Lunchtime in Paris

Malaysian Lunch in La Chapelle

First we went to the movies at MK2 where we saw Into the Wild - I'm still deciding whether I liked it or not. It was kind of depressing - tragic waste of a life, etc....and the pop pyschologyphilosophy bits (the sister voice overs) were rather annoyingly trite but there were some good moments too.

And of course, you can't go the movies without -

Popcorn and candy (really expensive - the popcorn, kitkat balls, iced tea, and one soda came to over 11 euros...and the movie was expensive too 9,90 euros for one adult ticket, my daughter's tickets were 7,70 because they are students).

MK2 is located on the Bassin de la Villette in the 19th (link to wiki in French - some good photos) and the closest metro is Stalingrad. There is a movie theater on either side of the canal and a little boat goes between the two. It's fun.

After the movie we decided to have a late lunch at the Malaysian in La Chapelle (the South Indian neighborhood in the 10th arrondissement of Paris). I saw this place last weekend and we decided to give it a try.

We started off with samosas and rolls. (check out the link for a complete history of the samosa!)

Delicious and not expensive (1 euro a piece).

My daughter had the Shrimp Sambal with rice for 7 euros.

And I had the Mee Goreng Udang which was also 7 euros. Very tasty.

We also ordered an onion parotha because we'd never had one before and we were curious. It was very good.

And here is the desert the offered us at the end of the meal - a coconut jelly. It was refreshing after all the spicy food we'd eaten.

Malaysian is located 15, rue de Cail - 75010 Paris. The closest metro is La Chapelle. The service is friendly, the food is good, and it's inexpensive. Our meal came to 22.50 for everything above plus an iced tea and a regular tea.

I've had a tip that I should check out Krishna Bhavan (also rue de Cail) a South Indian vegetarian restaurant. I walked by today and it looks interesting so perhaps next weekend I'll give it a try. Until then...

Happy lunching!

Indian Lunch

I'm still trying to figure this out. I really want to keep this three column layout but I am so not sure about the butterfly and I'd really like a warmer red....(if you typepad people are listening could you please offer a larger choice of templates).

Anyway, today we went for Sunday lunch in La Chapelle (metro station La Chapelle). There is a large Tamil population leaving in this area and I've posted about it before but since I've decided to go to India this summer I'm going to go frequently to get accustomed.

We had lunch here at Café Bharath (67, rue Louis Blanc - no site). It's a really nice place, lots of Indians eating there, service is good and the music was nice too.

Mango lassis with fruit.

MIxed pakora. Unfortunately all the seats by the window were taken so these photos are not the best (the flash was too bright).

Shrimp Vindaloo with rice. I've been doing my research and apparently Vindaloo is a Goan dish but I wanted to try it and it was really spicy (the waiter did warn me beforehand which was kind of him).

My daughter had the Chilly Chicken which was served with a cheese nan. Most of the Indian people eating there seemed to have ordered the Biryani, which looked excellent, so perhaps next time we will try that.

Wandering around the neighborhood after lunch I noticed this cool flower shop where they sell flower garlands. And I also noticed a lot of new excellent looking restaurants that I cannot wait to try out. I'm going to try and get back there next weekend.

Happy lunching from La Chapelle!

Lunch in Little Jaffna

While researching today's lunch I found out that the Indian neighborhood where we ate today  actually has a name: Little Jaffna (excellent article in English). This area in the 10th arrondisement of Paris has lots of little restaurants and Indian shops and I've been coming here for years but this was my first visit to Shalini (in French with some photos and the menu and prices).

First of all here is a picture of the street, rue du Faubourg Saint Denis, near metro La Chapelle:

As the shopkeepers are mostly all from Southern India, they speak English! and here is Shalini, where they speak English as well.

We had a most excellent lunch today and it was amazingly inexpensive. I went with my two daughters and so since there were three of us I have lots of pictures.

I got the 12 euro menu which included samosas, lamb masala with rice  and vattalappam for desert.

As served and close up on the filling:

These were some of the best samosas I've ever had; they were light, fresh and very tasty!

The delicious lamb masala, once again very fresh.

And here is my wonderful discovery for the day, vattalappam. Apparently this is a traditional Sri Lankan desert and it's really good. Sort of like custard with a special exotic taste. I highly recommend that if you've never tried this you run right out and go and find some, you won't regret it.

My oldest daughter got the 10 euro menu which included shrimp badji, chicken kourouma (with rice), and barfi for desert (don't let the name put you off, it's good).

Very nice and crispy and fresh  and they were fried just right (not too greasy).

The chicken kourouma.

and the rice for two with cashew nuts and raisins.

Here is the barfi. It was not quite as outstanding as the vattal appam but it was good.

My youngest daughter always gets biryani when we go to Indian restaurants so she had the shrimp biryani for 9,90 euros.

It just looked so beautiful and was tasty as well with lots of good shrimp. She also ordered a mango lassi (yogurt drink) for 3 euros but she didn't want any desert.

This is a photo of the condiments and if you look closely at the fork, you will see that it has a hallmark. Eating with real silver silverware and at these prices? I think I've found my new favorite Indian restaurant in all of Paris.

A final photo of the lovely poster overlooking our table.

So, a great lunch for a very reasonable price and good service too. We were the only Europeans in the place and while we were eating I noticed lots of neighborhood Indians coming in for takeout so although I've not seen any other reviews of this place I think it must be authentic and all three of us were very happy with our lunch today.

May you always be blessed with delicious lunches!