All about my food adventure to Paris, France

I took over 1000 pictures on my trip to Paris and managed to dwindle them down to about 140. Given the huge volume, I needed to divide them up into 2 posts so that the page wouldn’t take a day to load. Here are a few more of the food side of my trip. You can read about a few of my highlights from my trip and see the other images here.

Paris pâtisseries

There are so many amazing pastry shops in Paris you will really battle to get to even a percentage of them. Given my love for all the baked goods – especially cake, it was a priority to get to as many as possible. I also couldn’t eat more than one or two a day so on a 6 day trip there are limitations. You can encounter many patisseries under one roof at any of the large food halls/gourmet supermarkets, so this is a good way to experience a few in a short space of time.

I fell in love with Yann Couvreur and there are a few branches all over Paris. I ate chocolate gateaux creation that was so damn delicious and layered it will haunt me for years to come. I also managed a Kouglof (insane) on another occasion so I can highly recommend this place. There is a lovely branch opposite L’As du Fallafel in the Marais so two birds one stone etc. 

Another pastry shop I simply had to go to was Aux Merveilleux De Fred. They have a few branches in Paris but the store in the 7^th came recommended with its huge chandelier. It was also on a street with so many other pastry shops as well as a well-known Instagram location with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

They make these creamy meringue cloud confections that taste like pure heaven. Rolled in various flavours like white chocolate, salted caramel and coffee, they melt in your mouth and are utterly irresistible. I opted to buy a few small bite-size versions so I could taste more than one, but I have also heard the larger ones are very satisfying too. I’m planning to try and re-create this as soon as possible so watch this space.

Another pastry shop I loved and further down the road from Merveilleux in the 7th was Karamel. I also devoured a sublime mille-feuille (probably my all-time fave pastry) from Fouchon.

Restaurants I went to that I can recommend

Le Baratin I ventured further afield to Belleville to eat at this bistro because a friend had recommended it highly. It did not disappoint. The only downside was it was a public holiday on the day I went, so the 19 euro lunch special didn’t apply, but it was a fantastic meal. I also allowed the very friendly waitress to select what wine I would have with my meal and it was perfectly paired.

le Relais de l’Entrecôte – hugely touristy, this restaurant came highly recommended by a few of my friends so I had to give it a go. I really enjoyed it. They only serve grilled sirloin and cafe de Paris butter and french fries (and a few desserts). Both are served in two parts so as to keep them warm and I found it was utterly delicious. Don’t let the queues put you off. They pack you in like sardines and turn the tables. I went to the St Germain branch and stopped at Cafe de Flore for an aperitif before which was kind of a bucket list thing I had wanted to do. Nothing like paying R160 for a small glass of wine while trying to crack the brusque demeanour of the slightly grumpy waiter. I succeeded by the way. 

Bistrot Paul Bert  – A quintessential and classic Paris restaurant.

Buvette – This cute place came across so much of my social media I really wanted to go. I had a delicious croque madame and a glass of wine one early evening. I loved everything about this place.

L’As du Fallafel is a Kosher Middle Eastern restaurant located at 34, Rue des Rosiers in the “Pletzl” Jewish quarter of the Le Marais neighbourhood and it came recommended by literally everyone I asked for restaurant recommendations. Amongst the best falafel I have ever eat (and I’ve been to Israel) and since it is my favourite street food, I landed up eating there twice. On both occasions, I sat inside (there are two branches near each other). 

Urfa Durum – I spent 4 nights staying in the 10th and near this authentic Turkish spot that was apparently loved by Anthony Bourdain.  You are immediately enticed when you see a person covered in flour making the homemade flatbreads in the window. A queue will likely snake out the small eatery where a 400-degree oven is churning out the flatbread. You choose your meat or vegetables that are grilled to order and then wrapped in a hot flatbread. Utterly delectable and incredibly fresh. 

Some of the best food I ate in Paris was the food I bought at bakeries and cheese shops and enjoyed for breakfast at my Air BnB. I spent 4 nights at Artisan Lofts in the 10th so I was near to an array of options in this formerly run-down neighbourhood. The famous Julhès delicatessen was just down the road, so setting out with my foldaway shopping bag to procure food made me feel like a local. There were a wonderful fruit and vegetable shop too and I dived right into all the spring fruit. I loved the cheese shop called Taka & Vermo

A few tips on eating in restaurants in Paris:

Make reservations, especially at the very popular places. There were quite a few that I wanted to get to but were fully booked. Most restaurants have easy to navigate booking systems otherwise just call.

Most restaurants have strict and formal dining hours and lunch is served from 12hoo – 2.30pm and 7pm – 9 pm for dinner. – so this means allowing enough time in the morning to get to your location. I often found this a challenge and wished I could have enjoyed later lunches but this is the way it is. 

Tipping is not required but if you receive outstanding service it will be appreciated. 

There are a number of fresh food markets in Paris but I only managed to get to two. The first was a very small and local & organic Sunday market called Le Marché Biologique des Batignolles. I really loved this and totally stumbled on it by accident.

The second was the Marche D’Aligre in the 8^th. This was a small neighbourhood fresh market and when I got there I needed to wait an hour until it reopened for the evening trade. I have read that it’s quite a vibe over the weekend and a great place to pick up Lebanese food.

Resources:

David Lebovitz

David is an expat American who has been living in Paris for a long time. He is one of my all-time favourite food bloggers and I constantly use his site as a travel (and recipe) resource. He is extremely well-travelled and has written in detail about his many trips. I discovered amazing gelato in Bologna on his recommendation (amongst other things) so all his guides to Paris will be an excellent place for you to start.

• Paris Restaurants
• Paris pastry shops

Beth Kirby from Local Milk spends a lot of time in Paris and her various resources like her Google maps with Instagram hotspots and her favourite restaurants was an excellent resource for me. I used it along with my own Google map where I had saved all my researched locations. Find her awesome guide here:  Essential Paris Guide.

Jamie Beck is another ex-pat American who lives in France. She is a well-known and super-talented photographer and Instagrammer. You will find an abundance of good information and recommendations in her Paris Eats guide.

The highlights of my trip to Paris

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