Krishna Bhavan (CLOSED)

One of the longstanding favourites of vegetarian diners in Paris, this is Krishna Bhavan's second branch. The large dining room is done out warm tones, with a large portrait of Ghandi on the wall – it's a space where you feel immediately at home, even if dining alone.

The menu offers a huge choice of dishes from Southern India, ranging from dosa (lentil pancakes with curry) to iddiyapam (fine wheat and rice noodles). Our waitress advised to try the thaali, a platter of dishes that includes an array of specialities. Six mini-dishes of vegetables surrounding a dome of rice arrived, topped with a sadly soggy poppadum. There was also some raita and a spoonful of spicy lime pickle. Our favourite parts were the spicy potatoes and green beans, a tasty aubergine and tomato curry, and cabbage with coconut and mustard seeds, a real taste of Kerala. By contrast, the spinach and two types of dahl were both rather listless and disappointing.

As you can eat here for around €10 by being careful, the thaali at €14.50 doen’t represent the restaurant’s best quality-price ratio as the vegetable portions are small. Also keep an eye on the drinks prices (€5 for a Kingfisher beer) if you’re on a budget. Sundays, there’s a Yoga Brunch.