Some friends will be performing in Paris at the end of the month and are looking for a good Indian restaurant. Any suggestions? They are also interested in a place for local food but several of the band members will not eat beef or pork. Any ideas would be welcome. Fish and chicken are ok.

Budget issues come to mind. They were not mentioned in your post.

The entire rue du Faubourg Saint Denis from Gare du Nord to Place de la Chapelle is full of Indian restaurants. Also, the Passage Brady which runs between the Faubourg Saint Martin and the Faubourg Saint Denis is nothing but Indian restaurants. Good to know: the part between Fbg. St. Martin and Boulevard de Strasbourg is uncovered and very nice for a balmy evening. The part between Bd. de Strasbourg and the Fbg. St. Denis has a glass roof and is good for all seasons. My personal favorite is actually Shalimar (as we all know, that is a Pakistani name and therefore not officially Indian), which is the first restaurant on the left, entering the glass-covered part of Passage Brady at boulevard de Strasbourg.

But, just to reassure you, I don't think I have ever eaten a bad meal in Passage Brady, so whichever place appeals to you should be fine.

As for "local" (French?) food, I think you should just explore. There are many many many restaurants in Paris, and the location of your performing friends should probably play a part in where they eat -- there is absolutely no reason to cross the entire city to find a meal.

Thank you Kerouac,

Alice Smith www.alicesmith.com is opening for Lenny Kravitz at Le Zenith de Paris on the 30th of this month. She will be singing in London the following week. The band loves Indian food so your suggestions are spot on. I am good friends with Alice's mother who asked me to recommend Indian restuarants in Paris (as if I knew)since I was just there. I thought of you and thank you again for coming through.

I'm not kerouac, but I've been a big fan of Punjab on the Place Ecole Militaire for quite a few years. Good value and really tasty Indian food, which is one of my favorites.

There are a number of fancy excellent Indian restaurants throughout Paris, but I think it would be better to not stray too far from the Zenith.

There is actually a nice Indian restaurant right next to the Zenith at 150 avenue Jean Jaurès: Labdi Dahmane. However, I have never eaten there myself, so I don't know if it is really good or not. If they're hungry right after the concert, they could be there within 10 minutes.

Then again, you can walk to the places on the Faubourg Saint Denis from the Zenith in less than 20 minutes.

Just for information, my own local Indian restaurant just a few steps from my apartment and which I use mostly for delivery (since it seems a little stupid to walk downstairs to eat there when they will bring me the food at home) is Allo Tandoori at 93 rue Philippe de Girard. But it closes at 23:30 which is rather early for Parisian places.

Thanks again kerouac and st. cirq. Her mom is coming to Paris and London too and hasn't been this excited since Alice was nominated for a Grammy.

Actually, I remembered that the name of the restaurant is actually "Esan." Allo Tandoori is the name of their delivery service.

www.allotandoori.com in case they want to eat in their hotel room!