Discover The Best Of Lebanese Food In Paris

Discover The Best Of Lebanese Food In Paris
Jana
Jana 
Updated
| 4 min read

Famous for being a city that never sleep, Paris is well-equipped for its busy atmosphere and offers a myriad of street foods that you can grab to go, the most famous being high quality sandwiches and traditional French crepes.Even if such a food is rooted deeply in French culture and it is a must try, Paris is also multicultural city Next to the traditional French pancakes, there are Greek/Turkish kebabs, Jewish falafels or marvellous Lebanese stands selling a delicious alternative to the heavy dishes, called manakish, or “Lebanese bread”, as the French call it. If you want to fully experience the real Paris, with all its colours and tastes, this one is a must-try. But what is this “manakish” like, and where should you go to get the best ones? This article will lead you on your gourmet tour.

Homemade flat bread

discover the best of lebanese food in paris | homemade flat bread

Manakish is a thin and round-shaped type of bread. At first you may think that it is actually the same as Greek pita, but it isn’t the case. Contrarily to pita, the Lebanese bread can’t be split in the middle to form the pocket that you can fill afterwards. It is more flat and the filling is rolled in - a bit like you do it with a French crepe. Also the dough and the preparation differ – traditionally, the dough is made of a mix of wheat and buckwheat flours, water and a bit of salt. There is no yeast as in pitas that are why it isn’t so puffed when baked. While all these simple ingredients are mixed, the cooks make small bowls that they roll as thin as possible and then they make them bake on sort of a special convex metal board. If you go to an Indian kitchen, this board seems to be an opposite to the famous Tandoor own in which the Tandoori roti flatbread is prepared. Although the preparation process is extremely interesting on its own and it is really interesting to watch the baking of the bread by your own eyes, the best thing of the manakish is the tasty filling inside. The most classical filling is called Shawarma chicken and it consist of boneless chicken pieces in a lemon-garlic sauce. If you’re fond of red meat, there is a traditional filling called “kafta” that is made of the mashed, lightly spiced beef. For vegetarians, there are galettes filled by Lebanese cheese called « halloumi », that reminds Greek feta.

Chez le Libanais - original fillings and nice atmosphere!

discover the best of lebanese food in paris | chez le libanais - original fillings and nice atmosphere!

First stand that is a must-try is called « Chez le Libanais » and it is situated near the metro station Odéon, at 35 rue Saint-André des Arts. It is a small boutique with a few bar chairs that is almost always filled in – the locals know it very well and they know that it is simply the best from the entire city. Luckily, you can grab a dish to go, so it is not a big deal. « Chez le Libanais » has an enormous offer - from the compulsory Shawarma and kafta meets, they also have special lamb meat fillings that are surely worth trying. Grab the one called « Makanek » that connects the mashed lamb with hummus spread, tomatoes, lemon and pickles. Or try their homemade chicken « Shish taouk » consisting of oriental spiced grilled chicken pieces with a lightly lemon taste. Even for vegetarians there is large a choice – try the one with spinach and pine nuts, with homemade falafel bowls or the eggplant one. You will feel like in heaven.

Longing rather for something sweet? “Chez Le Libanais” also has a lot of wonderful desserts, using manakish! The most original is the one with ricotta cheese, banana and honey, but if you’re more oriented to chocolate, also their Nutella filled manakish with fresh strawberries is delicious!

The street food market stands - big choice and nice staff

discover the best of lebanese food in paris | the street food market stands - big choice and nice staff

Another place where you can taste really good manakish is the Lebanese stands that you can find in any Parisian food market. Even if all the stands have an attractive offer, there are two vendors that deserve a special attention. The first that is worth visiting is called Délices d'Auber and is situated at Monge square in the 5th Parisian District. The stand has an extremely large offer, going from the home-made galettes with original fillings as is the one with spinach and cheese to the large pita-bread sandwiches that you can compose yourself. But that’s not all - if you’re not in the mood to eat sandwiches, you can buy here also some of freshly prepared main dishes. I recommend you try the grilled eggplant stuffed with minced meat. It goes perfectly together with a bit of the bulgur (dried cracked wheat) boiled in a light tomato sauce. An ideal lunch for a busy visitor. The stand is on the place every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Another vendor I’d like to introduce is on the Bastille street market. Just in its beginning, there are great Lebanese vendors with large and well stuffed freshly baked galettes. Try the traditional one with goat cheese and tomatoes or the tasty “Za'atar” that is filled by thyme spread. I assure you that you won’t be disappointed.

Man'Ouché - the stand at Rambuteau

Rue Rambuteau, Paris July 30, 2010
Source: Photo by Wikimedia Commons user zoetnet used under CC BY 2.0

There are also very good Lebanese restaurants in the surroundings of the famous Centre Pompidou - the modern building with coloured tunnels. In Rambuteau street, there are at least three one next to another. The best one of them is called Man'Ouché. What is great about Man’Ouché is the size of their portion. It seems that their homemade bread competes really strongly with a big large Italian pizza. And it is really delicious, thin and crunchy. The best way to fully enjoy it is to eat it with some light topping that will add to the bread a bit more special touch, but that will not beat its great taste completely. The one called “Jebneh”, using homemade cheese, or the “Labneh” with Lebanese yogurt, olives, tomatoes and mint are the best options there. And, if it is not enough, some good baklava or traditional pistachio cake for dessert will be the best final point of your degustation. Man'Ouché is open every day from 12 am to 11 pm.

Paris Tour Guide

Angénic  Agnero

Angénic Agnero

Paris Tour Guide

Patricia Bollinger

Patricia Bollinger

My name is Patricia Bollinger and my family is French. I have always had a passion for art and history and I chose to study them when I went to university. I have been a licensed tour guide for the last 30 years and I work in French, English and Italian. My passion and also as part of my work I travel a lot. For this reason, I have a good idea of visitors expectations. Naturally I want to share this passion for my country and its heritage with foreign visitors.I also love cooking and I am a foody.

Tours by Patricia

Discover the foods that Parisians love

Parisian love good and tasty food - even when they’re in a hurry, Parisians find always a moment to take a break and eat. Thanks to its unique mix of cultures, Parisian street food scene offers a large scale of tastes from all over the world. I hope you’ll enjoy this Lebanese gem next time you visit the City of Lights!

Disclosure: Trip101 selects the listings in our articles independently. Some of the listings in this article contain affiliate links.

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Hi, my name is Jana and I am a Czech girl currently living in Paris. Student of cinema and dance, I love to meet new people all over the world, to speak with them in different languages and to...Read more

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