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healthy meal

3 Posted on 04 / 07 / 2013

I had the grande assiette for euro13.50, which was a full plate including a portion of about 12 different items: slaw, large patty, brown rice, seaweed, steamed veg chunks, etc. It was all good, more than I could eat in one sitting. I think it's all macrobiotic. I agree with a previous reviewer who said it doesn't feel like a joyful place.

Beware: the only toilet facility is a hole in the ground down the narrow steps.

Pros: good food, plentiful meal
Cons: toilet facilities!

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Good, but not really worth a special trip

3 Posted on 04 / 05 / 2013

My experience here was good. The service and food were all very nice. But it just isn't really a charming Parisien restaurant filled with ambiance. You order off a board, and they bring the plates out. If I lived or worked nearby, I'd probably go for lunch frequently because it's good, healthy vegan food. But it isn't the kind of place that showcases the brilliance of vegan/vegetarian cooking.

Pros: Healthy
Cons: Lack of charm

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A sad place

2 Posted on 03 / 21 / 2013

This restaurant is not breathing the joy of living. It is organic, vegan, macrobiotic and depressing. The food is good, but not fancy. The place has no charm, no energy. I went twice, but each time, I only see old people alone at their table. So if you are looking for a dynamic and festive, this is not the place to go.

Pros: Vegan, Organic
Cons: Sad vibe, Outdated

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lovely

4 Posted on 12 / 05 / 2012

This is a "hard-core vegan" lovely restaurant. the place is nice and cozy with excellent food (try the winter soups, if its winter).
The atmosphere is some what "let's think differently about the way we do things". you need to take your cutlery from a tray in middle of the restaurant. But this not a "con" its just different.
recommendation - if you are not too picky, ask the staff to choose the food for you.

Pros: the food!
Cons: eastern style toilet (different)

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Healthy? Yes.

2 Posted on 08 / 30 / 2012

I ordered two dishes when I went to this little cafe--the plate of the day, and the sushi. The plate of the day was a plate that came with cooked rice and buckwheat mixed together, cooked seasoned lentils, cooked vegetables, and pickled seaweed and other pickles. I can't remember what the sushi was filled with. Both seemed very healthy in that they weren't salty or sugary or processed. The problem, then, was that they represent the school of thought that views healthy eating and optimal flavour as mutually exclusive. As others have noted, it's really annoying that there are vegan places like this, because there's so much more to veganism than this idea of our diet being comprised of lentils and vegetables.

I didn't feel overstuffed or sickly after the meal, so that is a bonus, but at the same time, I didn't really feel satisfied, either. Even though the flavours were something I wouldn't normally eat, they didn't feel modern or particularly creative, which I didn't like. The restaurant was fairly well priced, though.

All in all, I wouldn't go back. I felt healthy, but did I really enjoy the meal? No. I cook healthily for myself at home (and it tastes better than this place does.) When I go to a restaurant, I don't necessarily want unhealthy or overly fatty food. I just want something "fresh", innovative, and which acknowledges the reality that veganism is in a new era that has taken it beyond ideas of only plain grains and things like that.

Pros: Very healthy, Unique flavour combinations, Affordable
Cons: Staff didn't really speak English, Got our orders wrong, Didn't seem that fresh

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Boring food

3 Posted on 08 / 30 / 2012

We visited this restaurant at the first day of our last Pairs jouney and I was a bit disapointed, it's really small and it looks a bit untidy.
The stuff was really friendly and tried it's best to explain us the food in german.
My mother had a soop and I had a small mixed plate, there where vegetables, beans, sea weed, rice and salad. The bad thing was, that there where no spices used at all, not even salt. So it was almost unpossible for me to eat the food, it had no flavour at all. There was no salt to add, just soy sauce, but it was empty.
If they would use spices, it would be a good place for healthy food. If you look for a great dessert better do not eat there, they don't use sugar, so they had only not good looking fruit pie.
The prices are okay, a bit expencive, but normal for Paris.

Pros: vegan, healthy, friendly stuff

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Not much left to eat

2 Posted on 07 / 09 / 2012

The restaurant advertises that is is open from noon to 9pm. We showed up (four people) close to 3pm, to find that there was no food left.
We found in Paris that several vegetarian restaurants are out of food at the end of lunch time. This was one of them. They were busy preparing dinner. They should not post open hours if they can't serve all day. But, the proprietor was very hospitable, managed to serve two bowls of miso soup (what was left) and three pieces of vegetable pie (that were in their health food store next door). It was decent, but not great. We appreciated his attempt not to turn us away completely hungry, because if you eat only vegan food, then your choices are limited, and you can't find something on the next corner.
The decor is rather shabby (maybe you can call it retro?) and the bathroom had a Turkish toilet, which I have to be more desperate than I was to use.

Pros: hospitable
Cons: not much food left, turkish toilet, shabby decor

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chaos

2 Posted on 07 / 05 / 2012

I entered this restaurant and left. Food might be great but if you cannot order, how can you eat there?

setting your on table is not exciting! They have a lot of staff running around but no one will stop and advice you on what to eat and what to do.

You could see the kitchen from the restaurant and that is what made me live the restaurant without eating there.

Pros: food?
Cons: service

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Fabulous macrobiotic restuarant

4 Posted on 06 / 24 / 2012

This place has a relaxed atmosphere. Though food is brought to your table, diners must get their own table settings, forks, etc., and set their own table. The menu is short, but everything on it is excellent. The food is very heatlhy, and those who enjoy vegan food should find it very tasty indeed. The staff is very friendly, and the food arrives quickly, despite the laid back atmostphere.
One word of caution: the WC in this place seems not to allow any sitting down, so females need to squat to use the facilities.

Pros: Healthy, Tasty, good price

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Somewhat disappointing.

2 Posted on 05 / 21 / 2012

The location is very easy to find close to the Bastille Metro Station. We arrived shortly after 18h00 and were told that the "complete meal" would not be available until after 19h00. There is no mention of this in any of the recent reviews, so I share this element so that others may benefit from our experience. We were told the soups and nori were available: so we had the vegetable soup and the nori rolls. Neither were particularly exciting. The soup was hot but somewhat flavourless. The nori rolls were accompanied by a tiny salad with a tasty dressing. The rolls were mostly brown rice. We were not offered any drinks or even water. The service was perfunctory but not much beyond that. The atmosphere is dated and the bread was quite hard and chewy. I would not make the trip back to this restaurant. We paid 23 Euros - which is a lot considering what we ate. Hopefully there are other good vegan choices in Paris.

Pros: Location
Cons: Incomplete service

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Lovely service and beautiful food

4 Posted on 05 / 07 / 2012

On our first night in Paris we wandered into this lovely cafe. The cook greeted us warmly and realizing our French left a lot to be desired took time explaining the menu to us. We started with soup; the miso for me and pottage for my partner and they were both beautiful; full of flavour and fresh ingredients. For the main I has the sushi which was accompanied with a selection of salads with a beautiful dressing which the cook later shared the ingredients of. My partner had the petit plate which was huge and featured dishes of rice, pulses, salad, vegetables and pickles. Each element was delicious and I would highly recommend this friendly cafe.

Pros: Yummy food, Ample portions, Friendly service
Cons: None

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Pretty good

4 Posted on 04 / 12 / 2012

I had the miso soup, which was excellent. Then, I had the norimakis, which were just alright and didn't come with all the usual sushi fixings. I tried a pear and chocolate pie which was quite delicious.

Beware of the Turkish toilets!

Pros: Free herbal tea, Inexpensive, Healthy
Cons: The toilets, A little bland

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Ain't nothing grand

2 Posted on 12 / 03 / 2011

We visited the restaurant in September 2011. It was possibly the worst vegan dining experience we had while traveling through Europe. While the staff were extremely nice, it couldn't make up for the scary food. It was so tasteless and everything looked like it had been prepared a few days before and left to sit. The menu offers a limited selection. We ordered some soup, which was served luke warm, and came with bread that was rock hard. A vegetable tart with a tired looking salad was hardly edible. We were the only people in the restaurant for most of the night, until two innocent American travelers arrived as we were about to leave. Sadly we were unable to warn them of what was ahead!. Needless to say, we left the place with a "grand appetit" and had to stop off for a 2nd dinner elsewhere on the way back to our apartment.

Pros: freindly staff
Cons: bad food

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Not "Grand Appetit"

2 Posted on 11 / 08 / 2011

Looking for a place to eat and being very hungry, I thought that with a name like "Grand Appetit," this would be a fitting restaurant to eat at. I was wrong.

The food here is bland, flat, and as delicious as a t.v. dinner. Not very appetizing at all. One would think that the food at the window counter is for display only, it's not. What you choose is what they serve you. They reheat the food you select in the microwave (maybe not in the microwave, but that's what it tasted like).

Grand Appetit didn't really have a big selection of food. In total, about ten items, including the side-dishes.

If you're very hungry and looking forward to a satisfying meal, look somewhere else.

Cons: Bland food

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Uninspiring

2 Posted on 09 / 08 / 2011

Have just paid my third visit abeit just to the shop simply because I was in the area. Yet again, the takeaway food, a 'quiche' and an apple tart were both tasteless, tiresome to eat and over-priced at nearly 4 euros a slice!! Outrageous!. I cannot bring myself to risk my hard-earned money in the restaurant. I am vegan because I don't want to contribute to animal cruelty but I want to enjoy my food. This place is just so typical of many in France that are vegan/vegetarian for purely health reasons. For heavens sake, use a bit of salt, it won't kill you!! Frankly, Grand Appetit and the like do nothing to convince non-vegetarians to make the change.

Pros: Easy to find
Cons: Mediocre food, Unjustifiably pricey

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Unappealing

2 Posted on 03 / 02 / 2011

Good location close to Bastille, the food is nothing out of the ordinary but good enough, however the whole atmosphere feels so unappealing... Ironic that it's called "grand appetit". Certainly not the place I would bring any omni friends. Service was really poor, I asked for water at the counter and was told I had to ask one of the tables holding one of 5 water jugs available for the whole restaurant. Pop in if you're in the area and you're hungry, but don't make a trip just for the restaurant, there are more interesting places in Paris.

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Nice Local Diner

3 Posted on 12 / 31 / 2010

Located just a few minutes from Bastille, this is a functional vegan diner serving decent earthy food. The soup of the day is 4.5 EUR and Vegan Tofu Sushi 6.4 EUR. I get the impression this is a place frequented by locals with a friendly Parisian atmosphere. Probably wouldn't make an effort to go here again as there so many other places in Paris to check out. A good find for a one-off visit. Confirmed opening times are Monday to Thursday 12:00-15:00 and 19:00-21:00 and Fridays 12:00-14:45. It is closed Sat & Sun. The tea room is open 15:00-19:00 Mon to Fri in the health food shop next door.

Pros: friendly, decent prices

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Wonderful macrobiotic food

5 Posted on 10 / 24 / 2010

The Grand Appetit does not disappoint! The food was high-quality and delicious. It is a great destination (because it is also in a fun neighborhood) for healthy, whole food. I love this place and will go back every time I go to Paris. The food is well-balanced and wonderful.

Please do not go here if you expect attentive service, ordering is done at a counter and your food is brought the table. Please go if you are interested in healthy, macrobiotic, vegan food in a sea of pomme frites!

Pros: Delicious vegan food, Clean, open, light atmosphere, Great health food store next door
Cons: Service can be slightly slow, Ordering can be confusing

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nice place, but tasteless and expensive

2 Posted on 08 / 14 / 2010

Very dissapointed, it's expensive, the food is tasteless (I ate a veggie soup similar to water+carrot or hospital food, and a piece of ¿cake?) and the service is not the best, but not as bad as others say, at least they speak English.
I did not use the bathroom.

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never again

2 Posted on 07 / 08 / 2010

Was pretty disappointed. Plat du jour: a piece of marinated tofu with blend cold vegetables on the side. The plate with the 'tarte' had the same cold veggies on the side, and something from far resembling a 'tarte', but the crust so hard, you would risk it flying through the room when trying to cut it with your knife. Just some warmed veggies on the tarte. Old fashoned interior, sitting together at some tables.
Steep stairs to the one toilet, which turned out to be an old 'French style' toilet (meaning just a whole in the ground, and not very clean. I don't mind the self-service, getting your own knife etc, and cleaning up after finished, but I do expect far more from a restaurant experience regarding food & atmosphere.
Not recommended by any means.

Cons: lacks variety, toilet facilities, atmosphere

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Avoid, worst experience in Paris

2 Posted on 05 / 01 / 2010

During my recent trip to Paris we decided to try this rustic looking vegan eatery. Never again, the food was expensive, bland and poor in quality for the price. The salad looked older than the building. The toilet facilities were very poor with only a ceramic hole in the floor.

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Great

4 Posted on 11 / 25 / 2009

This was the first restaurant we went to in Pais Oct 2009, it set the bar quite high! The service was friendly and the food realy nice and wholesome. They even had free tea - something we would find out later was a rarity in Paris where tea on average is 5EU! Lovely relaxed atmosphere with a great healthfood next door. Prices we good (for Paris which is horrendiously expensive).

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Simple, but good

3 Posted on 10 / 22 / 2009

Grand Appetit serves simple, macrobiotic food in a cafeteria-style decor. A word of warning: the staff only speaks French, so don't go if you don't speak it.

The food is quite simple, but good and very healthy. This is definately a strict macrobiotic place with very little salt and sugar. The menu did not offer an overly wide selection, but it was ok.

The ambiance and service was a little lacking to be honest. The place is very simple, and service is minimal: you get your own cutlery and order at the counter. The single restroom is Turkish style (pretty much a hole in the floor), which honestly should be a thing of the past.

The price is decent: not expensive, and you get good value for your money.

All in all, a nice place if you want a cheap, simple meal, but don't go here if you want a real restaurant experience. You can do better in Paris.

Pros: good, healthy food
Cons: staf only speaks French, not much to look at, lousy toilet facilities

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simple but 100% organic & vegan

3 Posted on 08 / 23 / 2009

the restaurant miss decor and originality. We must not go there to enjoy but rather use it as a canteen, if you pass in the corner or if you do not want to cook.

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good!

4 Posted on 07 / 21 / 2009

i liked this place a lot!

it was self-service and the menu was only in french, but everything was freshly made.

we had the lunch plate and were unfortunately too full to have deserts later.

my boyfriend had a cider, that tasted more like really bad beer, so don't get one of those :)

if you go here, definitely visit the toilet, it's like a tourist attraction! i don't know if toilets like that are more common in france, but i've definitely never seen anything like that before.

right down the street, there is a lovely "girlie shop" where you can spend all your money afterwards, buying dresses with "cake frosting", cute photo albums and retro cameras.

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Healthy food

3 Posted on 05 / 09 / 2009

This is a nice little spot. You need to have cash! My husband had to walk to a cash machine (we felt bad but the lady who was working there didn't seem to mind at all). Good, healthy food. We shared a large bottle of fresh apple juice which was very nice. The food is more healthy than 'gourmet' but if that's what your after, it will hit the spot.

Pros: Healthy food, Apple juice - yum
Cons: Cash only-not really a con if prepared

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A macrobiotic atmosphere

2 Posted on 04 / 07 / 2009

Located near the Metro Bastille (exit Henri IV) this lovely restaurant with a bio shop next to it, is situated at a 2 minutes walk.

When we arrived and took our seats nobody came to us. We had to really walk in the kitched to get some attention. Unfortunately the cook spoke only french. The menu is also in french.
We ended up not ordering here, but we bought a little "gateaux" or fruit cake. The cake was nice, but without sugar!.

This is a really macrobiotic place with macrobiotic people in french.

Pros: Bio organic, Quiet & peaceful
Cons: Only french

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Little gem

4 Posted on 03 / 24 / 2009

My husband and I are vegetarian, not vegan, and at home would not go out of our way to eat macrobiotic or 'health' foods. However, when abroad we seek out vegan food as we have discovered that some places have a strange view of what vegetarian means. Having read other reviews on the site we were prepared for eating there to be more complicated than it actually was.

The waitress was very friendly and spoke some English which was good as I speak none. She made a good attempt at explaining what was on the menu. I chose to go with the "what is that she is eating?" option as I had spotted a very full, colourful and interesting looking plate of food. The waitress explained that it was a set menu where you choose the tart which comes with set side orders. I chose my tart by looking at the options in the cabinet and pointing at the one I wanted. I did not know exactly what the side orders would be, but looked foward to the suprise, happy in the knowledge that it would all be vegan. It is great to try something new sometimes. The very large piece of carrot, spinach and leek tart came with wholegrain rice, seaweed (something that I had never had before), and 4 different types of salads, with dressings - a bargain at 10 euros. Other dressings/sauces were also available. My husband had the soup + bread, we both had drinks, and the bill was 20 euros: excellent value.

The ingredients used in the food were obviously fresh and of a high quality, definitely home cooking. The fruit juices we had were freshly squeezed - no concentrate or cartons used. To be totally honest I did find the tart a little bland but that is because I am used to more spicy foods. That is a personal taste thing and should not detract from the fact that the food was of a high standard.

This is not a romantic dinner type of resteraunt, but if you want fresh food at a good price it is ideal. For us it was a gold star find compared with food that we have sometimes had to put up with while on holiday. You do set your own table; the place mats, cutlery, glasses and water being centrally located. This we did not consider to be any hassle, though we were glad we knew before hand that we should do it.

Pros: good quality, good value, freshly prepared
Cons: unromantic

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like a university diner

3 Posted on 03 / 07 / 2009

This place was very peculiar - the staff, the customers (mostly older people), the way it functions... The fact that you have to dress your own table and then clean it up, or that they give you a ticket with your order - it all reminded me a lot of my university diner, therefor I found it a bit too pricy for what it was. Concerning the food, there were a lot of things piled up on my plate. Mostly slightly over-cooked vegetables and a TVP sauce that tasted a bit too much like real meat. Overall the food was ok and the ambiance kind of amusing, but I was very shocked to find Turkish style toilets in the middle of Paris.
I might go back there someday to see if the food will taste better the second time, but I'll definately keep myself from visiting the facilities.

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Yum Yum!

5 Posted on 02 / 15 / 2009

We had the midday short menu, so ordered miso soup, nori roll and some veggie tart thing. Thought the food was natural and delicious. Loved that nothing was heavily salted so the yummy natural flavors could be enjoyed. The service was extremely friendly. And loved the tea! Would love to go back any time!

The natural food market next door was awesome and totally bailed us out for some hotel room snacks!

Pros: Great natural foods, Friendly service, Awesome market attached
Cons: Wish was there for dinner

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Wholefoody and tasty

4 Posted on 09 / 29 / 2008

A typical wholefood style cafe that serves tasty food. All vegan - hurrah. Had desserts. Apart from ordering at the counter, everything was self-service. There's a shop next door which could be handy. Average Parisian prices.

Pros: good food, good selection, all vegan
Cons: self-service

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Good Wholefood Cafe

4 Posted on 09 / 06 / 2008

The health food shop next door is excellent, good range of stuff and will help vegans survive Paris!
We went to the cafe one evening. As some of the other reviews say, they have a bit of a peculiar system that regular users obviously know but is hard for a first-time person to work out. There's a mixture of ordering at a counter and helping yourself to things. The lady who served us didn't speak very much English but coped patiently with our lack of French and we got there in the end.
Everything is Vegan - yey!
There's a limited range of options such as miso soup, onion tart or a grain loaf with veg and salad, desserts. Basically you pick small or large plate and which dish you want with your wholegrain rice and salad.
All seemed a bit too worthy and healthy to be enjoyable at first but actually our food was really good. The onion tart in particular was wonderful. Everything was fresh and well made. We had sugar-free apricot tart for pudding which was really delicious.
There is an urn of herbal tea and drinking water free with the meal or you can order organic drinks / wine / beer.
The place was perfectly friendly but had the ambiance of
somewhere that fed people who were mainly health freaks needing a quick meal on the way home from Yoga. As another review here says it's like eating in a monastery!
The decor, ambiance and limited options mean this isn't exactly a venue we'd recommend for a romantic dinner but you get a hearty meal at a good price.

Pros: Vegan, Healthy, Price
Cons: Ambience, Decor, Limited choice

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cute place, good food...but not warm/friendly

4 Posted on 08 / 29 / 2008

i would go back for the food, but i felt i was visiting a monastery. no smiles or hellos. as someone mentioned in another review, it's as if everyone who eats there is expected to already know the system. nice little health food store next door with a few takeaway items from the restaurant.

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Home cooking

4 Posted on 07 / 29 / 2008

Grand Appetit is one of those places that look as if you walked into someone's house. It has that home-made feel to it. I went there once with my son and it was ok. The food was ok, the price was ok, the staff was ok. it is just that you get the feeling that you are expected to know your way around and not to bother people with such questions as " where are the napkins" or "can I get another fork". It is clearly a place for locals to get their everyday vegan meal, not so much a fussy tourist destination. I guess if I came a couple of times and got used to the peculiar workings of the place, I might find a pleasant refuge there.
Worth giving it a try.

Pros: Good food, good value

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cute

4 Posted on 07 / 13 / 2008

This place was lovely. When we went in there was only 2 other people eating. The lady spoke English. I didnt find the food tasteless. We had a vegetable cake with tasty salad.

Pros: good value, tasty food

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OK

3 Posted on 05 / 18 / 2008

We went to this place on our last night in Paris. The food was ok, nothing special. The waitress was very nice and helpful though and she explained what everything was on the menu.

Pros: Friendly staff

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Best food we had in Paris

5 Posted on 05 / 09 / 2008

We tried a few other veggie restaurants but this was by far the best! It was much food for the spent money, it was all vegan, super healthy with no artificial ingredients or sugar etc. It was tasteless if you're used to eating spicy. But we're not and this food was exactly what we make at home which is not very easy to find when traveling.

The nice japanese waitress told us that a french couple started this restaurant some 20 years ago. And that they're very much into healthy food themselves.

Do check out the nice organic health food store next door with the same name as the restaurant. Be aware if you're vegan that they do sell some fish products.

Pros: all vegan, healthy, home cooked

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good food, bit expensive

3 Posted on 03 / 02 / 2008

I was there 2 days ago,staff was friendly and spoke english. It was nice sitting in a whole vegan restaurant! Food was good, little bit tasteless and super healthy. We eaten really much but price was to high for this food.Desserts were good but 3,90 euros for a cakes is defenitly to much.Ambient was nice,really alternativ. Water and tee was for free.

Pros: all vegan, super healthy, friendly
Cons: unprofessional, cold, expensiv

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Ok

3 Posted on 06 / 12 / 2007

Marcobio food, very healthy, but everything a bit flavour-less, even if all vegan stuff. ]
Wasn't very satisfied of the attendants, in my opinion a bit expensive for what it offers. Just for lovers of super healthy stuff.

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Super Healthy

4 Posted on 02 / 19 / 2007

A cozy little place with really healthy Macro Vegan food. A welcome cuisine in the heavy food capitol of the world! Not a lot of english spoken, but the staff was happy to try! There's a health food store next door too,

Pros: Light Healthy food
Cons: Somewhat limited menu

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Great for Macros!!!!!!!!!11

5 Posted on 12 / 19 / 2006

I really love this restaurant (service is typically French) but when you are munching on delicious food it does not matter! I had a great pilau with lentils good just right! The desserts are also fantastic and sugar free! I had a cherry pie which was divine. It does get busy but there are loads of tables so that is not really a problem

Pros: location, delicious food, MAcro!!!
Cons: Service