"Ethnic" foods in Paris

[zeitoun]

I will be in Paris with my wife for a few days in May, this forum has certainly provided me with a lot of information and ideas as far as fine dining and smaller neighborhood restaurants go, but i was wondering if anyone had any recommendations concerning "ethnic" foods in Paris (as in non French/Western European food)

The only thing I know about "ethnic" food in Paris is where to score good Lebanese food (and it is much better than in the US!!). I've been to Barbes in the past to eat a good merguez sandwich, visited chinatown in the 13th Arr. many springs ago, and I am somewhat familar with some spots in Le Marais.

Alas, my memory is fading and I would love to know where I could go exactly for good North African food (especially couscous), Vietnamese, Chinese, Senegalese etc...

[Ptipois]

 

Alas, my memory is fading and I would love to know where I could go exactly for good North African food (especially couscous), Vietnamese, Chinese, Senegalese etc...

←

My favorite couscous in Paris are served in very simple restaurants. Try Chez Hamadi-Le Boute-Grill on rue Saint-Séverin (5e) and La Mitidja on rue Lacépède (5e too), truly wonderful but very, very simple. I'm suspicious of chic couscous in restaurants, if you insist on grand couscous it's always better at home. Only simple couscous is hard to imitate.

Chinese-Vietnamese: Tricotin, avenue de Choisy, is one good cheap place. Large and always crowded.

Vietnamese: in the covered arcade above Paristore, avenue d'Ivry. Several little places, the best being the last one at the end of the mall.

Senegalese: in Paris, the West African restaurants I like are not Senegalese. I don't think Senegalese food is the most interesting one in the subcontinent. For nice Beninese food, try Fifa, rue Joseph-Dijon (18e). Outstanding poulet braisé at Chez Zoé la Congolaise, 74, rue de Ménilmontant (20e), but I had to wait for it for 1 hour and a half. Was worth the wait though.

[chefzadi]

Aside from North African I rarely tried "ethnic" food untill I moved to the States and met my wife. When we took our daughter (who was 6 months old at the time) to Paris we ate at Mansouria. This was about 6 years ago. I remember the food as being very good, the lamb especially. Moroccans prepare their semolina couscous a bit differently it's not what my palate is used to, but I can say that it was prepared properly according to the Moroccan way. The service and the decor are pleasant. The place is better than most North African places in the States and better than the tourist traps in Morocco. Maybe not as good as home cooking, but it's not like all the North Africans I know are fabulous cooks.

As for Algerian I can't recommend a specific place because I get all the great home cooked stuff.

I've had homecooked West African, Senegalese is not my most favorite. One of the most famous dishes they do is a stew of sorts with lots and lots of peanut butter in it. I think Black African in Paris or London is better than what's available in the States. I would follow Ptipois selection.

[SuzySushi]

On one of our trips to Paris, we dined at a Senegalese restaurant called Paris-Dakar (10e, near Gare du Nord). I remember trying and being impressed by Tieppe Bou Dienne, a complex fish-and-rice dish.

A friend also took us to several Moroccan restaurants, but I don't remember their names...

The food at the Mosque de Paris is also quite good, and the dining room and outdoor tea room are exquisite. (Go for lunch or tea, and see it in the sunny daylight.)

[Ptipois]

I've had homecooked West African, Senegalese is not my most favorite. One of the most famous dishes they do is a stew of sorts with lots and lots of peanut butter in it. I think Black African in Paris or London is better than what's available in the States. I would follow Ptipois selection.

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That stew was certainly mafé, but actually the peanut-sauce based stews are known all over Subsaharian Africa. The very best I had so far was from Cameroun. As a rule, African food gets better following a West-East direction, Senegal food being a bit coarse and greasy sometimes, the best cooking being found in Togo and Benin (and Nigeria). Cameroun and Congo have many delicious dishes too. In Paris, I'd recommend sticking to Togolese and Beninese places, as well as Camerounese restaurants (there are quite a few, sometimes tiny places, in the 11e, 18e, 19e and 20e).

For "the other" Subsaharian cuisine, try the Ethiopian place I mentioned in another thread, Ménélik.

With apologies to Suzy: I do not recommend the restaurant at the Mosquée de Paris, though the setting is beautiful.

Edited April 14, 2005 by Ptipois (log)

[daemon]

Outstanding poulet braisé at Chez Zoé la Congolaise, 74, rue de Ménilmontant (20e)

Sounds great, but I can not find any information about this place on the net, even on the french yellow pages that don't mention any restaurant at this address.

couold you tell me more ?

thanks

[Ptipois]

Outstanding poulet braisé at Chez Zoé la Congolaise, 74, rue de Ménilmontant (20e)

Sounds great, but I can not find any information about this place on the net, even on the french yellow pages that don't mention any restaurant at this address.

couold you tell me more ?

thanks

←

The last time I was there was a couple of years ago. I haven't been there since. Maybe they have moved. The only way to find out is to go there directly.

[zeitoun]

Thanks all for your recommendations so far, this is extremely helpful!! Has anyone heard or been to this couscous place called Chez Omar? People I know seem to highly recommend it but I suspect it is one of those "chic" couscous places like the 404.

[touaregsand]

Thanks all for your recommendations so far, this is extremely helpful!! Has anyone heard or been to this couscous place called Chez Omar? People I know seem to highly recommend it but I suspect it is one of those "chic" couscous places like the 404.

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If you've heard good things about it and you're interested I suggest you go. I've tried fancy, simple, fast food and homecooked. My most memorably homecooked Algerian meal when we visited my husband's family for the first time and I saw a whole (I mean WHOLE) freshly slaughtered lamb on the kitchen table. Quite a sight for a city girl used to seeing butchered and politely packaged meats in supermarkets. Over the course of the next few days, we ate lamb nothing but lamb (it seemed) prepared in different ways according to the cut. Anyway the "fancier" restaurants in France can be very good, different from what's available in the States. The oldest Moroccan restaurant in LA has belly dancers and it's a show for tourists. The Red Door is way too expensive and tries to be too "French" influenced by a chef (the last time I checked) is neither North African or French. In the past year or so couple of promising places have opened here in LA.

As far as I'm concerned the more upscale North African places in France offer something that I can't get in the States.

[Culinista]

My hands-down favorite is Wally Le Saharien. Wally grew up as a nomad in the Algerian desert and was camp cook. His cuisine uses a minimum of water. While most couscous in Paris comes with a stew-like sauce, his is absolutely dry, almost pure white, and the lightest texture imaginable. It takes 2 days to make, and he rakes it to extreme fluffiness. It will be raked one more time as it is served to you, with house merguez and roast lamb. The (obligatory?) set menu is pricy for N. African food but worth it: includes a rich vegetable soup, grilled fish, and an excellent pigeon bisteeya. They serve Algerian wine.

A Moroccan friend pointed me to L'Homme Bleu in the 11th, in a very out of the way place near Parmentier (55 bis rue Jean-Pierre Thimbaud). It's a fun place, tiny and does not take reservations last I heard. Excellent vegetarian and lamb tagines, very friendly to a single diner. I did not try their couscous.

[Ptipois]

Thanks all for your recommendations so far, this is extremely helpful!! Has anyone heard or been to this couscous place called Chez Omar? People I know seem to highly recommend it but I suspect it is one of those "chic" couscous places like the 404.

←

I had forgotten about "Chez Omar", but you may go there with your eyes shut. It's a great place, popular, simple, generous. You may have a little trouble finding a table but just wait for your turn. Service is adorable, couscous is delicious. The lamb kidney brochette is heavenly. Not the same kind of place as Le 404, which to me is the one acceptable Momo place, though a bit overhyped and overpriced, but nothing like the London Chez Momo. The food is okay, above average, but not worth walking miles for.

I also heard a lot of nice things about Le Pied de Chameau, near the Beaubourg center, but I have never been there. I'm too busy returning to hole-in-the-wall couscous places that have everything I can wish for.

[touaregsand]

I'm too busy returning to hole-in-the-wall couscous places that have everything I can wish for.

I love those places too! The one's I've been to in Paris and Lyon seem to mostly run by Algerians and Tunisians. I think at every level of North African restaurant France has the best outside of the Maghreb itself.

As for Momo's in London (Mourad Mazouz is Algerian, immigrated to France, moved to England and he also has Sketch with some association with Pierre Gagnaire) and The Red Door in Los Angeles, both places seem to be for the "beautiful people" and celebrities.

[chefzadi]

Zeitoun-

After you eat at Chez Omar you can get a haircut at Farid Coiffure. Regulation Algerian man's buzzcut. I'll get you the address if you want.

You should post some Lebanese restaurants in this thread, I know I'm interested for my next visit. I'm sure your homemade is better though.

[zeitoun]

If France has the best North African food outside of the Maghreb, I would think that the same rule applies to Lebanese food as well. It is certainly in a different class than what can be had here in the US.

A few spots I would recommend in Paris are:

Al Dar (in the 16th and also by St Michel)

Al Diwan (Ave George V)

Noura and Pavillon Noura (Ave Marceau)

Fairouz (in the 15th forgot the street, Rue de Grenelle i think)

Fakhreddine and Ajami (both in the 8th arr.)

just to name a few...

Some of these places have a "traiteur" annex such as Noura, Diwan or Al Dar which sell excellent falafel, shawarma, chick taouk or chich kebab sandwiches. They also sell lebanese pastries, nuts, mezze platters to go.

In that list, I would recommend Fakhreddine and Pavillon Noura for a nice sit down lunch or dinner and Al Dar or Diwan for a quick sandwich.

And if I make it to Chez Omar, i'll go all the way and visit Farid Coiffure for an Algerian buzzcut, just for the experience