Fast food, a cut above (Paris)

Cheap, fast food abounds in Paris, but there seems to be a trend also for higher quality, more healthful options. We found such product at Grillé. Provenanced meat, house made pitas and sauces, natural juices. The line can get long so if possible it’s good to get there at opening, or early in the lunch hour. Not cheap but excellent quality and flavor.
http://www.lefooding.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-grille-paris

Your favorites?

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Actually, I seldom just cross the city specially to just eat fast food, and most of the time, fast food means grabbing sandwiches in a decent bakery near when I am or more Chinese noodles, Vietnamien phô etc. A place we frequent regularly is in Place Maubert in the 5th district serving Vietnamese food. I don’t even know the name of the place, but you can see some stairs descending where there are several Asian grocery store, one is a formal Vietnamese restaurant, the Vietnamese place I mentioned is just next to the Japanese grocery. It served simple phô, bun bo and a few other snacks.

Some recommendations:

Frenchie to Go 75002
If you didn’t book Frenchie, the restaurant, you can try this more simple place. For lunch they serve some gourmet sandwiches, lobster rolls, soups, salade, Burrata etc.

L’Avant Comptoir 75006
They are just next to Comptoir du Relais, Paris. It’s a tapas / hors-d’oeuvres / wine bar of Yves Camdeborde, they have some delicious small plates at lunch, they also have crêpes, Ibaïona ham. You can have sandwiches if you want to take away.

Le Pointe du Grouin 75010
Fast food, Brittany style. It’s high on my list, I didn’t try it yet.
If you know Chez Michel, which is originally founded by Thierry Breton, one of the important pillar of Bistro gastronomy movement (the other one is Yves Camdeborde with his originally found La Regalade in the 14th, mentioned above) You ordered with Brittany money! What do you eat? You have the sausage galette (which is common in Brittany), cures ham, small dishes, and sandwiches.

Le Camion qui fume
Fast food selling from a truck. Chef is Kristin Frederick, what is she serving. Tasty burgers. She is the one who start all the food trucks trend.


Where to find her truck?

Could the place you are referring to be on Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviêve? Or perhaps Rue Lagrange or Rue Maître Albert? This is the area we stay in when we’re in Paris, and we’re always interested in good eats in the area.

Those from Chow will recognize Angela’s Bahn Mi, now located at 81 rue Turbigo. Top quality ingredients, housemade everything, and Angela’s joyous personality a plus.

Not bad indeed, a very talkative chef too. I remembered when I was waiting for my preparation, she complained how much work in making such a bahn mi, (washing the herbs, preparing the vegetables) and how the fresh herbs are expensive these days.

I checked the map, it’s on rue Frédéric Sauton, it’s the area where you are staying. There’s a great cheese shop on Boulevard Saint Germain, in the Maubert market (facing the metro station). Not far away, on rue Monge, you have Kayser, and opposite La Parisienne bakery. Rue Saint Jacques, you have a Chinese restaurant called Mirama, their Cantonese roasted duck, pork ribs and barbecued pork are excellent. (Those hanging on the windows). Their wantons are ok, other dishes are not exceptional (I will skip those). If you like sweets, Aux Merveilleux de Fred is just next to the Kayser (see the reportage here). Avant Comptoir (mentioned above) is within the walking distance in Odeon. If you like Japanese chef cooking Jap/French fusion food, there is Sola in the back streets.

Thanks!

What about any marché with cooked food vendors? In general I’ve found hacking together a meal from various cooked food vendors in a market easy, cheap, and usually satisfying, especially when these food is fast in the sense that they are prepared ahead of time but its not necessarily prepared quickly. And marché in immigrant neighborhood have cuisines that are not necessarily easily found in restaurants too.

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This French site propose good restaurants for 10 euros lunch or dinner:

Another link for eating 10 euro meal from the Guardian:

www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/sep/24/top-10-paris-restaurants-10-euros

I am curious how they are besides La Pointe du Grouin that you tried?

In general though, even though they may not be under 10€, but I’ve found many plat du jour around the town to be quite economical and satisfying. Much better than many other countries where lunch options are often limited, and, crappy.

We’re just back from our annual trip to Paris, and we followed some of your suggestions. Les Saveurs d’Asie on rue Frédéric Sauton was very convenient for a snack after we arrived. We ate barbecued meats at Mirama, and I think, a noodle dish. We’ll eat there again. But the culinary highlight of the trip was our dinner at Sola. Our French friends did not want to come with us, thinking it was too expensive. But to my mind, 98 Euros for a tasting menu of such quality and inventiveness was money well spent. We also lunched at Les Climats; in this case I think that financial considerations determine that a visit to Les Climats be made at lunchtime.

Anniversaires coming, good excuse to try Sola, it has been on my list to try. Good to know that they are still very good. Problem is in Paris, new restaurants got a lot of PR, then the marketing campaign finished, you don’t hear much about them…and you forget about them.

I’m looking forward to seeing your thoughts on Sola.

Opened a few months, Streetfood Bangkok, is located at a street next to Canal Saint Matin in Paris 10th district. The area always gives the impression of trendy bars And eateries that is serving food more for tourists and young. Several times I read something nice about this place, but was put off by the location.

We decided to give it a go Saturday, 2 weeks ago. Arrived without reservation around 10 pm, there was already a queue of around 7-8 persons inside the restaurant. It was pretty confusing some were buying take away, some were waiting for seats and placing orders, some waited to get paid… The confusion lasted at least 20 minutes, once we got our seat, things were getting much better.

We both ordered the cold food + hot food + rice. Mr naf ordered an XXL version and pay 3 euros more (I got 3 skewers and he got 5, actually a very good deal!).

I got cold crunchy pork with sliced sausages, herbs, ginger, with crispy rice and red curry.
Mr. got thinly sliced pan fried beef, with crispy rice, onions, mint, basil, with chilli with fish sauce.
We both got the grilled chicken on sticks marinated with coconut milk, curcuma, and tamarin. With a satay sauce on the white rice. Note that the cold and hot food are all served in the same box…

XXL version

For drinks, we ordered a gingembre, with lemongrass, fresh ginger, lime and coconut sugar and cinnamon. We found the drink a bit bland.

We found the food quite decent and authentic, maybe a bit expensive compared to the real Thai street food, but hey, you are eating Thaï in Canal Saint Matin, Paris…and according to the notice on the wall, the recipes are conceived by an ex chef from Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok.

I’ve heard that they will opening soon a second address.

Street Bangkok
3 Rue Eugène Varlin
75010 Paris
Tel: 01 42 05 22 51
Tue-Sat 12:00 - 23:00, Sun 12:00 - 17:00

A lot, a lot, a lot of (French) media talks constantly about Bouillon Pigalle. The queues, delicious food, cheap price, opens late, 7/7… They serve simple French dishes: beef tartare, snails, steak with fries, bœuf bourguignon, blanquette de veau… Their profiteroles look so good. Reminds me the comfort food served in Chartier (the decoration is great, but less the food). I will add to my to try list soon.