very hard time convincing me to eat anything in France other than French food.

AMEN!!

[Craig Camp]

As nice as the food is at Tan Dinh -- the real reason to go there has always been the spectacular wine list. While every region is well represented their collection of Pomerol is unbelievable.

Although it has been a few years since my last visit, I was always very pleased by the food and blown away by the wines we drank.

[balex]

The food in Tan Dinh is nice, but it really isn't Vietnamese in any meaningful sense.

Lac Hong in the 16e (rue Lauriston) is pretty good, but the last time I was there it was sub-par and the old guy who used to run it was no longer in evidence.

Worth checking out -- really delicate fresh flavours; impeccable cooking.

[marlena spieler]

i've heard the the thirteenth (ie chinatown) is full of vietnamese places but i always end up at l'avant gout when i get out in that neighbourhood.

Hi Marlena,

how do you like "l'avant gout" ?

Been there in January, had the 30 euros menu. Left me with mixed impressions. Had the "saumon marine comme des harengs", which was nice, but was disappointed with a "tendron de veau, puree de celeri-rave et beurre noisette" : too dry, and sauce didnt quite do it. Left me feeling like i should have gone for the 10 euros lunch menu, which is a really good deal.

Paris' chinatown has indeed some really good and inexpensive vietnamese places. Used to go there every week-end for nearly 20 years, and still go back to the same spots.

Try "le tricotin", near the Porte de Choisy subway station. Open non-stop from 9am to midnight, always packed. Really good, simple, reasonably-priced

vietnamese. Tasty soups ! But everything there is fresh and satisfying.

"La mer de Chine", also in the 13th. Heard a lot of good things about it, and i'm sure it's worth a shot.

I deeply miss Paris for the amazing overall quality of the food. The little bakeries, the "Banette 1800" for breakfast, cheese shops, caves a vin and other treasures...

hi edm,

late answer, lets see, about 2 1/2 months late......been travelling. i find l'avant gout mixed, too; sometimes i just walk by during the day to see what the daily special is. daily lunch special: a bargain.

I loved their classic, the pot au feu de Porc; its a sort of cured hammy pork, and comes simmered with sweet potatoes and fennel, served with a dull (at least it was when i ate it, though perhaps overly subtle might be the correct term) mustard sauce, but absolutely sensational little chips of fried thinly sliced gingerroot. yummmmm. i could just strap a feedbag of those little spicy bits onto my face and be a happy girl!

lets see, other standouts included: a cocktail that involved lobster in a gazpachoey liquid. and a dessert that included black olives and a basil caramel, i think a tomato gelee too on the same plate. a weird dish, but well, i remember and love it. might not order it again, though. the memory is very stimulating though so i'm glad i ate it. i remember good cheeses too.

back to the paris vietnamese restaurant substance of this thread, thanks lots for your suggestions! i shall pursue them!

marlena

www.marlenaspieler.com

Oh, and ps to anyone who can't see eating anything other than French food in Paris:

French food is wonderful fantastic delightful (or can be) but can get heavy if you're eating out all the time. one just wants something light and vivacious and spicy every so often (ie something without duck fat or cream, too).

[Bux]

Oh, and ps to anyone who can't see eating anything other than French food in Paris:

French food is wonderful fantastic delightful (or can be) but can get heavy if you're eating out all the time. one just wants something light and vivacious and spicy every so often (ie something without duck fat or cream, too).

I find plenty of variety in French cooking. Some of it is light and plenty of it is without duck or cream. I remember a complaint from someone about not being able to find duck on the menu during a short stay in Provence. You will pretty much need to leave the repetoire to get spicey however. My opinion on this is that it depends on how long your stay is in France and how many times you've visited in the past. On the other hand, it's always seemed to me that cous cous is French cooking and Vietnamese is almost French food. Everything is relative.

[edm]

Oh, and ps to anyone who can't see eating anything other than French food in Paris:

French food is wonderful fantastic delightful (or can be) but can get heavy if you're eating out all the time. one just wants something light and vivacious and spicy every so often (ie something without duck fat or cream, too).

alsatienne, picarde, normande, bretonne, basque, provencale, bourguignonne, bordelaise, francilienne, auvergnate, corse... Quelle cuisine desirez-vous ?

And, there's plenty more of cuisines and specialties within France to be discovered and enjoyed.

It is such a typical comment that you made. And It is those comments that result in this France/Spain intoxicating, useless and unerving debate.

It's especially surprising coming from someone who seems to spend a fair amount of time in Paris.

Funny how cliches remain strong even in the face of reality...

[marlena spieler]

Oh, and ps to anyone who can't see eating anything other than French food in Paris:

French food is wonderful fantastic delightful (or can be) but can get heavy if you're eating out all the time. one just wants something light and vivacious and spicy every so often (ie something without duck fat or cream, too).

alsatienne, picarde, normande, bretonne, basque, provencale, bourguignonne, bordelaise, francilienne, auvergnate, corse... Quelle cuisine desirez-vous ?

And, there's plenty more of cuisines and specialties within France to be discovered and enjoyed.

It is such a typical comment that you made. And It is those comments that result in this France/Spain intoxicating, useless and unerving debate.

It's especially surprising coming from someone who seems to spend a fair amount of time in Paris.

Funny how cliches remain strong even in the face of reality...

sorry, my position stands!!!!!

whilst no one ADORES the much of the food of paris--and that includes the various regions and former colonial territories that are so well represented culinarily and humanly in Paris, there comes a time.......

there comes a time when a person, this person, this person who loves French food with great affection, tenderness, and respect, oh and of course lust too.....there comes a time when this person wants something spicy and light. something that might be:

pho. or italian pastas. or tandoori chicken. or MEXICAN FOOD (that is good mexican food). Morrocan or Tunisian or Algerian food.

yes i love French food totally unabashedly and without reservation.

BUT I'm just not a monogamous eater. and there aren't enough regional cuisines in France to keep me faithful. I just gotta nip around to the spicier fields occasionally.

But I always come home, so never fear.

i mean, after all, at home there is that delicous plateau des fromages.

[vserna]

At the risk of sounding hopelessly provincial, you'd have a very hard time convincing me to eat anything in France other than French food.

Exactly. That's the same reason I never eat anything but Gray's Papaya dogs when in New York.

[Jason Perlow]

Marlena, I can certainly understand the position you are coming from, you spend a great deal of time over there and I can understand getting bored with a particular type of cuisine (Marlena should be crowned Ms. Eurostar), but for most of us culinary touristas and not semi-permanent residents like yourself, we tend to seek French food we don't get in the US and not stuff like Vietnamese.

Are you living full time in Paris yet? How is the move from England coming along?

[marlena spieler]

(Marlena should be crowned Ms. Eurostar)

...........for most of us culinary touristas and not semi-permanent residents like yourself, we tend to seek French food we don't get in the US

Merci, Jason, for the Ms Eurostar title! I shall hold it close to my heart forever!

And, oh, I do understand the passion to taste everything French and Parisian that hits a person when they step onto French terre firma. It happens to me too: the frantic search for and then the supreme pleasure when i bite into the best baguette, best fromage, sip strongest coffee and sit in the most delicious wine bar, eat melting rillettes spread onto poilane bread, with a tarragony cornichon alongside, you get the picture.

And you're right, its because I am there so much, and when we get a bit richfooded out, i start yearning for spicy foreign exotic. (by the way, lebanese and turkish food is good in paris too. and the occasional fondue chinoise and Andalucian tapas etc ) (less success in the mexican department) Iand i not long ago had a beautiful piroshky in paris) and its even the only place outside of tel aviv that i know of where you can get barbecued foie gras, but the best, the best the best food in paris is of course the best French. If I were in Paris for a short time I wouldn't THINK of eating anything but! French food IS what being in France is all about, n'est ce pas?

And I LOVE the tradition and culture and pride in sharing it that goes with France/Paris' cuisine.

alas, we are not resettled there yet. Do any egulleteers know of an apt for let in paris: cheap and cheerful is the way i gotta go. short term so that i can get there and look for a long term place to live.

right now i know there is a rose-scented pierre hermes macaroon with my name on it. eurostar, you're my pal.

xxx

marlena la spieler

[fresh_a]

There are good Turkish restaurants in Paris?? Please don't tell me near the Saint Michel area...

[marlena spieler]

There are good Turkish restaurants in Paris?? Please don't tell me near the Saint Michel area...

theres a sweet little turkish place i like near the pompidou, sort of kitty-corner from the hotel de sejour one of the cheapest and most cheerful hotels in all of paris (and so well placed). the restaurant seems to be owned by japanese, and seems to have a japanese cook in the kitchen, i forget the name, perhaps its antalya.

along the rue faubourg st denis is it, there are lots of very cheap turkish places, where everyday a different humble meat and vegetable stew simmers in front of the de rigeur doner kebab roasting and turning sometimes appealingly, sometimes slightly frighteningly (its germs i'm thinking here), where there are communcal tables, and where a jug of cold water is always on the table and glasses for the pouring.

also along that street too is a terrific bakery where lahmajoun and very good ekmek is made in woodburning oven.

mmmmm......i smell some onion seeds (nigella) and sesame seeds, someone is eating Greek bread two inches from my face. omigod i gotta eat. right now.

x