Although it is no London, there are plenty of Indian restaurants in Paris. My favorite has to be Krishna Bhavan, located in the Little Jaffna neighborhood between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle which is home to the city’s Tamil population.
It is said that Tamils consider serving food as a service to humanity, and it shows in the warmth of service you get at this 100% vegetarian restaurant. When you tell your server that you need non-dairy food they will try to make anything on their menu vegan for you. Last night our lovely, English-speaking waitress even went out of her way to reemphasize that everything she was serving us was vegan.
And she served us plenty, because the combination of low, low prices and delicious, delicious food is a deadly one. Last night we started with banana pakoras, which were plantain-like and savory. Samosas were next, in a philo-style pastry followed by idlis. I almost never see idlis over here so I had to order them and they were lovely with their curry and chutney accompaniments. The highlight was the finale of masala dosas: massive, deliciously crispy, potato stuffed lentil-flour pancakes. With my cardamom tea, I was very happy.
There is even more good stuff on the menu, although the one on their site is slightly different than the one they are actually serving at the moment. And if you are not in the mood for a restaurant meal, they serve the same food across the street at their take-out branch. Also in Little Jaffna you can explore the various grocery stores, boutiques, veg-friendly restaurants and cd emporiums in the bustling and welcoming community.
Pros: Vegan friendly, cheap and very welcoming
Cons: No beer
Krishna-Bhavan
24, Rue Cail, 75010
Métro: La Chapelle
01 42 05 78 43
[...] Krishna Bhavan 24, Rue Cail, Paris 75010 Métro: Gare du Nord or La Chapelle 01 42 05 78 43 Sounthern Indian/Sri Lankan, very vegan friendly with great prices. Review [...]
Careful: almost all food is reheated in the microwave even the things previously fried like the samosas and badjis and rolles. This becomes like rubber, it is not tasty at all after having gone through the microwaving. But also if you consider that a big part of vegetarians is not onyl interested in meatless food but also in healthy food, this restaurant cannot be an option because all vegetable curries are also microwaved.
Also they changed there prices and the dish which was formerly sold the most, the Thali is now 10 EUR instead of 8.50 EUR.
I will not go there anymore, that is a shame in the light of no real alternatives in Paris.