It may be pretty obvious, based on how often Dann and I eat out, that we absolutely love food. It may be less obvious that Dann also loves pinball machines, so when we saw a food hall that actually had a bunch of pinball machines at the back, we had to check it out. Food Society is a casual place to eat, right by where we were staying in Paris, that also had a small pinball arcade in it, along with a larger arcade / bowling venue downstairs – giving the place a fun mall vibe.
Food Society had digital menus that you could order and pay off of, which would then send the order to the various different kitchens throughout the venue. You did need to go and pick up your food, which was a bit confusing as neither of us spoke French, but we did manage to order far too much, try lots of things, and enjoy a huge lunch with some live music playing in the background!
Beef Noodle and Bibimbap
One of the dishes I picked out was this lovely beef and noodle dish, which had nuoc cham sauce – something I am obsessed with. The rice noodles, along with the salad and thinly cut beef was fantastic, especially with the sauce! Dann, as someone who loves bibimbap, had to order some at Food Society. The meat came out well cooked and there was a good amount of toppings. the sauce for his dish came on the side, which he ended up pouring over for the full experience. I also got some kimchi to try, which wasn’t the best I have had, but was good.
Charcuterie and Greek Bowl
We wanted to make sure we tried a bunch of the food places at Food Society, so we also ordered a charcuterie board and a Greek Bowl, from two other menus at the venue. The characterise was very quick to come out, as they have these pre-prepared and just unwrap them to hand them to you. There is butter on this board, and as it comes straight from a fridge, we found this very cold to eat! Butter aside, there were a good variety of meats and cheeses, along with quite a few nuts, so it does feel like a board that’s well worth it. We also grabbed a Greek bowl, which had a nice amount of salad, some beef that’s been thinly cut and marinated, fries, a flat bread that felt more like a tortilla, and a hummus to dip it all in. The portion on the Greek food was quite large, with plenty of filling things to eat off of it.
The Food Society has a real community feel to it. The pinball machines at the back are fun, though you do need to bring coins to try them out, and there is a stage towards one side of the hall, which people can just set up and play at. We listened to two different groups of people set up on stage and play their hearts out, before packing up and heading off. It just all felt really friendly and the food was great too.