Paris - ethinic restaurants
 

Happy new year everyone!

DH & I are heading off to Paris in a fortnight to visit my sister who lives in the Marais. As a "thank you" for having us to stay, we would like to bring my sister and her partner out to dinner.

Partner is, however, vegetarian (not vegan - he'll eat eggs & dairy). I've seen a couple of vegetarian restaurants in Paris but they're a bit "studenty" for what we have in mind.

So can anyone recommend a nice ethnic restaurant - we were thinking Moroccan or maybe Indian - that will cater to his diet and is a bit more up-market than the veggie resto's we've found so far?

Budget is not an issue.

Thanks for your help!

One of the few vegetarian restaurants that I know of in Paris is Le Vagenande..Boulevard Saint-Germain ..An old brasserie with mirrors and art déco decor , a good place for a cosy dinner.

We ate at L'Atlas, Morrocan, on rue St Germain, near the Seine. Large portions, good. I have also seen it recommended in some guidebooks.
Mike

I don't know what budget you're going for, but there's 3-star restaurant, Arpege, that's predominantly vegetarian. I ate there before it switched to a vegetarian menu, and it was an impressive.

There's a very good Indian restaurant, Punjab, at 26 avenue de Tourville, just off the place Ecole Militaire.

E-mail me, ter2000. I have a vegetarian restaurants list on Excel!

Vagenende on bd St Germain isn't vegetarian. They have meat and fish, etc. It must be the same one Scarlett is naming as it's known for the Art Deco atmosphere. I find it enjoyable (although I know many tourists are there and some reviews are mixed), but it's not a vegetarian restaurant.
http://www.vagenende.fr/us/p3.html

I know one of the most popular Moroccan restaurants in Paris is near the Marais -- Chez Omar at 47 rue de Bretagne and they have some vegetarian dishes. I'm not sure they take reservations, though, but you can check. An alternative place I think is very good near where I stay in Montparnasse a lot is Table des Fes at 5, rue Ste-Beauve in the 6th. It is not a budget place, so would be good for a special occasion and I think it's kind of fun to go out in Montparnasse. Patricia Wells has called that the best Moroccan in Paris (I think, unless my memory is dim).

I love Indian food so know some good places, although the ones I've been to in Paris are more cheap neighborhood joints and aren't vegetarian Indian. I did find this good online listing of vegetarian restaurants in Paris (of which there are few totally veg.), but it does mention places with some veg. dishes and several Indian places)
http://www.nwfolk.com/vegparis.html

Vagenende does have a beautiful art deco interior. However, the prix fixe meals I had was not good. The chicken were bony pieces which should not be served. I didn't feel good about paying over 20+ euro for that.

The Mansouria on rue Faidherbe in the 11th arrondissement is one of the best Moroccan restuarants in Paris and fairly convenient to the Marais (St. Paul Metro to Reuilly-Diderot on the No. 1 line and a six-minute walk will get you there, for example.)

I'm a vegetarian too. I don't remember the name, but I had a nice meal at a small Indian Restaurant in the first or second block of Rue Hudon, which runs uphill off Blvd. de Clichy just above the Place Pigalle Metro Station entrance.

404 is the Beaubourg area is a great Moroccan restaurant with lots of vegeterian friendly stuff on the menu. He also might
For something a little more exotic, maybe he'd like West African food which also has a lot of vegetarian dishes on the menu. There's a restaurant called Dakar-Paris, or Paris-Dakar, that has great sauteed mango.

Another vegetarian chiming in.

I've had good Indian at <b>Gandhi-Op&eacute;ra</b> 66, rue Sainte-Anne. The resto is not completely vegetarian but they have about ~10 veg mains w/several sides. They have a website but it's either under development or wonky:

http://www.gandhi.fr/

Here's another vote for <b>Mansouria</b>. (Disclaimer: I haven't been yet but hope to get there in June.)

http://www.mansouria.com/contact.html

<b>Mac&eacute;o</b> has a veggie menu that they call a &quot;green menu&quot; as well as food for carnivores. The wine is better than the food.

http://www.maceorestaurant.com/Home-eng.htm

If you decide to go all out, here's the website for <b>Arp&egrave;ge</b>:

http://www.alain-passard.com/

I'd love to hear your friend's recs for veggie-friendly Paris restos. Perhaps when you return you could post his favourites here?

Have a terrific trip.

One of my best friends just returned from Paris last week &amp; she raved over <b>404</b>! Says I MUST go!!

I posted Le 404, Mary, when I read about it in the NYTimes in December around the 18th. I'm curious what your friend said. It's a menu pf the predictable tajines and couscous, as I recall. and some Algerian wines.Diners jump on the bar and dance to the music. The croud usually moves next door after eating, to th same owners place, Andy Wahloo.
The restaurant Mansouria is supposed to be the best couscous experience(i cook it alot so this is aa must try, if possible)

For North African food, try
Chez Bebert Montparnasse

The one I know about is at
71 Boulevard Du Montparnasse

It is close to the Montparnasse Tower on the north side of the boulevard close to where rue de Rennes intersects.

If memory serves me right, it is in the northeast quadrant of the intersection of Boulevard Montparnasse and rue de Rennes.

Rue Mouffetard has wall-to-wall ethnis restaurants of all flavours.

Just curious: Can a restauarnt be called &quot;ethnic&quot; if it is food representing a primarily caucasian country? To me, French food is &quot;ethnic&quot;.

In Pennsylvania, French food is ethnic. In Paris, it's not.

Well, Mimi, they were supposed to go to Kong but went to 404 instead. She just said they had a great time &amp; that I should go if at all possible. This is lady I told you about who used to be exec editor at BP. :)