Angelina Tearoom at Versailles

Angelina Versailles
Pavillon d’Orléans
Château de Versailles
(Only open to château ticket holders)
Tel: 01 39 20 08 32
Open Tues-Sun 10am-5pm (until 6pm April-October)

The dining room (photo by Angelina's)

In 2011 the famous Angelina Salon du Thé opened a new location at the Château de Versailles. Located in the Orleans Gallery at the end of the Grands Appartements (signs point the way), the entrance to the Angelina Versailles tearoom is a large boutique selling chocolate mix, candles and candies to go. To the right is a casual take-away style counter with sandwiches and salads and a few tall tables for standing while eating a quick bite.

The restaurant has several rooms, not fancy but elegant. The carpeting kept the noise down, and even though it was over 80°F outside, we were nice and cool (not sure if it was A/C or the fact that the sun was still on the other side of the courtyard). The menu for lunch includes croquet monsieur (€13) and club sandwiches (€14), as well as larger gourmet salads (€19) and heart dishes like rack of lamb (€24) or seared scallops (€28). The lamb smelled delicious, the club sandwiches are huge, and I liked my foie gras salad (with green beans and avocado, and a choice of dressings on the side), but I thought the croquet-monsieur looked pretty sad.

Of course, most people don’t go to Angelina’s for the food. They go for dessert. My client was more than happy with his pot of hot chocolate à l’Africain (€6.90) with its own little cup of whipped cream, and I enjoyed my Saori (a Japanese lime cheesecake with raspberry jelly and a white chocolate coating, €7.20). It wasn't full when I was there on a Thursday in September (but perhaps it would be packed on a weekend in July, so I highly recommend making reservations). It's the perfect place to have a quiet meal before visiting the gardens and Marie-Antoinette’s Domain.

A nice club sandwich and foie gras salad.


Totally unconvinced by this sloppy croque monsieur.


My Japanese cheesecake.

The official "chocolat chaud" (photo by Angelina's).



Wine at the Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels

Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels
7 rue Lobineau, 6th
Tel 09 54 90 20 20
Open Mon-Sat 6pm-1am.

The Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels is a newly-opened wine bar by the same owners of the ever-popular trio of Paris cocktail clubs, Experimental Cocktail Club, Prescription Cocktail Club, and Curio Parlor. Located across the street from the Marché St-Germain, the bar has a low-lit, eclectic-yet-elegant décor with a piano in one corner and a semi-private nook in the back where you can gather with friends. The wines are from all over the world (but mostly French, of course), with the offerings by the glass spanning a large price range (€8 for a respectable Langedoc to €50 for the Château Yquem).

Bar munchies include bruschetta, cheeses, and possibly the most fragrant truffle-infused, thin-sliced ham I’ve ever tasted (all about €15). You can sit at the bar, which makes it easier to ask a lot of questions about the wines (and the staff, on my two visits, answered all of them without hesitation). The crowds are nothing compared to the cocktail bars, which means you may actually be able to get in here without personally knowing the owners, and the atmosphere is more calm and romantic. A voir…

Shang Palace at the Shangri-La

Shang Palace
Shangri-La Hotel
10 avenue Iéna, 16th
Tel 01 53 67 19 92

Shang Palace is the third and final restaurant to open in the gorgeous new Shangri-La Paris Hotel overlooking the Eiffel Tower. Not that you’ll see the Eiffel Tower from this upscale Chinese restaurant, as it’s located below the ground floor with no windows. It’s spacious and well-decorated, and I probably wouldn’t have noticed the lack of windows except my dining companions (it was a press lunch, so we’re all journalists) pointed it out. All experts in Chinese cuisine (whereas I am not in the least), they also pointed out every little discrepancy between how they thought the food should taste or look with how it tasted and looked at Shang Palace (which is odd, as Chef Frank Xu apparently has the right pedigree for high-end Cantonese food). Personally I thought it was delicious (well, except for the “Buddha Jumping over the Wall", but that was because I didn’t like the flavor, not because it wasn’t made well).

Other dishes included a Dim Sum assortment, barbecued meats, sautéed turbot, something called Beggar’s Chicken and a lovely dessert of chilled mango cream with pomelo and sago. Each course was served with French wines (and tea), and you get the option of using the chop sticks or actual cutlery. The French at the table were shocked when the fortune cookies were presented at the end of the meal, but I always think they’re fun. There are private rooms for large groups. Despite the grumblings at my table (French food journalists are hard to please), I think this is the best place to come with your Chinese-food-snob friend, and it’s a lovely restaurant and a much-needed addition to the Asian food scene in Paris. Get a reservation before they get their star!

Private rooms are in the back, separated by wooden screens.

The Dim Sum Assortment.

The Barbecued Meat Assortment.

The Buddha Jumping Over the Wall

I think this was the Beggar's Chicken.

Chef Frank Xu (on the right) and his four sous-chefs.

Endless opportunities for funny translation errors: the French just don't get it yet.

Grazie: Pizza & Cocktails

Grazie
91 boulevard Beaumarchais, 3rd.
Open daily, lunch and dinner
Tel 01 42 78 11 96

Grazie was recently opened by (and down the street from) the trendy home décor shop Merci. It has a similar neo-industrial style with brick walls and large glass windows, no sign above the door, and a clientele of (seemingly) casually-dressed bobo hipsters. The staff are actually Italian, which is always comforting, as is the glow of the wood-fired pizza oven in the open kitchen. You can hang out at the small bar and test out the cocktails (I loved my little, yet potent, gin Bloody Mary), but you’re going to get the munchies, so be sure to reserve a table to try out their excellent pizzas and other Italian dishes.

I split an artichoke and arugula starter (mostly arugula, aka rocket in French), and then had a pizza with cherry tomatoes and arugula again. And it’s good that I like arugula, because my pizza looked like someone dumped an arugula salad on it. The music is a bit loud, but the low-lit atmosphere is perfect for a romantic evening (or if you’re trying to hide the bags under your eyes after Nuit Blanche).

yes, it's rather dark in here.

My Bloody Mary in a jar.

The warm artichoke starter with arugula (or the other way around).

My pizza was very good...once I found it under the arugula.

A lemon and white chocolate cake.

The tiramisu (it's Italian, after all).

You can also read reviews of Grazie on Paris By Mouth.

Boca Mexa - Mexican on La Mouff'

Boca Mexa
127 rue Mouffetard, 5th
M° Place Monge

Yet another Mexican eaterie has opened in Paris in the past year, this one on the Left Bank market street, Rue Mouffetard. Considering how much I miss Mexican food (having grown up in Arizona), and that I live right up the street from here, I can't believe I hadn't visited before last week!

Boca Mexa is a spacious and bright Mexican fast food cantine for eating in or take-away. You order your burritos, tacos or quesadillas at the counter, indicating which ingredients you want added. I passed on the cactus and went for the bean and cheese burrito with hot sauce. I wouldn't call it "gourmet", but it was certainly fresh and tasty, the perfect place to feed a craving without fuss. From €5, menus for €8.50.

Bonus points for the tables outside and the small selection of Mexcian food products for sale by the register, including hot sauces, chipotle chilis, masa hot sauces and Cholula.

Open daily throughout the year, 10am-10pm (until 11pm Friday and Saturday).

Also read Croque Camille's review here.