Updated 21 March 2008 with images.
When I first read in Simon~says* about Les Pâtes Vivantes, a restaurant specialising in handpulled noodles, I wanted to go immediately but we couldn't reach the restaurant by telephone. The next morning, a Sunday, we still couldn't get through the telephone line but we decided to go anyway. To our disappointment it was not open for lunch. While pondering our next move we went over to Rue Cail where I stocked up on murruku, Twisties in 'original' cheese flavour, Indian spices and vegetables. Lunch turned out to be an excellent Korean meal at Restaurant Séoul in the other side of town, at 165 rue de Javel (15th arr). The owner also runs the Korean grocery store Hana in nearby rue Letellier (15), opposite Odori.
* Simon says is the blog of Francois Simon, he is a well-respected food critic. His blog is written mainly in French. I love the videos, it is amazing how he gets away with filming his entire meals in so many of the restaurants.
Anyway I was still determined to eat some handpulled noodles so this afternoon I took the 32 bus over to no 46, rue du fg Montmartre in the 9th arrondissement. Happily the restaurant is operating on all cylinders. The first thing one notices is their steamed up windows, then on the left side of the entrance one can see a Chinese lady physically pulling the noodles. The menu is short- a noodle soup Lanzhou style, a dry version Chajiang style, appetisers like potstickers and cold five-spiced beef, about five dishes that will go with rice e.g. aubergines in fragrant sauce or sauteed pork ribs, and some offhand sweets. I ordered a Chajiang noodle, some potstickers and potatoes sauteed in vinegar.
The tiny restaurant was very busy, they have been opened for only 21 days and because of the exposure from such a well-regarded source such as Simon their business is very good. Today their phoneline was finally connected, they can now be reached at 01 45 23 10 21.
Back to my meal. The potstickers were not great, let's get that out of the way first. The noodles though, were absolutely fabulous, thicker than all the ones I've ever tried, as thick as electrical cords, and pulled in a single, long continuous strand. They were chewy-tender with a snappy bite, just the way I like them. The sauce was delicious too, meaty and mildly spiced, the whole thing is topped off with some scallions, chopped garlic and pickles. At 9 euros a bowl it is also very good value. Also very good was their sauteed potatoes, I ordered some for takeaway, it will make husband happy.
After lunch, Madam Coutin (or Madame Duan according to her Chinese name), the noodle-chef, came over to talk to me. She and her son makes the noodles but she is the expert. It's hard work she admits, requiring precision and muscular strength to get the texture just right. Too much salt and the noodles seize up and break off, too little and it is all flabby. She has hired another noodle-expert who can make all sorts of other amazing pulled noodles but he is waiting for his working papers, but when he starts his job we have more to look forward to as well. Oh, on Sundays, they do open for dinner.
This weekend C comes to town and next week we go for a holiday in Istanbul. The blog will therefore be idle for a while. Cheers!
Update 21 March 2008: Visited a second time with C and husband. Their appetiser of pickled cabbage was a big hit- fresh crunchy vegetables yummified with hot pepper oil and cilantro with a sweet-sour dressing- we ordered a second portion. The soup noodles were compared with dried noodles: the dried version won hands down for flavour and variety of ingredients while the soup was thought to be rather bland.
