Asian markets in Paris

There are several neighborhoods in central Paris where you are most likely to find plenty of Asian products and restaurants.

In the 1st/9th arrondissements along the axis rue St. Anne and rue des Petits Champs you can find a half dozen noodle bars as well as several Japanese markets selling just about every Japanese condiment, rice, noodle you can imagine.

In the 1970s a large influx of Laotian, Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants settled in the 13th arrondissement of Paris.

Today the area east of rue de Tolbiac, bordered by Avenue d'Ivry and Avenue de Choisy, constitutes the largest Asian population in the city and indeed one of the largest in all of Europe. (photo below: the Continental store on Avenue d'Ivry.)

As you stroll along Avenue d'Ivry it is not hard to miss the sights and smells of Asia, all against the backdrop of late-model skyscraping apartment high-rises.

Still, this is where you come to find fresh Asian produce, unique sauces, incredible condiments, rices, noodles, and plenty of frozen foods. In fact Parisstore has a store devoted just to frozen Asian food right next door to its main market on Avenue d'Ivry. And you can also find plenty of industrial-sized packages of prepared Nem, which are wrapped pates, similar to egg rolls but the fillings are very different in texture, and of course fresh fish, a staple here. (photos below: Parisstore and its frozen food store next door.)


The biggest draw is that here you can find the very best meat prices in town. In fact, meat at the larger markets like Parisstore and the Tang Freres are usually half, that's right I said half, of what the neighborhood boucherie is charging. And the meat all comes from the same place, the huge Rungis wholesale market just outside of the city.

But what about the quality? One of my staples has become the porc filet mignon, very similar in appearance to our pork tendereloin in the US but smaller, more succulent and tender. At the Parisstore the price is €12/kg; at the boucherie across the street from our apartment the same cut of meat sells for €19/kg. (photo below: the message board outside of Tang Freres.)

The Tang Freres ("brothers") store is one of the most well-known in the city but I find their meat selection a bit limited compared to their neighbor, the Parisstore. On the other hand I think Tang has the better selection of sauces and they carry one of my favorite condiments, Pearl River Bridge sweet black vinegar.

Metro: Tolbiac/Port d'Ivry. If you're getting off at Tolbiac as you exit look for the rue de Tolbiac and follow it a block down to where Avenue de Choisy and Avenue d'Ivry split off on your left. You can follow de Choisy down to Boulevard Massena, turn left and stroll past the huge Centre Commerciale to Avenue d'Ivry and turn left again. Follow d'Ivry and both Parisstore and Tange Freres will be on your right across the street. You can continue down d'Ivry until you return to Tolbiac.

In the 19th arr. in the area along rue de Belleville is the "other" Chinatown, the result of another wave of Asian immigrants who settled in northeastern part of Paris in the 1980s.

Compliments of "Drea," we have the following restaurant recommendation for "Thai and Thaish" food: Lao Siam, 49 rue de Belleville, metro Belleville, in the 19th.

"It's a brightly-lit, inexpensive, open-every-day place, short on atmosphere but with a great reputation. But you need to know what to order: the salads are great (boeuf à la citronelle, poulet, vermicelles), as are the Thai soups, the "crevettes sel and poivre", boeuf seché épicé (if you like Asian beef jerky-ish meat), green curry chicken, "liserons d'eau" (a sautéed green, mmmmmm), amok (sp? fish in coconit milk mixture served in banana leaves), "caille ail" (garlicky quails), and plenty of sticky rice. Oh, I love this restaurant! No reservations."

Metro: Belleville/Pyrenees.

Most of the major grocery stores carry a wide selection of Asian products of course. For example, Le Bon Marche's food store carries a number of hard-t0-find, micro-brew soy sauces. Although quite a bit more expensive a little of these soy sauces go a long way and are worth a try. (My personal favorite is Yamato. Very intense and packed with flavor.)