Moroccan Lunch

A favourite inexpensive lunch spot for John and I during our stay in Paris was the Traiteur Marocain, a tavola calda or open kitchen in the Enfants Rouges covered market at 39 Rue de Bretagne in the Upper Marais. Here we find the owner making last minute adjustments to his eatery before the lunch crowd arrives.

You walk through a gated doorway into the covered market which is apparently the oldest in Paris being built in 1615. The food market is small and quite expensive but it is surrounded by interesting, inexpensive restaurants.

One lines up at the Traiteur Marocain along a case displaying the various meals being offered, pay at the cash at the end and your meal is taken to an outside table by one of the staff. 

Here we see a display plate piled high with Moroccan salad - tomatoes, olives, green pepper and scallions. The perfect accompaniment to the meals.

This is the Tagine d'Agneau or Lamb Tagine with its mix of lamb, prunes, almonds, onions, vegetables, pickled lemon and dried fruit. My fave!

John often chose the Kefta Tagine with its spiced balls of ground meat, onions, eggs and vegetables. All served on dishes of couscous. 

We always asked for "un table à l'ombre" (a table in the shade) but the locals usually wanted to sit in the sun during their lunch break. That's the covered market building in the background.

Here's a close-up of the Tagine Kefta,

the Moroccan salad,

and the Tagine d'Agneau. Bon appetit! We kept finding excuses to turn up here around noon to dig into the Moroccan fare. It would be our main meal of the day.