I did a quick look at all the pages in this forum but did not see one.
Does anyone know anything about the Indian restaurant/food shopping scene in France?
Full Version: Indian Restaurants in France
Well I can only speak for the Indian restaurant scene in Paris, which leave a lot to be desired. There is at least one Indian restaurant in every quartier, but they are all identical, with the same overpriced menu of inauthentic dishes barely recognisable as vaguely Punjabi in origin. The most popular dish seems to be "cheese naan". When I first heard of this, I imagined a naan stuffed with paneer, which sounded bizarre but appetising. How wrong I was. Paneer is not available here and completely unknown, so there is no need for chefs to make their own when they can so successfully pass off generic French cream cheese - yes, cream cheese - as "fromage indien" (sometimes even cheekily referred to as "fromage indien maison"). Hence mattar paneer becomes a sort of creamy pea stew.
However, just yesterday I was shopping in the gourmet hall of the Galeries Lafayette when I noticed an enticing array of familiar and startlingly tempting dishes in their traiteur section, including samosas, pakoras, tandoori chicken, biryani and mattar paneer with what looked like real paneer! No way! I instantly enquired as to the caterer of these delicacies and found that they had originated from a restaurant called Le Palais d'Archana, on 110 boulevard Charonne, in the 20th. However, whether the apparent quality of the food is indicative of the standard of the restaurant or the result of a special effort to impress the discerning tastes of the Galeries Lafayette clientele, I do not know.
I have also recently discovered the South Indian/Sri Lankan quarter, which occupies the stretch between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle. This area is home to quite a few interesting looking South Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants which I have not tried as yet (don't know anyone else who likes Indian food and don't like going out to eat alone) but which, judging from the lower prices and the fact that all the street signs and shop names in the area are displayed in Sanskrit only, promise to be much more authentic, at the very least.
As for ingredients and so forth, I tend to frequent the traditional and original heart of the Indian scene in Paris, which is the passage Brady, in the 10th arrondissement. One of the stores, Velan, even has its own website now. It's a pretty good place to get all the essentials, and even to stock up on such things as walnuts and dried fruit which are much cheaper there than in generic French grocery stores.
However, just yesterday I was shopping in the gourmet hall of the Galeries Lafayette when I noticed an enticing array of familiar and startlingly tempting dishes in their traiteur section, including samosas, pakoras, tandoori chicken, biryani and mattar paneer with what looked like real paneer! No way! I instantly enquired as to the caterer of these delicacies and found that they had originated from a restaurant called Le Palais d'Archana, on 110 boulevard Charonne, in the 20th. However, whether the apparent quality of the food is indicative of the standard of the restaurant or the result of a special effort to impress the discerning tastes of the Galeries Lafayette clientele, I do not know.
I have also recently discovered the South Indian/Sri Lankan quarter, which occupies the stretch between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle. This area is home to quite a few interesting looking South Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants which I have not tried as yet (don't know anyone else who likes Indian food and don't like going out to eat alone) but which, judging from the lower prices and the fact that all the street signs and shop names in the area are displayed in Sanskrit only, promise to be much more authentic, at the very least.
As for ingredients and so forth, I tend to frequent the traditional and original heart of the Indian scene in Paris, which is the passage Brady, in the 10th arrondissement. One of the stores, Velan, even has its own website now. It's a pretty good place to get all the essentials, and even to stock up on such things as walnuts and dried fruit which are much cheaper there than in generic French grocery stores.
Pennylane,
"Velan" is Gujarati for "rolling pin." By any chance is this a store that sells only vegetarian goods? If so, I'd be curious to see how business fares!
"Velan" is Gujarati for "rolling pin." By any chance is this a store that sells only vegetarian goods? If so, I'd be curious to see how business fares!
| QUOTE (pennylane @ Nov 21 2005, 01:22 AM) |
| the fact that all the street signs and shop names in the area are displayed in Sanskrit only |
Tamil shops with signs in Devanagari? Seems very odd!!
Roshna, Velan is a Tamil proper name, after Muruga who was said to weild a lance (vel).
| QUOTE |
| I have also recently discovered the South Indian/Sri Lankan quarter, which occupies the stretch between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle. This area is home to quite a few interesting looking South Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants which I have not tried as yet (don't know anyone else who likes Indian food and don't like going out to eat alone) but which, judging from the lower prices and the fact that all the street signs and shop names in the area are displayed in Sanskrit only, promise to be much more authentic, at the very least. |
Maybe Nawal, she's an Algerian blogger in Paris and she seems to like a variety of foods. She speaks some English. Sophie of MIAM is Paris and she likes a range of foods too.She speaks fluent English. Both are very friendly.
All the times I was in Paris it never occured to me to look for South Asian restaurants. Coming from Los Angeles I was looking for things that I could not get here. Also the South Asian population is pretty small in France, so I assumed it would not be worth looking for.
QUOTE(pennylane @ Nov 20 2005, 11:52 PM) 
Well I can only speak for the Indian restaurant scene in Paris, which leave a lot to be desired. There is at least one Indian restaurant in every quartier, but they are all identical, with the same overpriced menu of inauthentic dishes barely recognisable as vaguely Punjabi in origin. The most popular dish seems to be "cheese naan". When I first heard of this, I imagined a naan stuffed with paneer, which sounded bizarre but appetising. How wrong I was. Paneer is not available here and completely unknown, so there is no need for chefs to make their own when they can so successfully pass off generic French cream cheese - yes, cream cheese - as "fromage indien" (sometimes even cheekily referred to as "fromage indien maison"). Hence mattar paneer becomes a sort of creamy pea stew.
However, just yesterday I was shopping in the gourmet hall of the Galeries Lafayette when I noticed an enticing array of familiar and startlingly tempting dishes in their traiteur section, including samosas, pakoras, tandoori chicken, biryani and mattar paneer with what looked like real paneer! No way! I instantly enquired as to the caterer of these delicacies and found that they had originated from a restaurant called Le Palais d'Archana, on 110 boulevard Charonne, in the 20th. However, whether the apparent quality of the food is indicative of the standard of the restaurant or the result of a special effort to impress the discerning tastes of the Galeries Lafayette clientele, I do not know.
I have also recently discovered the South Indian/Sri Lankan quarter, which occupies the stretch between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle. This area is home to quite a few interesting looking South Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants which I have not tried as yet (don't know anyone else who likes Indian food and don't like going out to eat alone) but which, judging from the lower prices and the fact that all the street signs and shop names in the area are displayed in Sanskrit only, promise to be much more authentic, at the very least.
As for ingredients and so forth, I tend to frequent the traditional and original heart of the Indian scene in Paris, which is the passage Brady, in the 10th arrondissement. One of the stores, Velan, even has its own website now. It's a pretty good place to get all the essentials, and even to stock up on such things as walnuts and dried fruit which are much cheaper there than in generic French grocery stores.
Hello Pennylane
I'm a stickler for Indian food, and Paris's no exception- I've visited two: INDRA off Champs de Elysees which prides itself on being the oldest Indian restaurant in Paris (1976) and the other one near Porte de Versailles called rather unimaginatively INDIA PALACE.
I'm not an epicure; especially when I'm famished
Groomlake
Vegetarian family members are holidaying in Europe and are currently in France. An email said they're mainly eating pizza and sandwiches, and croissants, but "everything seems filled with chocolate". Not that that's a bad thing! But to help out I sent them the link to this thread and also searched a bit. Am posting two sites (one a forum, the other a blog) I found which look good:
The discussion.
The blog.
Ed: Okay, some miscommunication combined with the lateness of the hour here... they want to find Amchis in Paris, not food. (Not sure if they will eat them after finding them, though.) Anyone?
(For those who don't know, Amchis are a breed of coastal animal known for often boisterous behaviour following familiarity, though they seem meek and quiet at first.)
The discussion.
The blog.
Ed: Okay, some miscommunication combined with the lateness of the hour here... they want to find Amchis in Paris, not food. (Not sure if they will eat them after finding them, though.) Anyone?
(For those who don't know, Amchis are a breed of coastal animal known for often boisterous behaviour following familiarity, though they seem meek and quiet at first.)
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