Cheeky vacances à Paris - day 1 dinner, Lao Lane Xang

Finding a place for Sunday dinner in Paris is not very easy so we defaulted to our local haunt in Chinatown, Lao Lane Xang. Despite not turning up right when they opened for dinner (its been to have queues frequently forming outside!!), we still managed to bag a table on arrival :)

Food still tastes good but portions have shrunk a lot since we were last there. Having said that, its nice and almost reassuring to see the old staff are still working there (last year, there were a few new faces front of house but they don't appear to be there anymore). An oldie but still a goodie and on the whole, good value for money :)

Cue music...Punjabi MC's "Mundiyan To Bach Ke" (Jay-Z remix, natch!)

An early finish on Friday afternoon meant an opportunity to head somewhere different for lunch other than the school canteen. After boulangerie, a fellow classmate and I made the trek up to Gare du Nord and from there, walked up to Le Quartier Indien for a spot of Indian grub. The destination was Muniyandi Vilas, a no-frills restaurant at the end of rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, at the La Chapelle end. We were more lucky than I was last Saturday and snagged a table straight away, the dining room is not big and was full all the time we were there. I plumped for a vegetarian thali with some piping hot paratha, my classmate went for the full Indian experience and managed to polish off a samosa, a masala dosa AND a full non-vegetarian thali! Delicious food at rock bottom prices, will be coming back to sample their fine-looking biryani.

After lunch, we decided to head back to Pain du Sucre which fortunately, was open this time and picked up some sugary goodies (well, more sugary goodies for my classmate as he'd already bought and ate some gulab jamun on the way there!). I bought a "Tentation" - a raspberry tart filled with almond, pistachio and citron cream with a layer of raspberry coulis and a couple of macaroons (mint and chocolate, salt caramel). To be honest, wasn't bowled over by the raspberry tart, the filling was too dry and was a disappointment compared to the classic crème patissier version I had at lunch at Allard a few years back. The macaroons though were pretty good, nice flavours with a moreish chewy consistency.

Asian craving of the week was Vietnamese bun, which I managed to get at Thuy Long, a small Vietnamese cafe down the road from school. It did the job but I won't be going back, not a big fan of having my food microwaved.... especially when I'm paying for it.  

Buy of the week was a tie between Pierre Hermé's Ispahan croissant  at 2 yoyos (Tip: his shop on rue de Vaugirard is much nicer with no queues of adoring tourists either!) and Tang Gourmet's roast duck, can't argue for half a bird for around 7 yoyos, yum! :)

Pho 14 - don't believe the hype!

My original plan had been to grab some groceries from Tang Frères and then a quick bite to eat next door at Tang Gourmet before heading to the cinema to catch the 2nd Mesrine film (very slow, more violence and Vinz looking fairly rotund, having piled on 20kgs for the role - am undecided about his performance). Unfortunately,  Tang Frères was shut on Monday (char!) so no groceries. Then I suddenly remembered that I was only down the road from Pho 14 so decided to go there for grub instead. I had walked past it a couple of weekends ago on a Sunday afternoon and was gobsmacked when I saw the queue snaking out the front door and onto the pavement, first thought was that it must be pretty amazing pho, right? Since I didn't really fancy queuing, I figured 5pm on a Monday afternoon was an OK time? I did get a table but the place was still maybe 80% full, impressive. The same could not be said about the pho, I'm afraid. Pho Mui is still my top choice, with a fuller flavoured stock, larger portions and marginally friendlier staff.

Asian food fix - L'Arbre de Sel and Kadoya

I never used to understand why my parents insisted on going back to HK and China all the time for their holidays. Since annual leave used to be a prized commodity for me of sorts, I used to use it to go and visit as many different places in the world and would rarely return to the same holiday destination. One of the reasons my parents always head out East is because of the food and now being in Paris, I am having similar feelings and am constantly on the search for good Asian food, maybe its just part of my DNA?

As we usually finish late on Wednesday, I decided to for a Korean dinner (to lick my "pastry" wounds post-lab!) before heading home. The restaurant of choice, L'Arbre de Sel is literally down the road from school which was handy. The menu was varied but again, I went for my old favourite, dolsot bibimbap. This was a marked improvement on the version I had a few weeks ago - firstly, there were more than just a few morsels of meat on top of my rice; secondly, at least the pot was almost two-thirds full of goodies and thirdly, it was mighty tasty (there were much more diverse veggies including some lotus root and shitake mushroom). At last, we have a strong contender for good Korean in Paris!

Having wandered up to Paris' Little India (in the 10th, near La Chapelle metro) on Saturday morning, I had grand plans to have lunch there but a mixture of apprehension and bad timing (do not try to find a table at 1pm on Saturday afternoon!) meant that I would have to try another day. A metro ride later, I ended up in le Quartier Japonais for a quick and satisfying lunch of ramen, gyoza and calpico at Kadoya (on the corner of rue St-Anne and rue Petits Champs). For all you Brits out there, they call calpico the original Japanese name here in Paris, "karupisu" - the similarity in pronunciation to cow piss is lost on Parisians, clearly! :)     

L'Entredgeu + Le Pain Quotidien + Happy Nouilles + L'Ardoise + Lao Lane Xang = return of Fatty Chan!

This weekend was a marathon of eating, mainly due to having company (JD) in town, so lovely being able to spend some time together! Before JD arrived on Friday night, I met up with his ex-colleague, "François" and E, who were visiting Paris for the weekend for a lovely dinner at L'Entredgeu, a "neo bistro" in the 17th. This was my 2nd time at L'Entredgeu (first was a couple of years ago with JD, on the recommendation of François) and the food did not disappoint. I started off with a starter of rich langoustine bisque, a sense of déjà vu when it arrived as it was the same thing I ordered last time! I followed this with échine de cochon, melt-in-the-mouth rib of suckling pig served on a bed of buttery mash and finished off with a feuilletes de poire (due to my pastry chef curiosity tendencies). A lovely meal with some lovely company - made note to self to order the roast pigeon (François' choice) next time despite the 15 yoyo supplement. My only minor criticism was that service could be a tad better but thats not enough to put me off yet :)

JD and I met up with François and E on Saturday morning for a spot of brekkie at Le Pain Quotidien. We had first discovered this bakery chain during a long weekend in Brussels (where it originated) and have been hooked since (there are outposts in London, Paris and NYC). Breakfast is probably the best time to go (also the most popular!) as they have an extensive menu for a veritable spread.

After a wander around Marché Président Wilson and yet another failed attempt at climbing the Eiffel Tower (we'll get to the top one of these days!), JD and I had some lunch at Happy Nouilles, a noodle shop in the 3rd which I had walked past last week and vowed to return and try out. We both had a large bowl of the house special "hand pulled noodles", mine was in soup topped with 5-spice duck, JD plumped for what our neighbours were having, "zhajiang mian" (noodles topped with spicy pork mince sauce). Both were very good, I don't think zhajiang mian is actually on the menu so you'll have to ask the waiter for this - a return trip beckons!

Saturday afternoon was spent holed up in Kitty O'Sheas having minor heart attacks (at the game and being charged close to 5 yoyos for mineral water!) whilst watching Ireland v England in the 6 Nations. It was too close for comfort, 14-13 (could've been less so had "red-head" ROG kicked all of his missed 11 points, char!) but a win is still a win (props to BOD for single-handedly leading Ireland to a win despite playing concussed for half the game) and the Grand Slam is still a possibility.

We then went for dinner at L'Ardoise, another "neo bistro", this time in the 1st and on the recommendation of Joan Pan. In the words of Craig Revel Horwood, the food here was A-MA-ZING! I had a seafood feast of langoustine ravioli in shellfish jus - whole plump langoustine enveloped in silky pasta, and roasted scallops in herb butter, 5 sweet morsels of scallop meat with some little roast spuds, mucho delish! My dessert was "ballon de banane et caramel" - a generous ramekin of banana and caramel crème brûlée, with small chunks of banana and oozing caramel throughout and topped with a mini-scoop of banana sorbet. As a budding pastry chef, special mention has to go to JD's dessert, "feuilletine de pistache et nutella" - I have never tasted such thin and crispy millefeuille, it was light years ahead compared to my feuilletes de poire at L'Entredgeu! I think L'Ardoise has definitely become my new favourite bistro.

Our eating marathon reached a climax this afternoon at JD's choice, Lao Lane Xang (usually known as Rouammit in guide books), a popular Laotian restaurant in the 13th. We arrived relatively early to snag a table for lunch - a mixed meat platter, red chicken curry and pad thai. It was also the first time we tried out the desserts, JD went for Tofu Hua with ginger syrup (didn't realise they eat this in Laos, OK but could've been a little smoother) and I was presented with a gargatuan portion of mango and coconut sticky rice, yum!

Since arriving in Paris, I have actually been losing weight (despite taking a pastry course, bizarre!) but after this weekend, I believe that Fatty Chan might be making a return appearance, ho-hum! :)  

Au revoir Londres, Bienvenue Paris!

Tuesday 3^rd February 2009 was a significant day for me. It was the day that I crossed La Manche to start a new life in Paris. What had started off as a distant dream last Easter has finally arrived but for some reason, I was not overly excited on the day about my move. After quitting the rat race at the end of last year, I spent some time with my family and catching up with old friends during the month of January, which was lovely but at the same time, the nerves were starting to jangle big time. These appeared in the guise of not being able to sleep well and constant butterflies in the stomach. Certain questions were consuming my brain and dampening my fragile self-confidence: Was I really doing the right thing leaving a “stable” and “respectable” banking job to pursue an interest/hobby in baking? When was the euro going to weaken against sterling? (as if my course wasn’t expensive enough!) How was I going to cope with daily life in France with French learnt over a decade ago? (unfortunately, they don’t teach you how to open a bank account at school) What if the whole experience went completely pear-shaped and what little savings I had would also have gone down the drain? Naturally, I wasn’t the easiest person to live with during January and I have to say a big thank you to JD for keeping my spirits up and providing never-ending support. Its going to be tough being away from my loved ones but I guess its for less than a year, which should fly by. Just before leaving, a close friend had sent me an email wishing me well and to remember that if I had any doubts, to just think about my old job and how unhappy I was there, which would provide me with the motivation I would need to succeed – wise words from T! J

Lady Luck has definitely been looking out for me since Tuesday. My original plan had been to take the Eurostar on Monday but when the time came for me to book my ticket, it was more expensive than I wanted to pay so I opted for Tuesday instead. Turns out that this was a blessing in disguise as London was paralysed by heavy snowfall on Monday, which would’ve meant an unpleasant and delay-ridden trip. There was still snow on Tuesday but the sun was shining and most Eurostar trains were running on schedule. My journey went as smoothly as I could’ve hoped for, including navigating the many flights of stairs on the metro with heavy luggage (thanks for the metro tips, Jools!). My first night in Paris was filled with mixed emotions – happy to be here but also a little sad thinking back to all the goodbyes said in London, this feels 10 times worse than leaving home to go to boarding school. 

Despite these feelings, my first few days in Paris have been good – with my basic French, I have managed to get a pass Navigo, sort out a mobile phone and open a bank account. Parisians have an unjust reputation for being rude, the people I have met and dealt with to date have been nothing but kind, helpful and extraordinarily patient – I can pretty much guarantee that this type of customer service does not exist in London! I think the secret is to try and converse in French as much as possible and be prepared to carry all your personal documents around with you for a few days in order to sort things out. 

The weekend was then spent enjoying Paris, especially some of the culinary delights it has to offer. I had asked Mum for a copy of Clotilde's Edible Adventures in Paris for Christmas so ventured out with it in hand and it didn’t disappoint. Had a yummy Vietnamese sandwich from Saigon Sandwich in Belleville (8 rue de la Présentation, 11th) – a lovely concoction of grilled chicken, cucumber, carrot, chillis, coriander, lemongrass and mayonnaise in a crisp, fresh baguette. I did have a little trouble finding it at first - if you are coming by metro, take the exit for rue Louis Bonnet, come up to street level, walk down rue Louis Bonnet and turn right at the first junction. 

Another great recommendation from Clotilde was Jean-Paul Hévin (3 rue Vavin, 6th). My original plan was to wander in and do some window shopping but the heavenly chocolate aroma was too much and I walked out later armed with a couple of small bags of assorted chocolates and a tablette for JD. The chocolates were not cheap but are seriously delish and chocolatey yet light as a feather, dangerous!

While I was doing some research on cookery courses on the net last year, I came across Joan Pan’s blog, where she writes about her time spent at ESCF, as well as some recommendations on where to eat out in Paris. One of these places was Zen Zoo (13 rue Chabonais, 2nd), a small Taiwanese eaterie (see photo) which is renowned for its “bubble tea”. I’m not a big fan of the beverage myself but I did make the trip across town on possibly the coldest and most miserable day in Paris (think howling cold wind and constant snow fall, brr!) so far for lunch. The place was jammers and I was lucky enough to nab a table on arrival (they were busy the whole time I was there so be prepared for a wait, at least on a Saturday). Went for the “Formule Zoo” which includes a main, 2 sides and a dessert for 16 yoyos. I chose the “samedi spécial” of 5 spice beef noodles which was nice, not very 5-spicey but it did have a bit of a kick which helped warm me up. The highlight of the meal though was dessert, a piece of heavenly cake. There were 3 layers (2 of green tea, 1 of vanilla, I think) sandwiched together with red bean paste and cream and topped with a thin layer of raspberry coulis (mmm….hén hao chí!). Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera to take photos but I will definitely be going back again and maybe try and practise my ropey Mandarin with the staff next time!

I’m looking forward to starting my course on Monday and continuing to eat my way around the city. So far, things are coming up Millhouse, and I feel that I have definitely made the right decision.