Han Lim

6 rue Blainville, 75005 Paris

Métro:  Place Monge

One bummer about living in Paris is that there isn’t nearly the diversity of types of cuisine available in even a small American city.  Don’t get me wrong:  what they do well here, they obviously do better than anybody else in the universe.  But if you are living on a moderate budget, the Parisian diet ends up consisting of very few Michelin-starred eateries and a lot of ham and cheese in various white-carbohydrate guises.  I’m getting to the point where I’d happily chop off a hand for a decent burrito, piece of pizza, or some Schezwan noodles.

I’ve had a bit better luck in terms of Vietnamese and Korean food, though nothing compared to what I was used to as a denizen of Orange County.  I wasn’t sure about how to write this review of Han Lim, a Korean restaurant in the Latin Quarter.  I don’t want to pretend that I really know anything about Korean cuisine, other than I really enjoy it and if you are lucky enough to within driving distance of Kaya in Irvine, well, I hate you right now.  But for those of you in Paris who are starting to get a little too promiscuous with the Sriracha on account of the dearth of spicy food in this town, I would recommend a visit to Han Lim.  I quite enjoyed the kimchi chigae and the dolsot bibimbap, and the smells of bulgogi and kalbi wafting from the other tables seem to be right on target.  The banchan is spare, but functional.  The place is usually full in the evenings but not so much so that you can’t easily get a table.  The people who run the place are really friendly.

Details: No reservations necessary.  For around 20 euros each, everybody will be well-fed and sloshed on Soju.