La Petite Chinoise : LPC

August is the excuse for everything in Paris. In August, we do things that we don’t normally do.

Like driving for instance. For someone who lives here, driving in Paris in August is heaven. Not only is parking free, we can park anywhere at any time, day or night. And often times we have more than one parking spot to choose from. It took us 13mins from our home to le bureau (the office) today, all the way across town…. Thus, we are driving every single day in August to work!

For others, like my internet provider ALICE, August is justifying why my request cannot be processed. “Yes, Madame, we promised it would be done in 3 weeks’ time. But you know (small pause for emphasis), your dateline falls in August. C’est les vacances! (It’s the holidays!). So, we promise it will be processed à la rentrée (when school begins).” That’s another 4 weeks away from August 1. And I, the customer, am once again held hostage.

Apart from my internet non-connection, I like August in Paris. My clients are on vacation. For the entire month, I get to leave le bureau at “normal” hours. I like when the Parisians leave the city and congregate at the beach. I have the city to myself. I get to visit some museums; I picnic before a film showing at Cinéma en plein air at La Villette ; I hang out with friends. My boulangerie stays open, my boucher and verger are back from their vacations. What else do I really need? (OK, maybe my dry cleaner!) I actually enjoy the fact that a lot of the usual haunts and services aren’t available, so I get to explore places I don’t usually go to.

Ben and I ventured into Vietnam-town in the 13th arrondissement for our first Vietnamese meal. A colleague recommended Le Bambou on rue Baudricourt. Is Vietnamese food d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s ! I explained to Mdm Nguyen that we were new to Vietnamese cuisine and if she would show us what we were missing. Mdm Nguyen smiled a big smile, nodded and said “OK. You will be happy.”

I had Ban Cuon, which looks like a steamed dumpling. It is filled with a minced filling of pork, shrimp, dried mushrooms and spring onions. Mdm Nguyen tells me that it is similar to Chinese dim sum dumplings but the process of making the steamed wrapper is different and more laborious. We dip the Ban Cuon in hot sauce before eating. The Ban Cuon melts at first bite. Yum – very delicious!

Ben had pork Nems, which is similar to the Chinese spring rolls (or egg rolls). We roll each Vietnamese Nem in a cabbage leave, with mint leaves and then dip it in Nouc Mam (Vietnamese fish sauce).

We had Phó with thin shavings of beef and meat balls. Phó in Vietnamese means “your own bowl” and is the only Vietnamese dish that is served in individual portions. The meat is served with the noodles and broth. Then we add our own fresh green herbs and condiments. I added all the cilantro, basil, mint and other leaves that came with my phó. There were two red hot sauces that were served in small dishes. We can dip our meat slivers in the sauces before eating.

Le Bambou serves Vietnamese food from several regions in Vietnam. We find beef dishes, (one of the few nice things picked up from the Mongolians during the invasions), pork dishes, and rice dishes from the South (or near the Mekong River, where rice is grown). Red chillies and fish sauce seem to be the main condiments. There is minimal use of oil and an abundance of fresh vegetables, fresh herbs. Meat seems to be a “side” dish rather than a main dish…. Dare I say Vietnamese food is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world?

Mdm Nguyen was right – we were very happy with our meal. And we’ll be going back to Le Bambou very soon!

Le Bambou
70 rue Baudricourt
75013, Paris
tél: 01 45 70 91 75
métro: Place d'Italie
Close on Mondays