I visited Paris last month as a last-minute vacation. I really wanted to meet my Parisian readers! We had a potluck meetup and it was a big success. You can check out my meetup video mixed with my buchu-kimchi video here.

I’ve been to Paris a few times in my life, and I’ve always been impressed with its beauty, art and food! Every time I go, I experience the city in a different way. The first time I concentrated on its culture and I visited all the usual tourist spots. The second time I discovered its pungent cheeses and totally got hooked them, as well as baguettes.

This trip I spent a lot of time cooking with their fresh, locally-grown ingredients. I still dont know all about Paris, every time I go I find something new to explore. Here are some of the things that I enjoyed this time:

Grocery stores, cooking at home & hotel cooking

I was surprised to see that most local grocery stores carry fresh, locally-grown, in season, high quality ingredients at good prices. In New York these are called “heirloom” vegetables. The French people care a lot about good quality ingredients so these small grocery stores were all over Paris and affordable.

If you go to Paris and have a kitchen there, I recommend you shop in these local stores and cook at home as much as you can.

local grocery

Terroirs d'Avenir

I found a hidden gem in Paris! The fish market where I bought oysters in my buchu-kimchi video is on the Terroirs d’Avenir which is a small street of shops selling high quality French fish, meats, produce, and a bakery too. You can find really freshly shucked oysters there. The fishmonger will shuck it in front of you. Local people go shopping here, in one alleyway they can find everything they need to make a delicious meal!

Poissonnerie Terroirs d’avenir

8 Rue du Nil, Paris
Google Maps

rice

I never forget my rice! When I travel I bring my mini travel cooker with me, so I can always make fresh, fluffy rice in any hotel room! It’s made by Sanyo and I’ve used it all over the world. It’s small and handy, and can switch voltages to be used everywhere. I brought it on my Gapshida trip all around the world! They don’t make them anymore, but Yazawa in Japan is making something similar.

kimchi-stew

On my last night in Paris my hotel room had a kitchen, so I made kimchi-jjigae with all the leftover ingredients in my fridge. This includes the last of the fermented kimchi I made for the meetup, potato, onion, carrots, and some duck I took home from Restaurant Allard (see below) the night before. It was fantastic!

Korean grocery shopping

Wherever I go, it’s my habit to first check if they have a Korean grocery store there. I was happy to have the list of Korean grocery stores on my own website as a guide in Paris. It’s amazing that I could be guided by my own readers on where to go!

My website lists several Korean grocery stores in Paris but I found everything I needed at the first one I went to, K Mart on Rue Sante-Anne. I heard from my readers at the party that Ace Mart is also good (it’s nearby K Mart).

K Mart

6-8 Rue Sainte-Anne, Paris
Google Maps

Eating French food

allard

One of my favorite restaurants in Paris is Allard, which serves traditional French food. I especially like their duck with tons of olives and escargot. This is real traditional French food, and I can’t skip Allard whenever I go to Paris. Ten years ago I tasted escargot for the first time here, it’s still the most delicious I ever ate. Buttery and super-hot!


roasted-duck

escargot

When I went there this time, after the meal I asked the waiter if they had wifi so I could call an Uber taxi to go home. He told me in English: “This restaurant was made in one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two! There is no wifi!” Isn’t it funny? Installing wifi has nothing to do with when the restaurant started! If you go here, ask them for wifi and see if you get the same answer.

Google Map of Allard, 41 Rue Saint-André des Arts, Paris

Allard


41 Rue Saint-André des Arts, Paris
Google Maps

beef tartare

I also had beef tartare when I was in Paris. I’ve had it before in New York, but I wasn’t a big fan of it. I love Korean yukhoe, so I thought that maybe the real Parisian tartare would be better. I have to tell the truth, I’m still not a big fan. The seasonings were too greasy for me. With every bite I missed my yukhoe, which to my taste is lighter and brighter.

Cheese

I love stinky cheese, and the best I found was in France. Years ago, I bought some cheese that was really really pungent, it smelled a lot like well-fermented Korean fish sauce! It was so delicious, and I never found anything like it anywhere else, no matter how much I looked.

This time I retraced my steps and went back to that cheese store and it was still there! And so was the cheese! I found out it was called livarot and made in the small town of Livarot in Normandy.

livarotlivarot-piecelivarot

Crunchy outside, soft inside piece of baguette, with some livarot generously spread on top. It’s heaven! It might be a little salty, in that case eat wth tomato or apple.

Androuet

I found out that the store was a famous store, over 100 years old called Androuet. They are very serious about cheese, and bring the best cheeses from all over France to their stores, as a way of preserving French culture through food. Funny thing is, that at the potluck meetup one of my readers brought a few different kinds of cheese from this store! It must be very popular among Parisians. My reader skipped livarot, though. : )

Androuet crest

In the store they hang their crest very proudly!

camembert

Androuet has various locations in Paris. I think all are probably good, although I only went to 2 of them. All the cheeses I tried there were delicious and they also vacuum-sealed my cheese to take home on the airplane. I got a lot of livarot, enough for months!

Google Map of Androuet, 134 Rue Mouffetard, Paris

Androuet

134 Rue Mouffetard, Paris
Google Maps

Google Map of Androuet, 37 Rue de Verneuil, Paris

Androuet

37 Rue de Verneuil, Paris
Google Maps

The 37 Rue de Verneuil location is near the Musée d’Orsay, which is my favorite museum in Paris. They have a lot of well-known Impressionist paintings in their collection, as well as many other wonderful works. So I can suggest that if you go to this cheese shop, you also go around the corner and check out the Musée d’Orsay. : )

the_souls_flight-louis_janmot

orsay-pot

When I saw this pan in the Musee d’Orsay, I was wondering why no companies make pans with these kinds of ornate decorations. I love the design. The handles are so cute! If someone made these, I would buy them!

Croissants

Anywhere you go in Paris you’ll see local people lining up for baguettes or pastry at the boulangerie, or French bakery. The breads are cheap and really delicious, I was surprised! When you see a small line of people in the morning, that’s the store you need to go to.

Every bakery in Paris was delicious for me, but the best croissant I ever had was from a little bakery called 

Les Petits Pains Ronds

in the 4th arrondissement. They are small, and flaky, crispy, and buttery, but very soft inside. Very addictive! I was going to bring some back to New York to share some with my friends, but I had to leave early in the morning before they opened. I’ll go next time! If you guys go there, eat on behalf of me. : )

Google Map of 2 Bis bd Morland, Paris

Les Petits Pains Ronds

2 Bis bd Morland, Paris
Google Maps

6 Comments:

  1. holliehewitt Toronto, Ontario, Canada joined 8/22 & has 1 comment

    Oh yes, I was only in Paris for one day, but I had time to try the bread and croissants, very tasty

  2. carrayville Placerville, CA joined 12/18 & has 5 comments

    Cool, thank you … This information is useful to me for the next trip there

  3. beppieee Arnhem, The Netherlands joined 4/17 & has 1 comment

    Dear Maangchi,

    I want to thank you for sharing all your great recipies with the world!
    I enjoy your video’s so much. I try to make as much of your recipies as possible.
    Sometimes it is a bit hard since I’m a college student (which means I’m broke all the time haha). But luckily there is a korean market right around the corner!
    I already made kimchi, tteokbokki and sundubu jjigae!
    Honestly I hope to eat something you made yourself just once!

    Keep the video’s and love for food going!

    Hugs from The Netherlands

  4. Mychi Paris, France joined 12/16 & has 1 comment

    Hello Maangchi,

    Above all, I am a great fan of yours!!!
    I am of Korean descent (but a German citizen) and have grown so much closer to Korean culture through your cooking! I am sincerely grateful for your recipes and videos – Korean food feels so “natural” to me.
    Last year we moved to Paris and when I saw that you were here, I got very excited! Then I saw that it was last month and I am so sad that I missed you here! Will you come back any time soon?
    Lots of love from Paris!
    Mychi

  5. aeolia38 Ulsan, Korea joined 12/16 & has 1 comment

    Hi Maangchi!

    I live in Ulsan, but I’ll be spending Christmas in France with my boyfriend and his family. We’ve been living in Korea for about a year and a half, and thought it’d be a good idea to make some Korean food for his friends and family. I was wondering if the Korean grocers in Paris, K-mart and Ace, had everything that I might need, like 된장, 고추장, 참기름, 당면, and 부침가루. Mostly asking because we don’t really want to bring anything that we don’t need from Korea, haha.

Leave a Reply

You must create a profile and be logged in to post a comment.