The 5 best things I ate in Paris: February 2012

This month, most of my culinary adventures seemed to fall into two categories: Ethnic food and dessert.

Sure, Paris is home to some incredible and classic French cuisine. But I covered quite a few of those last month, and thought I’d let my taste buds branch out into more diverse territory for month two.

And of course, it’s hard to be in Paris and not fall victim to the city’s obsession with sweets. There were a few days where I ate dessert as a full meal — and when you see the photos, you’ll understand why.

My top five eats this month:

1. Falafel at L’as du Fallafel

Everyone knows this place. Everyone. Even before I moved to Paris, people would tell me, “Go to L’as du Fallafel; it’s cheap and absolutely delicious.” And it lives up to the hype — for only €5, you get a freshly-made falafel the size of your face (really, I had a hard time holding this with only one hand), stuffed to the brim with chickpea fritters and tangy slices of cucumber, cabbage, and eggplant, topped off with a dash of hot sauce. There’s a reason the line here is always about 20 people deep at lunchtime.

2. Lamb tagine at Traiteur Marocain

Without a doubt my most “local” find so far; I wouldn’t’ve known this place even existed if not for a classmate in my French course who took me here. Located at the end of a market in the 3eme called the Marché des Enfants Rouges, at this Moroccan stall you have your choice of lamb, chicken, or beef tagine, in addition to other tasty-looking Moroccan fare. At €10.90, the lamb tagine isn’t my idea of the cheapest lunch — but the combination of stewed lamb and hearty vegetables is too perfect not to try at least once.

3. Salted caramel cheesecake at Berko

Berko is dessert heaven: one side of the store is cupcakes —  all of them unique, like Dexter-themed cupcakes — and the other side is cheesecakes. If you like sweets, walking in here is like walking through the Pearly Gates. And if you can manage to actually pick a flavor (I dare you to look at their menu and tell me there isn’t a single thing on there that doesn’t entice you!), I can confirm that this cheesecake is basically a slice of heaven, wrapped in cream cheese, covered in caramel.

4. Mont Blanc from Angelina

The Mont Blanc, named after the famous mountain in the Alps (see the resemblance?) is composed of a chesnut purée exterior, whipped cream filling, and a crumbly meringue base. So like a cupcake you would give someone, if you wanted to give someone diabetes. My employer treated me to this one from the famous Café Angelina. I did not eat dinner that day.

5. Caffe con panna at Pozzetto

Caffe con panna means “espresso with whipped cream,” and it’s found in cafés the world over. What makes Pozzetto’s so special (especially when they’re more famous for their gelato)? Three words: Homemade whipped cream. The accompanying Italian espresso (yes, the Italian part matters) is fine stuff, but for me, the whipped cream is the real star. They better have a padlock on their machine, because I’m not above Ocean’s 11-ing that thing for myself.

Honorable mention (aka, gratuitous macaron shot):

“Jardin Enchanté” macaron from Pierre Hermé — lime, raspberry, and esplette pepper, with a raspberry inside. Wasn’t one of the tastiest things I ate this month, but it sure was one of the prettiest.

Next month: I’m going to Ireland!