5 restaurants for traveling to China without leaving Paris
All summer long, Le Figaro offers its selection of restaurants that will make you feel like you're on vacation in the capital. This week, we're stopping off in China, with dishes like roast duck, giant noodles, and dim sum.
The Bao Family is growing! The brand founded in 2019 by Franco-Chinese Céline Chung, which now has five restaurants in Paris (a sixth is due to open in Ternes this fall) and one in Marseille, plays with traditional codes by focusing on popular recipes made from well-sourced products, from the emblematic Char Siu bao to fried chicken in sweet and sour sauce, including spicy mapo tofu and Hong Shao eggplant. All in sleek pop decor, like the glowing two-story address located on the banks of the Canal Saint-Martin. Note all summer long: a pandan ice cream and fruit in syrup sundae.
Gros Bao. 72, quai de Jemmapes ( 10th ). No phone. Daily (continuously on weekends). Menu: €25-35. Open all summer.
Skip the adThere's nothing like a stroll through the immense Chinatown of Paris's 13th arrondissement to get away from it all. If you're not sure where to start, this vast Cantonese canteen, open since 1981 and owned by several generations, remains a safe bet. Be sure to delve into the endless menu of dim sum, spring rolls, soups, noodle soups, roast duck, crispy pork, rice, hot pots, stir-fried noodles... But also, for the more adventurous, jellyfish salad and century-old eggs, salt and pepper duck tongues, or tripe sautéed with peppers and black soy beans.
Imperial Choisy . 32, avenue de Choisy ( 13th ). Tel.: 01 45 86 42 40. Daily. Menu: €25-35. Open all summer.
The adventure of this Chinese restaurant, which now has around ten locations in Paris, including the latest in Batignolles, began in 2011 near the Canal Saint-Martin. Inspired by the cuisine of Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, a province in central China, the team, with its dual French-Chinese culture, blends classics and creative recipes in harmonious settings that modernize the traditions of the region. Among the house favorites: the mo (a small crunchy sandwich), the liang pi (wheat flour pasta served cold with sesame cream and chili oil), and the endless biang biang pasta with scrambled eggs, tomato, and meat (beef or pork).
Zhao's Tavern. 59, rue des Dames ( 17th ). No phone. Daily. Menu: €25-40. Open all summer.
The most central of the four Panda Panda Group locations—just a stone's throw from City Hall—has succeeded in anchoring Chinese cuisine in the spirit of the times. It presents itself as a "bao & noodle counter," inspired by the cuisine of neighboring Taiwan. Perched on high chairs—the best seats are facing the cooks—in a futuristic setting, guests can enjoy dim sum, spicy cucumber salad, and all sorts of other noodles. But the stars of the menu are the gua bao, small open-faced steamed buns filled with a choice of braised pork belly, candied lamb shoulder, fried chicken, or marinated Portobello mushrooms, pickles, and homemade sauces.
Skip the adBaobar. 42, rue Sainte-Croix de la Bretonnerie ( 4th ). Tel.: 01 89 33 37 61. Daily. Menu: €25-40. Open all summer.
Established in the Sentier since the end of 2024 by three young Franco-Chinese friends, this glamorous restaurant with a kiss-red frontage stands out for its vast size (300 m 2 ) and its sleek, very Technicolor decor, designed by the Louis Morgan studio. On the plate, there is room for traditional recipes of good quality although solidly priced: bites and steamed dumplings (hakao, siu mai, xialongbao), rolls, sweet and sour shrimp, General Tso's fried chicken, Dong Po Rou braised pork, Peking duck in two courses, melting eggplant, stir-fried noodles and rice, pak chai stir-fried with garlic...
Red Katz. 14, rue de Cléry ( 2nd ). Tel.: 06 98 27 98 50. Daily except Sunday. Menu: €40-80. Open all summer.
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