I like Paris very much. I like it so much that once upon a time, I used to live there. I've been back more times than I can count since then. I've been visiting the French capital for decades, and I've watched the vegan food scene flourish - what was was once a city devoted to meat and dairy is now a place where vegans can find plant-based restaurants and other spots for quality plant-based food.
When I go to Paris. I always find time to go to Land & Monkeys. And I mean always. It's not a trip to Paris without a trip to Land & Monkeys, because Land & Monkeys is a traditional French patisserie, but entirely vegan. There's no meat, dairy or eggs, but there's brioche, croissant, gateau, and quiche that prove just how good vegan patisserie can be. I can't thoroughly express how much I love Land & Monkeys. You get the idea - I want you go there, then you too can rave about how good it is.
I love the little tarts they sell there. Here's a classic raspberry tart I enjoyed:
That was dessert after I'd eaten a huge no bacon-and-egg brioche, that had some of the nicest vegan bacon I can recall (they use La Vie, so I've bought some to recreate this glorious sandwich at home!) Also pictured - a very, very good croissant and pain aux raisins. And I don't even like pain aux raisins.
There are a handful of branches across the city, so hopefully wherever you're staying in Paris, there's one near you. If there's not, they're definitely worth the journey!
Land & Monkeys
land-and-monkeys.com
2 Rue de Turenne 75004 PARIS
0186043187
Apart from visiting Land & Monkeys every time I'm in Paris, I like to try and hunt down new spots. On our latest trip to Paris we went to Riz Riz, Riz Riz is vegan, gluten-free, and as zero waste as they can make it, according to the restaurant.
They also serve a 'rice table' - an idea borrowed from Dutch-Indonesian cuisine where you get to try loads of side dishes, along with rice (naturally!)
Our rice table came with beetroot hummus with rice cakes, sweet potato waffles, spinach dhal, mango masala, dragon's curry, tabbouleh, a buddha bowl-type dish, and tabbouleh.
The tabbouleh was made with rice rather than buckwheat, which didn't quite work, and the hummus was crying out for some good gluten-free crackers rather than the rice cakes - a bit of crunch in among all the soft textures would have been welcome.
That said, there were a lot of utter winners there. Various different types of spice-led delights, for example - gentle, comforting dhal, sweet mango masala, and a zingy thai green curry-style aubergine. The sweet potato waffles were always going to be a favourite of mine, because vegan waffles usually are. The Black Panther - the tiny Buddha Bowl - had smoked tofu, avocado, black rice, and a stunning sesame dressing.
We didn't finish everything - there was so much food! - but our lovely waitress said it was a shame we'd be missing out on dessert, because they were really good there. Next time I come back, I'll be sure to save space.
Riz Riz
riz-riz.com
221 Rue Saint-Martin, 75003 Paris, France
+33 1 83 89 39 70
Our final meal in Paris was at Breathe, an all-vegan sushi bar in the second arrondissement.
To say farewell in proper style, I ordered a cocktail. It was fun and well made. This was a great decision.
I then opted for the formule découverte - a chance to try all the different types of sushi on one plate. Why I did this I don't know, on the grounds that a few of the dishes included seitan, which I'm not a fan of, and one had Just Egg-type vegan omelette, which I don't like either. Clearly, ordering the formule découverte was not a good decision. Maybe I thought Breathe would be the restaurant that, in 15 years of veganism, would convince me to love seitan.
Spoiler: it did not. I tried it, I still don't like seitan.
I handed all the seitan to Mr Flickingthevs, who likes seitan and assures me it was good. I handed the omelette-topped sushi to Mr Flickingthevs who doesn't like omelette either, but has a low threshold for enjoying food and he ate it without complaining.
I enjoyed the non-seitan sushi well enough - the thai basil and tomato inari won hands down, and the five-flavour aubergine and pineapple and coriander nigiri deserve an honourable mention - but I wasn't alas bowled over by the plate. Mr Flickingthevs chose a ramen bowl, and the soba noodles were undercooked and doughy. I guess Breathe wasn't on top form when I visited, but there were a lot of creative ideas on show, so I'd be happy to go back and hopefully try everything again when it's on top form (minus the seitan, of course - I can only make the same daft decision once).
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