Paris_ City Guide (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Lonely Planet [167]
LE JARDIN DES PÂTES Map Organic €€
01 43 31 50 71; 4 rue Lacépède, 5e; mains €9.50-14; lunch & dinner to 11pm daily; Place Monge
A crisp white-and-green façade handily placed next to a Vélib’ station flags the Pasta Garden, a simple, smart 100% bio (organic) place where pasta comes in every guise imaginable – barley, buckwheat, rye, wheat, rice, chestnut and so on. Our favourite: pâtes de chataignes (chestnut pasta) with duck breast, nutmeg, crème fraîche and mushrooms. If you’re in the 13e arrondissement nip into its second branch (Map; 01 45 35 93 67; 33 blvd Arago, 13e; lunch & dinner to 11pm Mon-Sat; Les Gobelins).
LES PIPOS Map French, Wine Bar €€
01 43 54 11 40; www.les-pipos.com, in French; 2 rue de l’École Polytechnique, 5e; plats du jour €11.80-13.50; 8am-2am Mon-Sat; Maubert Mutualité
A feast for the eyes and the senses, this bar à vins is constantly propped up by a couple of regulars over 60. Bistro tables wear red and white, and are so close you risk disturbing the entire house should you need the loo midway through your meal. Its charcuteries de terroir (regional cold meats and sausages) is mouth-watering, as is its cheese board, which includes all the gourmet names (bleu d’Auvergne, St-Félicien, St-Marcellin etc). Indeed, take one glance at the titles on the bookshelf (feel free to browse) and you’ll realise Les Pipos’ overtly casual, laidback scene is a guise for feasting on the finer things in a French foodie’s life.
KOOTCHI Map Afghan €€
01 44 07 20 56; 40 rue du Cardinal Lemoine, 5e; mains €12, menus lunch €9.50 & €12.50, dinner €15.50; lunch & dinner to 10.30pm Mon-Sat; Cardinal Lemoine
A menagerie of carpets, traditional instruments and other jumble lend this Afghan restaurant a definite Central-Asian caravanserai air. The welcome is warm and the food, warming. Specialities include qhaboli palawo (veal stew with nuts and spices); dogh, a drink not unlike salted Indian lassi; and traditional halwa (a type of sweet cake) perfumed with rose and cardamom. Vegetarians keen to spice up their culinary life should plump for borani palawo (spicy vegetable stew) as a main course.
AUX CÉRISES DE LUTÈCE Map Tearoom €
01 43 31 67 51; 86 rue Monge, 5e; mains €10; 11am-6.30pm Tue-Sat; Place Monge
A feast for the eyes and tastebuds, this cosy eating space, heaped with colourful tea pots, jugs and jumble, is the type of place that would wear flowery wellies. As much café and tearoom as lunchtime restaurant, it serves breakfast all day (from €8 to €14) alongside salads, quiches and tartines. Market mornings see punters clawing for the trio of tables on the pavement out front.
TASHI DELEK Map Tibetan €
01 43 26 55 55; 4 rue des Fossés St-Jacques, 5e; soups & bowls €4-6.80, mains €6.90-9.80, menus lunch €10.50, dinner €20; lunch & dinner to 11pm Mon-Sat; Luxembourg
Gourmet it might not be; cheap, tasty and inexpensive, it is. Tickle the tastebuds with a tsampa (vegetable and barley soup), followed by delicious daril seu (meatballs with garlic, ginger and rice) or tselmok (cheese and vegetable ravioli). Then wash the whole lot down with traditional or salted-butter tea. Don’t forget to say ‘tashi delek’ upon entering – it means ‘bonjour’ in Tibetan.
SUSHI WASABI Map Japanese €
01 44 07 06 88; 86 blvd St-Germain, 5e; menu lunch €7, 12 piece sushi €9.50, 14-piece sushi-maki €8; 11.30am-10.30pm daily; Maubert Mutualité
It’s hardly five star, but for the price who cares? This cheap and cheerful Japanese traiteur serves pre-prepared sushi, maki, futo maki etc and a good choice of hot meils to a quick-eat crowd. Jugs of water and condiments are readily placed on each long, shared table, sushi platters include a bowl of miso, and there’s free tea or coffee to finish. Dishes to take away.
LE FOYER DU VIETNAM Map Vietnamese €
01 45 35 32 54; 80 rue