Restoblog by Manu

This is my favorite Chinese restaurant in Paris (and I’ve tried quite a few), located near the “Arts et métiers” metro station. It’s often crowded, so it’s best to go there a bit later (in the evening, 21:00 should work better than 20:00 for example).

5 rue Volta

75003 Paris

Google maps

Let’s start by a classic “mapo doufu“:

The tofu is quite soft & liquid, no way to eat that with chopsticks, but it’s one of the best I know (as for all the other dishes here). The eggplant hot pot (“qiezi bao“) is extremely tasty and has a really delicious smell:

I’m not usually that fond of the following dish (I’m too much of a meat lover :-p), but I guess a meal in this restaurant should have at least on dish of vegetables, here “qingcai muer“:

I also like to see what the “suan la tang” tastes like when I go to a Chinese restaurant, this one is pretty good without being as exceptional as the other dishes:

So that’s it for that day (two people), along with two bowls of rice (in euros):

Mapo doufu: 5.5

Suan la Tang: 3.5

Qiezi bao: 7.7

Qingcai muer: 6.9

2 bowls of white rice: 2

Total (for 2): 25.60

Here are pictures of the menu if you want to have a quick glimpse of what’s available:

Update: two of the dishes I usually always take (and that I’d recommend above anything else from here) are the beef hot pot(“shui zhu niurou“, the small one is more than enough, 12.50 euros):

and the “yuxiang rousi” (pork), 7.50 euros:

I also tried a hot pot with tofu last time, tomatoes and sea food (9 euros), but it was a bit disappointing compared to the other dishes:

This is one of the many Chinese restaurants located in the “rue au Maire” near Arts et métiers in Paris. It is not particularly good but has a great deal of choice, is pretty cheap, and the overall quality is really decent, perfect for a quick daily meal.

39 rue au Maire

75003 Paris

Google Maps

Their “mapo doufu“, 5 euros, is a bit dryer than it usually should be (I don’t think you’re supposed to even be able to eat it without a spoon:

It’s not bad at all, although a bit unorthodox with its peas and sauce with a taste of tomatoes. The “suan la tang” (Beijing soup, 3 euros) is rather large (as are all the soups here) and quite good, though probably not as dense as it should be:

Now some vegetables, “chao cai xing“, 4 euros (no idea what the English name of this vegetable is), really good and not that usual in most”Western-style” Chinese restaurants:

Another soup, “yuwantang” (fish soup, 4.5 euros), really good as well, quite large and tasting a bit acidic like Thai soup use to:

Check: total 16.50 euros (for 2).

Update: three additional dishes (woops, forgot prices), the very Chinese chicken feet,

Very speical but Chinese people love it! Now two more Western style dishes, sweet and sour chicken with rice (“tang cu ji fan“),

and pretty much the same, but with fish instead of chicken (“tang cu yu fan“):

The name of this restaurant means “the Wenzhou dim sum restaurant”. It is located near Arts et métiers in Paris, rue au Maire (western part of the street, not sure of the number, look for the restaurant’s name) a district with a lot of Chinese people and restaurants, mainly from Wenzhou I think. I was with my wife and we had four dishes plus a bowl of plain white rice:

Some kind of beef stew. It’s okay, but not as good as Sichuan’s “Shuizhu niurou”. It takes a bit too much like plain water-cooked beef, the taste is not especially subtle.

“Niangao“, these white things that look a bit like beans are actually made of rice flour I guess, so it’s a kind of noodle but not that soft, and you can be full very fast eating this I believe this dish is one of their specialties, I think it’s better here than in other restaurants around.

Beijing soup (“suan la tang“, litterally acid and spicy soup). Pretty good, but not that special here.

This is one of my favorite dishes: pork, or chicken here, cooked with a sweet and sour sauce with some vegetables. Here it is really good, with lots of meat. But my big regret is that they don’t use any pineapple!

Okay, check for this meal (in euros):

Beef stew: 8

Nian gao: 5.50

Beijing soup: 3.50

Sweet and sour chicken: 4.70

Plain rice: 1

Total: 22.70 euros (for 2, 11.35 per person)