A Taqueria in Paris? Mais si !

Last night C & I ate some really tasty Mexican food thanks to Loulou. She'd tweeted about a post written by Barbra Austin, a food blogger who lives in the 10th. The post described El Nopal, a small taqueria located just deux pas from the Canal St Martin (3 rue Eugène Varlin 75010). She talks about homemade salsa, guacamole and tortillas - and that's exactly what we got.

The place is tiny, and judging by the line of people (mostly Americans) going out the door and down the street, it's already become a popular eating spot. The delightful owners are of Colombian and Mexican origin, speak perfect French, Spanish & English and seemed to know most of their clientele by name. It was really refreshing to see how friendly they were and you could tell it was appreciated by the other customers as well.

There isn't really a ton of choice, but what they do have on menu sure sounds tasty. We had to wait for a fairly long time, but it was worth it. C got a chicken burrito with real refriend beans for 6.50€ (!) and I got a quesadilla with ham, chorizo & avocado for 5.50€. We also got a small order of guacamole & chips for 2.00€. (The guac was delish and full of cilantro - next time I will definitely be taking two!). They also have soft-shell tacos, campechanas and salsa with a big kick.

There's only seating for two, so we ended up getting a bottle of wine and taking our food down to the canal to eat by the water. It was perfect - the weather was balmy, the water was still and the neighborhood was just starting to wake up for the night. After that, we headed up to Montmartre to watch the Fête des Vendanges fireworks in front of Sacré Coeur. FYI: the harvest festivities continue on through this afternoon, in case anyone wants to check it out....