Cuisine from all around the world

Much as I love French food, sometimes you just feel like trying something different. This week, I have two different discoveries on two different cuisines.

The first restaurant is an Indian one located at the atmospheric Passage Brady in the 10th arrondissement. In fact the whole passage is filled with Indian restaurants, complete with a grocery filled with presumably the ingredients required for whipping up a real Indian feast. Our particular favorite is Pooja which lies at the end of the passage. Fans of authentic curry will enjoy Pooja enormously. They have all kinds of curry, ranging from the mildly spicy to the fire- in- the mouth kind of dish. And mind you, the food is not at all watered down for the more mild French palate. They likewise have wonderful biryani dishes that are rich and savory, full of saffron, raisins, almonds and mint. I love the shrimp biryani filled with bits of cashew nuts that go wonderfully with the spicy shrimp. And since this is an Indian restaurant, we mustn’t forget the bread that accompanies each meal. They have the ubiquitous nan bread but I am a fan of their Paratha bread which has a buttery melt in the mouth kind of flakiness. It is truly delicious dipped into the steaming dish of curry. You will be transported to India with a meal at Pooja.

The second restaurant is a Thai restaurant in the 15th arrondissement. Banyan is a refined little restaurant where you can definitely bring a date or an intimate group for dinner. They serve creative and authentic Thai food that goes beyond the usual pad thai and chicken in banana leaves served in other Thai restaurants in the city. If you are undecided as to what great dish to try, the best thing to do is to take the great 34 euro dinner menu that includes entrée, plat and dessert. The genius of this particular menu is that both the entrée and plat are composed of an assortment of the different dishes served in the regular menu. It is a generous enough to get a real taste of what is on offer. More importantly, everything is delicious. For the starters, we had several kinds of dumplings and a clean fresh salad to finish. For the plat, we were served with the memorable side of caramelized pork, a delicious spicy beef dish sautéed in crisp basil leaves and a savory sweet and sour fish. At the end of this meal, you are completely full and ready for bed!