Travel France - Vegetarian-Friendly Restaurants and Cafés in Paris


Food means far more than just eating, especially when you are on vacation. It is also a way to learn about the place you are visiting, and a way to meet locals and see how they live and enjoy life. Over the last years, I dined a few times at the recommended places and the quality and service are consistently good. Where can you drink Hot Chocolate with Chestnut Milk? Where can you eat oriental pastries and drink speciality coffee from French roaster Terres de Café? Where can you eat in one of the town's 2,185 Monuments Historiques? What has choux-pastry got to do with breast models? Where can you test Corsican homestyle-cooked food in a village like atmosphere? Where do they trust in Crêpes? Which restaurant serves Cidres from eco-friendly suppliers? Where can you eat next to Napoleon-III apartments? Come one I show you some of my favourite Vegetarian-Friendly Eats and Cafés in Paris.

Travel France. Vegetarian-Friendly Eats and Cafés in Paris the touristin


Oultma – Your sister in Paris


All white, stylish, fresh, flowery, comfy cushions, trays, low coffee tables, and a wooden coffee counter in front of the open kitchen. Granola with oriental spices give a mainstream breakfast staple an exotic touch. For lunch you can eat dishes made from tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, orange carrots, turmeric, aubergine and roasted carrots, and order juices with celery, apple, cucumber, ginger, rhubarb or Rooibos. This cafe is for all the ones, lusting for Moroccan hospitality and style, but the time for a trip to Morocco is scarce. The two hosts welcome you with big smiles and warmth. For my coffee, coffee beans from French roaster Terres de Café were used. If you have a sweet tooth, go for orange cake, cinnamon rolls, coconut shortbread or oriental pastries. Please also check the website for more information.

Coffee in small glasses on golden coasters, part of a bunch of fresh cut flowers in a glass vase, water in front of a white wall at cafe Oultma.

Oultma. 18 rue du pont au choux, 75003 Paris. Hours: Saturday and Sunday 9.30am–6.30pm, Monday and Tuesday Closed, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9.30am to 6.30pm.

In case you would like to read about Morocco:

Le Comptoir at Archive 1820 Concept Store


This is the ideal stop for a Veggie and Smoothie Bowl. There are also lots of vegan drinks on offer at Comptoir. Hot Chocolate with Chestnut Milk. Matcha Latte - rice milk and matcha tea. Gingerbread Latte - chestnut milk with honey and spices. Golden Latte - coconut milk with turmeric, ginger, cardamom and honey. As desert, go for the Matcha-tea- and raspberry cake, because is out of this world delicious. Also check out the beautiful glass roof of the stylish concept store, that sells men's clothes, books, art and shoes (for example Veja sneakers).
 
Raspberry cake, wooden chairs and hipster counter at Le Comptoir

Le Comptoir 18-20 rue des Archives 75004 Paris, le Marais. Hours: Daily from 11am to 7.30pm. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table.

Le Train Bleu at Gare de Lyon


Le Train Bleu is one of the town's 2,185 Monuments Historique. The decoration of the restaurant that was opened at the train station Gare de Lyon in 1901 is lavish: gold carvings, chandeliers, landscape paintings and china monogrammed with Le Train Bleu. It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful restaurants ever. In our times when we talk travel it often is about how fast we can get to the destination or how we can get the cheapest plane- or train-ticket. We work till late, rush home, pack bags, squeeze into trams or taxis, rush to the airport, eat snacks at fast food café's where we (in most cases) have to sit next to overflowing rubbish bins. Not a magical experience. Le Train Bleu is an excellent reminder that travelling is a special experience. Travelling is exciting, new adventures lie ahead. Sitting in the 11-meter-high rooms, is an experience not to be missed. If the prices for dinner are too deluxe for your budget, you can go for breakfast or drinks.

Ornate golden and blue interior design at Le Train Bleu at Gare de Lyon

Ornate golden and blue interior design; tables are set with white linen and wine glasses at Le Train Bleu. Paintings and chandeliers in the vaults.

Ornate golden and blue interior design; tables are set with white linen and wine glasses. Elaborate paintings on the ceilings and in the vaults.

Le Train Bleu, Paris Gare du Lyon. Hours: Monday to Sunday 7.30am to 10.30pm. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table.

Popelini - choux-pastry breast models


Who would have thought that small cream puffs will become all the rage again? The shop is named after Popelini, who is the inventor of puff pastry and who was the official cook of Catherine de Medici. In total there are already four stores in Paris. The shops are small and the only thing you can buy are Popelinis. Why would you buy anything else, right? Through the iced cover of a coloured fondant, you bite into the soft, airy and light dough and the creaminess of the filling. Every single Popelini is handmade from scratch. It is a labour of love. You can choose Madagascar Vanilla, Dark Chocolate, Coffee, Rose-Confit Raspberry, Milk Chocolate, Lemon, Pistachio Cherry-Confit, Praline, Salted Butter Caramel, Gianduja Nougat, Passion Fruit, Like-a-Black-Forest, Vanilla Raspberry, Caramel, Duo of Red Fruits, and Chestnut. I went for the rose flavoured one. To say it in the words of Édith Piaf: Je vois la vie en rose.
 
Popelini, Choux à la Crème in yellow, chocolate and rose on a white tray.

Popelini, 29 rue Debelleyme, 75003 Paris. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 7.30pm. Sunday 10am to 6pm. / Popelini, 44 rue des Martyrs, 75009 Paris. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 7.30pm. Sunday 10am to 3pm. / Popelini, 35 rue de Turenne, 75003 Paris. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 7pm. Sunday 10am to 6pm. / Popelini, 71 rue de Seine, 75006 Paris. Hours: Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 7.30pm. Sunday 10am to 7pm. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table.

L’Alivi in the Marais


This is the place for Corsican homestyle-cooked food. On my first visit, the owner, a proud Corsican tells me that L’Alivi is a place for locals as well as for visitors wanting to taste typical Corsican food. The intimate restaurant, albeit in the middle of trendy and busy Le Marais, with its wooden beams and stone walls has a lively village atmosphere. Portions are large and flavourful, and I'm reminded once more why I instantly fell in love with the island of Corsica when I visited. I recommend the Crousti Fondant with fresh cheese, fig jam, and honey/balsamic sauce as a starter and the Cannelloni with Corsican cheese as a main. If there is still room for dessert, not easy, order the Fiadone, a Corsican cheesecake made with Brocciu, a cheese made from sheep milk.

View through a window into a restaurant in Marais with a blue street sign and a green awning on its facade.

L’Alivi. 27 rue du roi de Sicile, 75004 Paris. Monday to Friday 12pm to 2.30pm and 7pm to 11pm. Saturday 12pm to 4pm and 7pm to 11.30pm. Sunday 12pm to 4pm and 7pm to 11pm. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table, it is best to email the restaurant.

L'Atelier Artisan Crêpier – In Crêpes they trust


This place looks fresh and modern, with black and white tiled floors and glass lamps, wooden chairs and sofas with colourful cushions and has got a relaxed atmosphere. The food is fresh and homemade at L'Atelier Artisan Crêpier. They even make their own cidres and have their own bees to produce honey. The creperie is directly opposite the historic Marche Saint-Germain. I recommend the galette Robert, with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, rocket and pesto and the crepes Yvette as desert, a crepe with caramel, caramelized apples, and whipped cream. Order Cidre, which is the traditional drink from not so far away Brittany.

A bottle of cider, black and white tiled floor, wooden chairs; a galette with mozarella and tomatoes
 
L'Atelier Artisan Crêpier, 10 Rue Mabillon, 75006 Paris, France. Hours: 10.30am to 11pm. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table.

La Cidrerie du Marais


I love to eat at the La Cidrerie du Marais, it is a cheerful place. This place is packed to the rafters with kitsch, it still feels inviting. Diners sit close to each other, when it is busy you can only see the heads of people, that is already telling us that the quality is good. The waiters are welcoming and fun to talk to, the food is delicious, and the location in the Marais is ideal as well. I highly recommend this place, when you can get a spot, order the galette with goats’ cheese, honey and walnuts. Drink Cidre with it.

Five people sitting at tables in front of a Crêperie in the Marais on a sunny afternoon.

A green bottle of cider with a black, silver and red label.

La Cidrerie du Marais, 4 Rue de Sévigné, 75004 Paris, France. Hours: Saturday to Sunday 12 pm to 11pm. Phone +33 1 42 78 57 07.

The Richelieu Café / Angelina


In 1903, Austrian confectioner Antoine Rumpelmeyer founded Angelina and named it after his daughter-in-law. The tea room, that has now been for more than a century on rue de Rivoli, is always bustling with fans of chocolate and opulent cakes. The Café Richelieu in the Richelieu wing, only a few steps from the Napoleon-III apartments, overlooks the Napoleon courtyard and the pyramid offers sandwiches, salads and cakes from Angelina. I recommend the Ravioli with mushrooms and truffle and as dessert a hot chocolate from Angelina. If you have the space after you ate a plate of pasta, order a Mont-Blanc, a meringue with chestnut cream. Word of warning: Do not order hot chocolate and a Mont-Blanc together, both are to die for, but it wouldn't be all too healthy (it is just a feeling, I’m in no position to give out serious health advice of course).

An elegant cafe with people sitting in front of a vaulted window that views towards the pyramid of the Louvre; Chocolate delicacies.

The Richelieu Café / Angelina at the Louvre. Hours: 10am to 4.45pm. When the museum is opened longer on Wednesdays and Fridays: 10am to 6.30pm and until 8.30pm during Christmas, Easter and July and August. Please also check the website for hours and to book a table.

Where to go for drinks: Maison Maison 16 Quai du Louvre, 75001 Paris. Maison Sauvage, 5 Rue de Buci, 75006 Paris, France. Le Ju, 16 Rue des Archives, 75004 Paris, France.

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