Eating not so Carnivorously in Paris 

Part 4: Angelina

The fourth segment of our Eating Carnivorously series takes a little detour, and what a detour this is!

Founded over a century ago by an Austrian, Antoine Rumplemayer, Angelina is a Belle Époque tearoom named after his daughter-in-law. This tearoom, situated in the busy centre of Paris, is surrounded by the city's wonderful boutiques and haute luxury establishments. For those who love to name drop (and you know who you are), Angelina was the daily hang-out of Coco Chanel in the later years of her life and always sat at table number 11 in the main tearoom.

As a tearoom, Angelina serves up some amazing pastries.

 

They also serve a fine selection of chocolate and other typical Parisian sweets like macarons.

My long suffering wife and I dropped by Angelina for lunch after a morning of exploring the haute couture district of Paris. It would be good for the watch geeks to know that Camille Fournet, the famed leather watch strap maker, is just around the corner. The lunch time crowd is rather busy, mainly Japanese tourists and wealthier Parisian women wilding away their time with girlfriends and gossiping.

After our feasts of flesh, we opted for a healthy lunch of salad.

The house salad consists of smoked salmon, a generous helping of avocado and the usual suspects of a salad – greens and tomato with a simple vinegar dressing, an excellent choice by my wife.

My salad on the other hand, was far from healthy.

What I thought was a simple salad of lettuce, anchovies, turkey and shavings of cheese turned out to be a salad of an entire turkey and blocks of parmesan cheese.

There was simply too much cheese and turkey, making the salad overly salty and meaty (which I guess kept to the Eating Carnivorously theme that I had established). Overall, it was an over glorified Caesar salad with lots and lots and lots of parmesan cheese and turkey slices. The anchovies were nice, though.

With that disappointment, let’s pause for a watch break. I wore my Panerai Mare Nostrum 5124-301/A and realized I had never taken too any pictures of this watch.

Now, besides the grandness of this tearoom and all its pastries and French chic, Angelina is well known for its hot chocolate. Angelina’s hot chocolate is by far the most decadent and luxurious hot chocolate I have ever had, period.

We ordered a pot of Chocolate African, which is made with 75 per cent pure cocoa and served with fresh whipped cream.

I must say that the hot chocolate is an assault on the senses. The aroma was intoxicating, while visually, the viscosity of the chocolate when poured stirred up anticipation and desire. And finally, the taste of the hot chocolate is pure heaven – smooth, rich, bitter, sweet and, when had with the whipped cream, redefines sensuality.

Being a man, I can’t say that this is better than sex. As for men, sex is like pizza, even when it’s bad it’s good. Some food for thought, perhaps.

Overall, the experience of Angelina was good. Perhaps the lunch time crowd and the formal tearoom setting make the place a little too busy for a casual lunch. If you want something a little more casual and less rushed, best try the breakfast at Angelina. Regardless, you must order the hot chocolate.

 

Angelina

226, Rue de Rivoli

75001 Paris

+33 1 42 60 82 00

 

See also :

- Eating Carnivorously in Paris Part 1

- Eating Carnivorously in Paris Part 2

- Eating Carnivorously in Paris Part 3

[Gaz]