Maora: the botanical fusion restaurant with Asian and plant-based flavours in the 17th arrondissement

At Maora, plants are elevated to the level of art, with a colorful botanical gastronomy, far from clichés, in a fusion of Asian and French flavors. Set up in 2025 in the heart of the 17th arrondissement, opposite the equally plant-based Giardino patisserie, the restaurant's founders have devised a responsible, gourmet cuisine where the seasons dictate the pace, with a menu that changes according to the season and fresh, local produce.

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Asian cuisine classics such as gyozas, baos and season rolls are reinvented without any meat or fish, using vegetables, plants, spices and even seaweed to create the perfect combination to tantalize the taste buds, accompanied by tasty sauces. The result is an original menu, not to be found anywhere else, that will undoubtedly appeal to vegetal lovers as much as to Asian food lovers (and the curious, of course)!

What stands out when you enter the restaurant, which is rather small and particularly warm, is its wood decor and its pretty bonsai tree in the center, embedded in a table. A modern, zen, bright and welcoming setting that makes you want to sit down for lunch or dinner! It's worth noting that each plate arrives incredibly quickly, which is rare enough to be worth noting, and means you can eat without waiting.

You can opt for dishes to share (or not), with three gyozas, dips, buns baos, gazpacho or season rolls, from €6 to €10, but also revisited dishes like Noix de Pierre Paul Jacques or Tartare au couteau, salads or club sando(€16 to €19). If the latter are a little pricey, it's possible to get your fill with a set to share, but big eaters might be left wanting.

We opted for two different types of gyozas: Mister White, made with carrots and cabbage, crisp and delicate, served with Maora sauce, a secret lemon sauce with a hint of sesame whose composition we'd love to know, so tasty is it. We also try the Mister Bean, again with cabbage, but also spinach and wakame, light and herbaceous, to be sautéed in a delicious vegetable feta.

This is accompanied by a fresh green gazpacho, combining the sweetness of pear, the acidity of cucumber and lime, the lightness of feta and the crunch of fried onions, as well as cauliflower fritters. Even more surprising than the deep-fried enokis, these come in numbers and fill our little stomachs, a way of eating this vegetable with fried food, in an original way, alongside a spicy mayo sauce.

As for the rolls, we preferred the Radish, with yellow radish, apple and rice vermicelli, which we didn't enjoy as much, between the slightly spongy chewiness and the sauce, which this time was too present and impregnated the whole thing.

As for the club sando, this Japanese sandwich, we wanted to try the To Fou, which as its name suggests contains scrambled egg-style tofu, quite impressive since the texture is literally the same. Divided into several small triangles, it proved to be light thanks to the combination of foods, between avocado, spinach and vegetable bacon, served with crispy sweet potato fries delicately flavored by the house's famous sauce.

Difficult to choose a dessert, but with our stomachs already full, the mango and pomegranate salad seemed the most ideal way to end the meal, a sweet and sparkling combination. We'll definitely be back to try the Mont-Blanc Fuji or the Pain Perdu, whose meringue - unavailable that day -, brioche and vegetable nougat are sure to arouse our curiosity!

A wide range of beverages are available to accompany your meal, from cocktails and Asian spirits to kombuchas and iced teas (the peach and hibiscus tea was a real treat).

A highly original discovery, with a particularly colorful and lively cuisine, beautifully presented, which makes marvelous use of the treasures nature has to offer, with a play of textures and flavors that awaken the palate, not to mention impeccable service!

This test was conducted as part of a professional invitation. If your experience differs from ours, please let us know.