SALATIM -- Restaurant Review

 

Check their website for times, reservations and location. https://www.salatim.fr/ 

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor 

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-80); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-90); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (90+)

2.75 - Star.....................................€........................................ 2 - Bell

SALATIM - means "salad" in Hebrew

My cousin is in town and wanted to have a late lunch. He suggested this place in the 2eme. Surprisingly, I had never heard of this restaurant and they've been around since 2017. From what the Chef stated, it started out as a vegetarian bistrot, but they've since added chicken and fish. It's a "hole-in-the-wall" humble "fast food restaurant", so unless you know about it, you probably wouldn't make it a destination. It's like a neighborhood quick restaurant. Think of the rise of Chef  "Ottolenghi" and how he and his partner made Israeli food known.

This is an Israeli restaurant in the 2eme. So, I'd like to digress and give you a little history of what I think is happening with the food scene in Paris, especially regarding Israeli food.


FOOD HISTORY OF ISRAELI FOOD IN PARIS

There is a new trend in the Paris food scene that I've seen starting in the mid-2000. Vegetarian food was unheard of, or largely unknown. It was common to hear someone ask for a vegetarian dish, and the wait staff would ask, "would you like ham with that?" No joking. And, for this group, they went to "Little India" (10eme) or Chinatown (13eme) and even Belleville to seek out vegetarian food. 

Then about mid-2000 more vegetarian restaurants opened up and then shortly thereafter vegan restaurants starting appearing. 

If you notice when you go out for a meal in Paris, they're protein centric, meaning vegetables are more of a garnish than anything else. Well that's changing in that you see more vegetables appearing and in larger portions. Even some michelin starred restaurants became vegetable centric, e.g., "l'Arpege".  So around the same time, an influx of Israeli's came into town and starting opening Israeli style food. If anyone's been to Israel it is not uncommon to see fruit stands, vegetable stands and a lot of vegetables served as appetizers, main dishes and side dishes. You can get fresh squeezed orange juice, lemon juice, or for that matter any fruit or citrus made to order on almost every block. 

Many Israelis started coming and bringing their vegetable centric meals to the table, e.g., "TEKES RESTAURANT", which is completely vegetarian. "Balagan" which serves both, but heavy on the vegetables. BTW, Balagan is a fun eating experience, for sure. As an aside, I heard one of the chefs is opening another Israeli restaurant soon.

Although, "L'as du fallafel" seems to be the oldest and most famous and influential of the Israeli restaurants, it's become too touristy, you can wait in line for a very long time. Now I avoid it. You can find Israeli food throughout the city. Plus I don't always want too go to a touristy area for a quick meal.

What I'm saying is that vegans/vegetarians now have a choice and can join carnivores at some of these Israeli restaurants at different price points, different settings, e.g., formal, informal, etc. Salatim restaurant is quick/fast/informal and price point is well below average, I believe. Again, SALATIM - means "salad" in Hebrew.

MENU

We had brunch. And, to be honest you can have lunch as late as 3 pm at certain times (check their website). And, I was pleasantly surprised they serve lunch when we went yesterday, a Sunday no less. We took the last reservation at 3 pm.

As you can see from the menu, lots of vegetarian and some vegan dishes. 

A small menu, but I prefer small menus, than a novel for a menu.

STARTER 

To start off we had hummus, fresh squeezed orange and lemon juice with some challah. The hummus was a little too thin in texture for my liking, and could've used more seasoning and lemon. It was good, with the challah bread, but was by no means as tasty as it could've been. The challah bread was very good, sweet and moist.

MAIN COURSES 

Two of us had the prix fixe menu and JJ and I had a main each.

All included the same sides. The sides were baked potatoes, sweet potatoes and a small grilled eggplant (hidden under the potatoes). Slow cooked garlic with olive oil. Cauliflower with tahini. Preserved sauteed sweet onions.

1.  Fish was good, moist and went well with the sides.

2. Chicken was nicely grilled and it was actually very moist and perfectly seasoned, considering it looked like it as grilled too long. 

3. Falafel, was good but ordinary and uninspired.

All around, I thought the dishes were under-seasoned, but good. I suppose I could've asked for salt and pepper, but I've been watching my salt intake so decided against adding more. Others thought the salt levels were fine. 


I did not take photos of the desert. One person had a fruit salad, and another person had a lemon cake. Nothing special.

SUMMARY 

This is by no means a destination restaurant. It's like an french style "fast" food, but nicer, a nicer atmosphere, quaint, rather than industrial, almost family style restaurant. The place is small and so I'm shocked they were able to stay in business as long as they have considering their prices. I'm assuming they have to turn a lot of tables, and that's why they probably stay open for lunch longer than most places. 

For hummus and challah bread (I think it was comped), 2 prix-fixe menus, 2-mains, 1-soda, 1-fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2-glasses of wine. Our bill came to €113.50 for 4-people or €28.37 per person. That's a steal.

Would I go back? if I was in the neighborhood, pressed for time and want a quick bite to eat, definitely. But more to feed my hunger than to have an culinary experience.

The service was impeccable. I raised by overall rating by .25 because of the excellent service.