I do love Indian food, either as a take-away or in a restaurant. In the UK , I think it’s fair to say that we do love our Indian grub! However, I can’t remember ever having eaten in an Indian restaurant, in France. To be honest, it would never occur to me! On the other hand, I love North African food and when I was living in France, I used to eat it regularly.
Vegetarian food is another love of mine but I have yet to discover a vegetarian restaurant in Castelnaudary! So, when my husband met me at Toulouse airport last week and told me were going to eat at an Indian Vegetarian restaurant, in the city, I was very surprised.
The restaurant in question is called ‘Manger autrement’ and here’s the link to their website: http://www.manger-autrement.com/ just in case you ever happen to find yourself in Toulouse and longing to have an Indian vegetarian meal!
This is the meal I had; a thali. This is made up of a selection of dishes and is served on a round metal or steel platter. Each dish was served in a small bowl called a katori. They included rice, dahl (a lentil based dish) mushrooms and mixed vegetables. This was accompanied by a chapati ( a type of flatbread) . I have to say this was probably the best chapati I have ever eaten!
Overall, I enjoyed our meal. It certainly was a different experience! My only – slight – criticism would be that I found a couple of the dishes to be slightly bland for my taste buds. This could be because I usually go for the more spicy curries. Controversially, dare I suggest that the spicing may have been adapted for a French palate…?
Have you ever been to an Indian restaurant in France? I’d love to know!
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Not a chance! I think everything is toned down for French taste as the ‘curry’ flavoured things you can buy in the supermarket are very mild. My family can’t cope without at least 1 curry a week and we grow our own chillies as not easy to buy and order spices in bulk.
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That’s really interesting to know – thanks!
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At some point this year (maybe late summer) we’re going to be staying with friends in France – one friend lives in Toulouse. I’ll have to look out for this restaurant!
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It would certainly be a different experience but that are others I could recommend too! Maybe your friend who lives in Toulouse can suggest some for us to try?!
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I know the place… our daughter and her American hubby love Indian food! 🙂
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Wow, that’s amazing! Have you ever eaten there? Perhaps you can suggest some other interesting restaus to try in Toulouse?!
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we’ve been there once, with them, but we’d rather go for Vietnamese excellent food… 🙂 we’ve had yummy lunches or dinners here for over 20 years: http://www.citemandarin.com/
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That’s great – thanks for the suggestion!
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There certainly are some foods that are not as easy to find in France, particularly rural France. I am glad you enjoyed your meal so much… what a nice surprise from your husband. #AllAboutFrance
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Thanks, for your comment, Annette and yes, it was a nice surprise!
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You made me hungry with your review! I love Indian food and indeed the best I ever had was in Sheffield, England. Thanks for sharing this place in Toulouse, Indian restaurants are indeed rare in France unless you visit the Indian neighbourhood (just a few streets) in Paris near metro stop La Chapelle. If you ever visit Paris in the near future I recommend stopping there on your way to Montmartre! #AllaboutFrance
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Thank you for your comment. My husband went to uni in Sheffield & also appreciated the curries there! Next time we go to Paris I’ll aim to visit the Indian area as I don’t know it at all.
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I do love Indian food and miss it living in Uzes. Mon fils and I went to an Indian restaurant in Montpelier when he was visiting last Fall. Neither the food nor the name of the place were memorable. A disappointment! Now I have another reason to go to Toulouse!
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I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll stick to eating curries in the UK or the Indian district, in Paris! When I’m in France, I’ll eat North African food. If you have the time, you MUST go to Toulouse. A recent discovery of mine, I have totally fallen in love with the pink city!
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We went to one in Aix a couple of years ago – hugely disappointing! Then more recently in the Indian district between Gare du Nord and La Chapelle in Paris – that was the real stuff!
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Thanks for your comment. To be honest, I think I’ll stick to curry in the UK and North African food in France! However, another blogger also mentioned the Indian district, in Paris, so I’ll definitely give that a go next time I’m there.
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I think you have a good rule of thumb there!
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There are certainly more Indian restaurants in France now than when I first arrived 20 years ago and surprisingly we’ve got a couple of good ones near us on the Côte d’Azur and I’ve recently heard of another new one in Grasse, very well received by the British community. But this is a particularly diverse part of France and not representative at all of France in general. I would agree that in general spices are toned down for the French palette but even that has changed for the better over the years. I’m glad you enjoyed your meal in Toulouse, thanks for sharing it with us at #AllAboutFrance
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Thanks, Phoebe. I think I’ll stick to going to Indian restaurants in the UK and North African ones in France!
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I realise this thread is a little old now but I have had similar experiences with the quality of Indian food in the South of France. As a consequence I have decided to start up my own business serving “British-Indian” curries, as you would find at home, on markets in Carcassonne, Limoux and Esperaza. Whilst it won’t be a restaurant experience I felt it would be the best way for more people, English and French, to get a taste for the food. I have been cooking authentic Indian food at home for over 35 years but never in my wildest dreams thought I would do it as a job. I am due to start in the next few weeks (when my permits come through) so take a look at IndianSpice.fr when it is live to find where I will be. Apologies if this sounds like a sales pitch but I just hope everyone enjoys it.
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How exciting! When I get the opportunity, I will definitely visit your stall in Carcassonne and sample some of your food. I wish you all the best in your endeavour and hope you don’t have to wait too long for your permits to come through. Perhaps you can let me know when your website is live?
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