You could die in Paris in August and nobody would know until La Rentrée in September when normal city life recommences!
Ok, maybe that is a slight exaggeration but honestly Paris is like a deserted town in August – everything shuts down. I was involved in a bad road accident a few years ago on a work trip, endured 22 hour flight from Australia via Buenos Aires and arrived back in Paris wearing a neck brace. My Parisian doctor prescribed an MRI to survey the damage and check nothing was broken in my spinal cord that was the 24 July and when I went to book the MRI was told sorry Maidmoiselle but the first appointment we have is in September after all it is the holidays. Yes, that’s right: the doctors (replaced by locums), and dentists – my beloved Dr B went for his 3.5 week holiday so I better not crack a tooth – the post office changes its hours to only open for a ridiculously short period and are closed at lunchtime, libraries open a couple hours a day during the week and are closed on weekends and then all your favourite local shops, boulangeries, restaurants etc closed for a month- bah c’est les vacances quoi – it’s the holidays!
Luckily for me there are few people left in Paris who like me are working during les vacances oh la la. Yes, the team behind Bioburger are holding the fort serving everything organic. Let’s see if they can trump the cantine california which was the first place I visited on my burger quest of Paris.
Le Lieu/Location
I headed to the Bioburger located near SoPi (South Pigalle) with it’s austere interior completely stripped back to concrete, exposed light bulbs in short the rough luxe look. Even so there is a nice feel about the place and lots of seating – a bar for the solo diners and tables and even a sofa. You are free to sit where you want and take one of the colourfully repainted reclaimed school chairs to sit on or on the concrete banquette and have an eagle eyed view of the restaurant.
L’ambiance/Good Vibes
The industrial looking furniture and stripped floors may make the place look simple but don’t be fooled this is hip and firmly located in boho land. The vibe is definitely relaxed and the staff are friendly all two of them. I took my seat and looked at the menu – orders are placed at the till and then the burger is brought to you. Everything looked good on the menu, when I went there for dinner at 20h there was an eclectic mix of patrons: Maje wearing twenty somethings, a few families and a few solo diners. Nobody is looking at you and it is definitely chilled with background music.
Les Plats/Food
The unique selling point of this place as the name suggests is Organic the word in French is Bio. Everything is organic the drinks, meat, potatoes etc. I liked the fact that on the entry wall they state: where all the ingredients used are sourced, the fact that they hand cut their chips in the morning – scrubbing the potatoes, cutting them etc and dessert is made in house. I ordered a Bionade, I stopped drinking a while ago when I heard that Coca Cola had bought the company. They serve beer as well but I was on a non drinking instead give me my burger vibe. There is a lot of choice on the menu: classic, cheeseburger, bacon burger, MB burger which is like the bacon burger but with a mustard sauce and cheese or a bbq burger. Also for the vegetarians amongst us there is the option of switching out the beef for a tofu burger. Yes the people at Bioburger have thought of it all and at €7,50 just for a burger or €11 for the menu which includes any drink, fries and or dessert it is very reasonable. I waited for the MB burger and fries, although if you want to limit the naughtiness you can have a side salad instead and it’s a proper side salad created fresh, and people watched.
What I loved about receiving my burger was the fact it was wrapped in brown paper – it felt as if I was unwrapping a present, a delicious foodie present, and the chips that accompanied it were incredible too. Here again they toast the burger bun so maybe I’m the only person in Paris who doesn’t like a toasted burger bun, am I really that unique? Aside from that everything was fresh, juicy and there were real slices of proper comte cheese in my burger! There is dessert offered – the ubiquitous – cookie, fondant au chocolat or otherwise known as a brownie, fruit compote or muffin that the French must think is so American cool. I hate all those things, aside from the compote, and for me none of them constitute dessert so even if I wasn’t full, which I was, I wouldn’t have ordered any of them.
Bioburger is on my list of great burger places in Paris – it is so reasonable and most of all tasty. Here’s a close up of my tasty burger – go, see, eat when you’re next in Paris:
Where? 10 rue de la Victoire, 75009 Paris
How? Line 7 (stop Le Peletier) and it’s just there as soon as leave the metro station
Pricey? Best priced burger in Paris that I have seen so far – €7,50 for a burger or €11 for the menu – burger, fries or salad and a drink or dessert!
Open when? Monday 11.45 to 15.30 / Tuesday – Saturday 11.45 – 15h30 / 18.30 – 22.30
Website: http://bioburger.fr
