Biosphère Café appears to be one of the most recommended gluten-free spots in the whole city, after…read moreNoglu and Helmut Newcake, which were both sadly closed during August 2020 when I visited Paris.
Biosphère Café is currently open on reduced opening hours, which is generally between 11:30 in the morning and 3:10 to 4 pm during the week. They're closed on weekends.
The whole menu is gluten-free which really excited me, they do al-dente style pasta alongside pizzas and a Croque Madame, which was what I came in for having been eager to try a gluten-free version during my time in France.
While the food is good value, I do think drinks are a little expensive and the selection of drinks also is a little poor, they seemed to mainly do standard soda and blended smoothie/juices, they didn't seem to have something simple like just orange juice or iced tea, I opted for a mix of what included cucumber, and I didn't enjoy it. It seemed to curdle very quickly and was an expensive disaster.
The food, on the other hand, was a totally different story - my Croque Madame was one of the best single food items I've had in Paris, the bread held together very well and was naturally crusty and some of the best gluten-free bread I've had, this is someone who is exhausted most gluten-free bread as I generally find them dry, tasteless and disgusting, propped up by chewy seeds but here - none of that. Seedless bread is always a winner for me.
The ham was also exceptional quality, the egg was almost cooked perfectly and I would have liked it ever so slightly runnier, the cheese was also good and I like how they didn't overfill it with cheese which again seems to be common. Some people think to overload toppings removes the taste and makes gluten-free bread edible, but the bread is so good here it doesn't need that. It's just quality on quality.
I did, however, find the lettuce side a little odd and would have preferred some form of potatoes or fries, that being said the honey and mustard dipping sauce was pretty good too, it was obviously fresh.
My crepe was okay, I would have liked more generous filling as the caramel sauce was hot but that didn't taste fresh or anything too exciting.
I didn't like the cafe inside, I did find it really small even the kitchen area seemed small, tables were far close to each other and it could have done with some fresh paintwork.
3* - The Croque Madame alone knocks this rating up alongside the friendly and helpful staff, it was so good, it's a shame about most other parts of the experience weren't.
