Vegan eats in Paris

As Audrey Hepburn so famously once said, 'Paris is always a good idea!'

However, given the Parisian's love of pastries, cheeses and butter rich sauces, I wasn't so convinced that a weekend in Paris was the best idea for a Vegan like myself!

Enter Rule number one - Never make assumptions!

Paris might not be on a par with Vegancentric Berlin, but there is plenty of choice for the most pernickety of eaters.Like most places you just need to do a little bit of research first. Emily Horne has a great Kindle guide book called 'Vegan Paris.' It lists Vegan and Vegan friendly restaurants/grocery stores etc. by arrondissement which is a really useful way of navigating your way round the city. She also has a blog http://veganparis.com/
which you can check out for reviews.

Lindsay Nixon, of 'The Happy Herbivore' cookbook series, has also recently released a new vegan travel book for Europe. You can read more about it at http://happyherbivore.com/2014/08/vegan-paris-hank-grill-courtepaille/

Anyway, back to my weekend..... Having done my research and with only 48 hours to immerse myself in the wonder that is Paris (shopping and sightseeing included) I stumbled across a few Vegan gems which I wanted to share....

First stop, and one Lindsay Nixon also mentions in her blog, was Hank Restaurant -  http://hankrestaurant.com

Hank is located in the North Marais. and opened in January 2014. They specialise in serving organic, environmental vegan homemade burgers. It is quite a small restaurant with indoor sitting for a maximum of 25 people so it's pretty cosy. The menu consists of 4 different burgers with the option to order as menu (with fries and a drink) for a reasonable price of €11.00 which I thought was fairly reasonable (remember I am from Luxembourg:) I had the Tata Monique on Gluten free bread (another great option.) It's not the easiest thing to eat (sans knife and fork) but it was succulent, delicious and flavoursome. Even my non-vegan husband had to admit it was an excellent burger...Result! 

Hank, 55 rue des Archives
75003 Paris France
Tel -  P: +33 9 72 44 03 99 - contact@hankrestaurant.com
For your information, Hank cannot take reservation

Cafe Pinson was on top of my 'Go to' list after receiving various recommendations from work colleagues. Cafe Pinson has two locations in Paris http://www.cafepinson.fr/home/ and we opted for the one located 10th  arrondissement, which incase you hadn't guessed is one of my favorite areas of Paris. We had a lateish breakfast in our hotel and then a leisurely stroll around Paris, so we must have arrived around 2.00pm. Unfortunately for us, but a great sign for the Cafe, was that it was absolutely full with a queue (yes they do exist in France) for a table. The owner was really friendly and suggested we come back in an hour or so when things would be a 'little' quieter. So we had a little walk around the lovely neighbourhood streets and returned at 3.30pm (it was quieter but by no means empty!)

The menu changes daily and is quite small , so you know it's fresh! I had the sweet potato falafel which were to 'die for.' Moist and succulent unlike many dry falafael's you get. My husband had the Cafe Pinson Salad, which was a huge plate of veggies, sprouts, legumes, nuts and seeds. It was presented beautifully and was big enough for the most hearty of appetites.

The ambiance in Cafe Pinson was really a live and vibrant with an eclectic array of customers. It is also very 'child' friendly and they were several families tucking into cake and coffee.

I really can't recommend this cafe enough and will definitely make a return!

 

Cafe Pinson
58 rue du faubourg poissonnière, Paris 10e
+33 (0)1 45 23 59 42
Lun : 8h30-18h
Mar-Mer: 8h30-19h
Jeu-Ven: 8h30-22h
Sam : 9h30-22h
Dim: 10h-18h
contact@cafepinson.fr


Bon Appetit!