Following in the footsteps of Ethiopian and Algerian cuisine, here’s another culinary journey. Are you looking for the best places to eat a couscous or a fragrant tajine “just like over there” without leaving Paris? Look no further! At Paris Secret, we’re sharing our favorite Moroccan restaurants with you today! Can you smell the spices, orange blossom and mint tea of the Orient? Follow us…
Our favorite: the 404 restaurant in Paris and its crazy couscous!
Fancy a one-way ticket to Marrakesh? Direction rue des Gravilliers, in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris. In the heart of the Marais district, we step into a private mansion with a Casbah feel. In a setting straight out of the Thousand and One Nights, immersion is total. A subdued atmosphere, oriental carpets, beautiful Moroccan wrought-iron lanterns, warm colors… The ambiance transports us elsewhere. Here, you can sample traditional Moroccan cuisine. À la carte? Sunny salads, pastillas, Kefta kebabs or a homemade herb Méchoui.
Le 404 also offers a wide range of tajines and couscous. Chicken tajine with pears, lamb mouse/apricot tajine, Berber lamb tajine, Berber couscous, 7-vegetable couscous, merguez, mechoui… The choice is endless. And the flavors are right there on the plate. To round off our oriental journey, we enjoy an orange salad with cinnamon and orange blossom, a Berber pancake with honey, a pastilla with dates or Gazelle horns… all washed down with fragrant mint tea. Coup de coeur!
Restaurant 404 – 69 rue des Gravilliers, 75 003 Paris
The oriental and inclusive restaurant 1000 & 1 Signes
In the famous Rue de Charonne, there’s a place with a little extra soul. This is the restaurant 1000 & 1 Signes. In this restaurant open to the deaf and hearing, you can take your senses on a journey with delicious Moroccan specialties, such as tajines, couscous, pastillas, Berber crepes and other dishes with an Oriental flavour. You’ll also have the great opportunity to open up to a world different from your own. A la carte, each met corresponds to an LSF (Langue des Signes Française) sign. The establishment is led by the sunny and luminous Sid, who is himself non-hearing. 1000 & 1 Signes is 1000 & 1 shades of delight, love and sharing.
1000 & 1 Signes, creative couscous – 76 rue de Charonne, 75 011 Paris
The most festive: the Parisian restaurant Chez Gala, where you can eat tajines to your heart’s content
It is one of paris’s finest party restaurants : At Gala! At Paris Secret, we were lucky enough to push open the doors of this bewitching establishment, with its thousand-and-one-night ambience. Curled up in its velvets, served like Kings, Chez Gala took us on a journey from appetizer to dessert. Chicken pastilla, hummus, lamb shoulder confit… Oriental aromas enchant the senses. I loved the tajine of glazed vegetables in their spiced juice. In Paris’s chic 8th arrondissement, the menu offers a feast for the eyes and sunshine for the palate.
Chez Gala – 6 rue Arsène Houssaye, 75 008 Paris
The excellent Bladi Couscous Bar, Paris
Last October, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, opened Bladi, the 1st couscous bar where you can compose the couscous of your dreams. First: we’re interested in size. (Yes, sometimes that counts). Medium or large couscous? The choice is yours, depending on your appetite. Merguez, chicken, beef, lamb, Kefta meatballs… Choose the meat of your choice. We warn you, they all melt like butter. Then it’s time to choose your vegetables and legumes. Carrots, zucchini, chickpeas, grapes and onions… your choice of king! All that’s left is to drizzle your divine couscous with an oriental-scented jus, on a bed of semolina. Tested and over-validated by the Paris Secret team.
Bladi couscous bar – 115 rue Saint-Maur, 75 011 Paris
The iconic “La Ruche à Miel”, a stone’s throw from Marché d’Aligre
If you’re passing through the Marché d’Aligre, in the 12th arrondissement, we can’t recommend a stopover at La Ruche à Miel enough. Many celebrities have left their mark in this cozy little restaurant-teahouse. And for good reason: here you can savour tajines and couscous to die for, on the spot or to take away. Special mention for the superb display of oriental pastries, each more delicious than the last. A must? You’ll always be greeted with a big smile! Moroccan warmth and friendliness!
Moroccan restaurant La Ruche à Miel – 19 rue d’Aligre, 75 012 Paris