Hai Lua La Fayette — Restaurant in Paris

On our way to Gare du Nord we saw this tiny Restaurant and felt in the mood for a Banh Mi - which unfortunately can be quite a miss sometimes.

However we are happy to have given this one a chance! The place was cute, the owner was super friendly and the Banh Mi really really good. We had the one with stir fried beef and the beef couldn't have been any more tender and tasty. Also the carrot pickles were really nice (although radish might have been even nicer than carrots) and the sauces and herbs blended perfectly with everything.

Definitely one of the best Banh Mi we had so far.

There is only one BUT: although Banh Mi originates from french Baguettes obviously we think a crusty, traditional baguette is not the optimal choice for a vietnamese Banh Mi. The fluffy and crunchy but soft vietnamese bread just fits this style of sandwich more absorbing the sauces better. The advantage of the french version though is: it's bigger. And the price was super fair with 6,50 Euro anyway

So, ultimately it doesn't matter as the Banh Mi was awesome and the other dishes looked very nice too. Given the quality of the Banh Mi you should definitely give...

Small quaint restaurant, can easily miss when walking on busy streets. Limited seating and packed when we arrived but did not wait long. Staff was very friendly and accommodating - mama chef from back came out to serve us when front staff was busy. English menu available. Take out available. Banh Mi Special and Pho were both delicious and authentic. Asian-Canadians missing homecook broth with rice noodles and needed something comforting on another cold, rainy day in Paris. Banh mi was stuffed and baguette was perfect crispness. Ca phe sua da reminded us of our time in Vietnam.

Only downside was no toilet in restaurant...

Delicious is all we could say.

I had the Hai Lua Special rice noodles and it’s fully loaded with goodness: shrimps, chicken, pork, spring rolls.. fish sauce mix was delicious. And not to mention - they gave us a big jug of sweetened ice tea as soon as we sat down. My wife had the Hai Lua sub- if you are not used to the baguette, it’s tough on the outside, but the cold cuts fillings with veggies and of course the sauce made a big difference - delicious - we...