The Great Parisian Plate Debate

70, Rue Baudricourt, 75013
Tel.01.45.70.91.75

The only thing I enjoyed more than the fantastic pho at Le Bambou was watching Christian’s utter confusion as he tried to figure out how the hell he was supposed to eat his appetizer. Just to be clear, that’s in no way to the detriment of my giant steaming bowl of beef noodle soup, which was on par with the best I had in Hanoi. Christian is a novice at Vietnamese cuisine, so naturally I offered no helpful hints, preferring to watch him fumble miserably with his paper-thin spring roll wrappers.

Le Bambou was highly recommended by a fellow guest at Hidden Kitchen. Our dinner conversation may have bored Christian to tears as it was dominated by talk of food and Parisian restaurants, but she was serious about food so I was excited to try this place. Amazingly, the timing was perfect—the 13eme was next on our list and we hadn’t yet picked a destination.

When the two of us arrived there was a short line, but we were soon led inside along with a group of three Asian women. Pointed to a 6 person table, we were all told in broken French to sit down. Christian and I awkwardly tried to maneuver for the prized outer seats, but our competition had clearly played that game before, and we quickly realized we were outmatched. Swallowing our pride and sucking in our stomachs, we bowed our heads then squeezed through to claim the seats against the wall.

To be fair, the specific recommendation was that they had the best pho in Paris. While Christian decided to go menu off-roading, I wasn’t deviating. I got Pho Tai, my favorite, which has thin slices of raw beef that are mixed into the near-boiling broth just before serving. For some reason Christian was put off by this, but they had it timed just right, and the meat was perfectly tender.

Pho is a deceptively simple dish. When I was travelling in Asia there were days when I had it twice or even three times, but it never got old because every place has their own twist. At Le Bambou, it’s the broth that sets it apart. Amazingly flavorful, it’s just a touch sweet. While this may not appeal to everyone, I loved it.

In Thailand and Vietnam I obsessively watched the locals at every noodle stand, and followed their lead. Many of the places had sugar on the table next to the other toppings like fish sauce, lime and chilies. At first I was skeptical, but I finally tried it after watching countless people heap it on to balance the heat.

Christian wanted to test the menu by getting two appetizers each, but I thankfully talked him down. We ended up with four main plates, as they sounded more interesting at the time than the appetizers.

I’ll let Christian describe his meal, but let’s just say it was interesting.

Four main courses and a bottle of wine which would have fed 4 people ran 42€. When I go back, which I certainly will, I’m sticking to a bowl of pho for 7.20€.