I’ve already written in great length about the quality of food in France, specifically in Lyon, in this post from the summer. But what I love about Paris in comparison to Lyon, is the great variety of cuisines you can find here. Lyon was all about French food, understandably. Delicious French food to say the least, but it all became a bit repetitive to me over the course of the summer. I can only eat so many goat-cheese salads before they all start tasting the same to me. But in Paris…you can walk down a street and have your pick of ramen (Kodawari in 5ème is the best ramen I’ve ever tasted), pizza (the truffle pizza at Sette in 10ème is to die for), falafel (L’as du Falafel in the 3ème is world famous), and more. You’d have to try very hard in order to get bored of all your food choices here in Paris.
I do think that Paris is really lacking in casual eating places. In my opinion, you only really have sit down cafes and restaurants, or fast fast-food places like McDonald’s. There are no in-between places where you can sit down to eat your meal, but still be in and out in 15 minutes. Like Dig Inn on Boylston Street. That’s just not the eating culture here. Quick bites are not as common, unless of course you want a kebab. But even in the cases of kebabs, those stands here are only open until around midnight, which presents a very large problem if you’re coming home hungry in the wee hours of the night/morning. One other note, since eating and savoring your meal is such an important aspect of French culture, it’s considered very strange to eat and walk. There’s been many times when I grab a sandwich and eat it on the way to work or class, and I’ve gotten sarcastic “Bon appetit” remarks and looks of low-key disgust. They have a point…eating on a subway is kind of a weird norm that others at home wouldn’t find so out-of-place. But the French live to eat, while college students eat to live.
For the past few decades, taking food home from a French restaurant was considered a faux pas. But the French culinary culture is slowly evolving regarding that judgment. Restaurants started to realize how much food was being wasted by not offering a take-home option, so now some of the bigger and more international restaurants will offer you a box for leftovers if you ask nicely. One thing I really love here is how easy it is to split a check by credit card. I feel as if most places in the States will only allow you to use one or two cards maximum, or they just have to ring up individual receipts for each patron and absolutely hate you in the process. In France (like all European countries), the servers have a handheld card machine, where they punch in the exact dollar amount you wish to pay. Because of this, it is super easy to just add up the costs of your own meal, and tell the waiter to charge your card that amount. And at the end, the waiter can just add up all the receipt totals in his or her head to make sure the bill was fully paid. Easy as pie. Come on America, catch up here.
I realized this past week when my sister visited me, that we both we think grocery shopping in another country is super fun. It’s a weird quirk…maybe we weren’t let out enough as children or something. The main supermarkets here— ranked from most to least expensive— are Marks & Spencer (like the one in the UK), Carrefour, Monoprix, and LIDL. A lot of these are large multi-national companies that you can find in other European countries, filled with food from around the world. So if you’re looking for your favorite Skippy peanut butter that only Americans like, be sure to look in one of the huge supermarkets. Those who want the traditional Parisian experience can buy their foods from specialty shops, such as bread from a boulangerie, meat from a boucherie, or cheese from a fromagerie. And if you are an environmentally-conscious shopper, you don’t have to worry about monitoring what far-off country your food is being imported from. The European Union has very strict import laws, and the French generally prefer to eat fruits and veggies that are in season. So as a result, most of the produce will come from either farms that are local, further south, or in neighboring countries such as Spain.
And on days where I get home from work too late or can’t be bothered to cook lunch on a lazy Saturday morning, the amount of delivery options you have in Paris is amazing. I am constantly amazed at how fast food is delivered around here, whether it’s through UberEats, Deliveroo, or foodora. Walking around my arrondissement, you can see groups of delivery boys sitting around with their bikes, waiting for the next order to come in. Standing on-call like this is probably why the food delivery is so instantaneous here in Paris. My friend who studied abroad in Berlin said that delivery took so much longer in the German capital compared to Paris, as they struggle with a very inefficient public transportation and a more spread-out city layout. My friends and I like to have periodical pizza and wine parties, where we order pies from different restaurants around Paris, and compare them in the comfort of my own home. Nothing like a good old-fashioned and wholesome night in!
Just whatever you do, don’t try the Chipotle here. I know some people say Subway is better in France due to the higher-quality baguettes, but trying Chipotle in Paris really just ruined my day. It just tasted…wrong. When in Paris, do as the Parisians do, and avoid American fast-food.
