La Cantine des Tsars, Russian dumplings in Paris

Russian gastronomy fans or people curious and keen on discoveries? Well, do you know that in Paris, in the Louvre-Rivoli area, lays a true local gem likely to satisfy your demanding taste buds? Its name: La Cantine des Tsars.

Head to 21 rue du Roule to dive into the baroque and scarlet universe of this Russian restaurant. Here, the main specialty is Pelmenis, these Russian dumplings stuffed with lamb or pork, as well as Varenikis, the vegetarian version, with potatoes and mushroom. To make people in Paris enjoy the Russian gastronomy, at the Cantine des Tsars, the dumpling dough is made every day on the spot, and products, transformed on the spot, come from farmers. The icing on the cake, the restaurant provides these specialties for an affordable price with menus starting from €12.50.

Lulled by the playlist made in Russia, we browse the menu. Let’s start the tasting. We went for the Assiette du Tsar, an assortment of starters for two including eggplant caviar, tomato and green apple caviar, an “olivier” salad (potatoes, eggs, carrots, snow peas, pickles and mayonnaise), salmon eggs with blinis as well as Russian pickles, the whole served with black bread (Russian, of course).

For the biggest foodies, you can also enjoy the piroshki, these small pockets of dough filled with cabbage or potatoes. A good way to whet the appetite before enjoying genuine Russian dumplings.

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Once again, just for the discovery thrill, we go for the Pelmenis and Varenikis assortment (5 pieces of each, available for dinner only). We love how firm the dumpling dough is, based on organic flour from Ferme de Grand’Maison in Seine-et-Marne, flavorful stuffings showing the quality of the ingredients, and we fell in love with the mushroom Varenikis, full of flavors. We also tried to homemade Borsch available on the menu, a soup made of cabbage, beetroots, Charolais beef, carrots, and tomatoes with a spoonful of crème fraiche on the top, warming our hearts and taste buds.

To bring this tasting to a sweet end, we fell for the medovik, a cake made of honey, almonds and walnuts that is basically the Russian equivalent of the mille-feuille and that is sweetly good. The pirog, this cake based on apple and cinnamon is served with crème fraiche and makes our taste buds super happy and fits people who don’t have a strong sweet-tooth.

And for vodka enthusiasts – who are surely wondering – a selection of white amber vodkas and liquors is also available on the menu.

So, are you ready to be conquered by Russian gastronomy?

Alcohol abuse is bad for your health, please drink responsibly.

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.