I can hear the howls of laughter after reading my subject line as I know veganism and French cuisine are incompatible, but can anyone recommend any vegan, or at least vegetarian, Paris restaurants especially in the core tourist area (i.e. Latin Quarter, Marias, St. Germain, etc.)?
Thanks in advance!
Le Marais has several very good falafel restaurants, e.g. Chez Hanna. I'm pretty sure I had a vegan meal there, and at worst (so to speak) it was vegetarian. You can also get vegetarian crepes anywhere.
L'as du Fallafel l-as-du-fallafel.zenchef.com has falafel sandwiches in pita bread. Probably not vegan, but certainly a vegetarian choice. There are other middle eastern places that will fill you up with vegetables. This is in the Marais.
Actually, I'm vegan and don't really have much of a problem in Paris. I do usually eat falafel a couple of times as North Idaho is a falafel wasteland. I like L'As du Fallfel as well as the shop across the street, Mi-va-mi. Another RS forum member put me on to that last time I was in Paris and yes both of those places have told me their falafel and falafel sandwiches are vegan. I also like a little takeaway stand on Saint-Andre-des-Artes (in the Saint-Germain area) called Maoz for falafel as well. There you add your own choices from their salads that are out so you can really pile on the veggies.
There are often salads that are delicious. Pasta and pizza (pas de fromage) are easy. There is a chain called Le Pain Quotidien that always has vegan selections and is in several places in Paris. Go to their website to see the locations.
I've gotten takeaway sandwiches from a place about 1/2 a block from Notre Dame on Rue des Arcoles called Huré. Some of the pre-made sandwiches at some places have butter on them but this places does not.
A couple of places I have in mind for my next trip are:
Hank Burger - 55 Rue des Archives Open Daily 12-2200 www.hankburger.com
Le Potager du Marais - 24 Rue Rambuteau Open Wed-Sun 12-1600 www.lepotagerdumarais.fr
(and adding Chez Hanna! Thanks Joel!)
I do carry an "I am Vegan/Je suis vegan" card I printed out from HappyCow.net and that is easy to give a waiter. Usually they don't bat an eye.
Also go to HappyCow.net for ideas.
I did eat at a vegan place called Vegan Folies last time (carry out sandwich) and it was just OK. I did better going to regular restaurants and sorting thru what I could eat.
Be sure to stop at the gelato shops called Amorino. They have excellent vegan sorbetto and generally have them tagged in the case so you can tell which is which. The one with the best selection is a kiosk in the Tuileries near the Orangerie facing the Octagonal Pool. Delicious!
Also check out the restaurant Niébé in the Montparnasse area. It is a restaurant that prides itself on oddering both vegan and nin vegan options and it was fabulous. We ate there in New Years Eve snd it was a cullinary highlight for vegans and non vegans alike.
Cafe Ginger in Le Marais on Rue Jacques Couer near Blvd Henri IV is a vegan restaurant.
Semilla in Saint Germain on Rue de Seine usually has vegetarian dishes and often has vegan-friendly dishes, but maybe not on any given day because the menu changes daily and is market-based.
Le Grenier de Notre-Dame in the Latin Quarter on Rue de la Bûcherie is sort of the grande dame of Parisian vegetarian restaurants.
Second vote for Cafe Ginger!
Paradise Marguerite - on the Quai des Grands Augustins, just down the street from St. Michel metro across from Notre Dame. Vegetarian and Vegan. Fabulous home made fruit smoothies. Black bean crust pizza (although that may be seasonal as I don't see it on the current menu), chili sin carne - awesome! As a major carnivore I was surprised I enjoyed the food so much sans meat. We ate there twice in two weeks.
Here's a link to the menu for your perusal:
We are both vegan, so no howls of laughter here! Although it is indeed funny that the first answer whenever this is asked is falafel in the Marais! So, another vote for falafel in the Marais, for us Mi-Va-Mi. If you are willing to "sin" and consume a bit of dairy, the nearby Florence Kahn Bakery has excellent desserts.
Hank also has a vegan pizza restaurant, which is part of the same website as his burger place. I despise cheese so I didn't try any, but Denis was pleased with his selection of take-out slices.
We are fond of south Indian restaurants, of which there are several in Paris. I didn't write it down, but we both think it was Saravanaa Bhavan.
Although we never had good timing, there seemed to be some vegan tagines at lunch time in a shop at Marche des Enfants Rouges.
We always get a kitchen and love shopping at farmers markets. Both Marche Popincourt (Tuesday and Friday mornings) and Marche Bastille (Wednesday and Sunday mornings) have vendors with prepared food options that are vegan. We bought lots of hummus and pita bread. Throw in some salads and you're set. And the fresh fruits are lovely, yum, the strawberries when we were there. Oh, and the cherries.
After a delightful experience at a Vietnamese restaurant in Berlin, I'd like to look for something similar in Paris. Just haven't gotten around to that research yet.
A friend of our recommended Le Potager du Marais, so we'll be trying that this time around.
I'm not sure if some of the Naturalia locations have prepared foods or not. I know we got nice breads for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from them.
As Pam said, don't forget to check Happy Cow.
@ Pam: So are the sorbetti at Amorino locations as good as in Italy? There seems to be one quite close to our apartment.........
Donna - YES! It's as good as the sorbetto in Orta San Giulio, Orvieto and Ravenna!
I love the chocolate and banana combo but the only place I've seen those flavors is the kiosk near Orangerie. Also the one with grapefruit is excellent in hot weather. Wow, really refreshing!
You guys are awesome. I'm not the OP but I am benefiting from this thread too, and I love all the suggestions.
GRAPEFRUIT?? Okay, pink or white? Seasonal, like the fig, pear, and magnificent Roman concord grape (twice), or always there? Will it scream VIBRANT like that concord grape?
The grapefruit is a 3-citrus mix so, maybe grapefruit, orange and tangerine? It is pink-y colored sorbet so maybe pink grapefruit?
Somewhat seasonal I think.
Sigh, I have to wait two months to even see if it's available. But I promise to look!
Agrume is the French word for citrus - was that the name of the gelato flavor?
@ Pam: In another thread you said "I took the Metro to the Cluny Museum of Moyen-Age, had lunch in a Vietnamese restaurant nearby, walked to the church of Saint-Sulpice, walked on to the church of Saint-Germain-des-Pres, popped in to the nearby Museum Eugene Delacroix since I had a Museum Pass, then headed for the Rodin Museum (also because I had the Museum Pass). Then after gelato in the garden continued the walk back to my hotel. I got over 7 miles on my FitBit."
More on the Vietnamese restaurant please! What flavor gelato and where ;-) Thanks.
The Vietnamese restaurant is very good and they know vegan. It’s Maison Sen 22 Rue de Sommerard 75005. Here is their FB page and there may be a menu link on it.
https://www.facebook.com/maisonsen.rest/
As you exit the new front entrance of the Cluny, go left and it’s on the little street that dead ends into the back of the museum. You can see the sign as you round the corner. The spring rolls are not in a regular wrapper but they are in a noodly kind of wrap that is delish. I got the spring rolls, a rice bowl and a fizzy water which counted as their formule so I think it was about 12€. I could not finish it. I’m not a big tofu fan but theirs is very good.
Amorino did not have the 3-citrus or the banana sorbetto yet. I did have chocolate and raspberry from the kiosk in the Tuileries near the Orangerie. I did not find the chocolate anywhere else. Harold, that name doesn’t look familiar so I’m not sure that was it.
Donna, you’ll laugh at this but you’ve got me addicted to Mi-va-Mi for falafel. I went twice. The only problem is it’s so filling I’m not hungry for dinner. I am able usually to eat Amorino though!
I also had really good falafel at Le Pain Quotidien in Paris and have just gotten to Ghent today so had their falafel plate here as well. The Paris one I ate at on Sunday is on Rue Varenne not too far from Rodin Museum but I walked from d’Orsay and it wasn’t too far either. On previous trips I ate at one located possibly in the Marais.
Vfinn, you’ll have to let us know what you find!
Oh gee Pam, should I apologize for enabling you in that respect? Tee hee, ;-)
Actually, we are really looking forward to it, as, believe it or not, we too are located in a falafel desert. The nearest (edible) one is 25 miles away, and to get there we have to deal with traffic past both WDW and Universal. Four and a half months here this winter and we haven't bothered.
Did you get anywhere else interesting? I'll look up the Vietnamese place, thank you.
I am the OP and would like to extend my upmost gratitude for these many great suggestions. We are so glad to learn that there will be several options for us at least while we are in Paris. Once we go to the countryside, I am sure that our options may be non-existent so we will indulge while in Paris!
A friend recently forward the attached link which has some great looking suggestions as well -
https://www.france-hotel-guide.com/en/blog/vegan-restaurants-paris/
Again, thanks for everyone's assistance!
vfinn...I still don't think you'll have a hard time in the countryside. Maybe not as much choice but there will be something. It would be great if you came back with a trip report on what you found! I've only traveled the countryside on either a Rick Steves or Road Scholar tour and have gotten vegan meals everywhere.
Bonjour all!
Mi-Va-Mi remains excellent.
We went to two locations of Amorino, thank you Pam. I asked at the first one, and the man told me that all locations offer the same flavors. First time I had strawberry, raspberry and melon. Talk about tasting like a fruit bowl! I am told the chocolate is also tasty, but I can't eat too much chocolate, so I have to take hubby's word for it. Second time I asked for a taste of the lime basil. Okay..... my eyes got really wide and I said WOW! The woman who gave it to me laughed. There is also a lemon, but not the citrus mix Pam enjoyed. I think it would be fun, albeit puckering, to do the lemon and lime together. I'm also told that the mango is excellent. There were some others, but litchi is the only one I remember.
We tried to eat at a small place attached to a naturopathic practice on Friday after L’Atelier des Lumières, but they were already out of what I wanted, so we passed. https://www.nature-et-reflexion.fr/
Donna, I thought you guys would find Mi-Va-Mi as good as before!
In regards to what the Amorino guy told you....he is incorrect. My deeply detailed research which consisted of getting sorbetto at Amorino at the Tuileries kiosk in the morning or afternoon and then going to the Amorino on Rue Cler in the evening of the same day revealed that the Tuileries had a much better selection of vegan flavors. They are the only one where I could consistently find the chocolate sorbetto and the only place I saw the banana sorbetto. The Rue Cler one never has either of those. They generally have 4-6 fruit flavors including lemon with basil but haven't seen the lime with basil. Yum.
I am happy to continue my research on my next visit to be able to provide vital information to the RS forum community, haha!
My entire family and I are vegan too...so nice to see these posts.
I wish more people understood the damage animal farming and consumption is doing to our beautiful mother earth.
