Brian_Gibbs

I am curious to know a little about Paris' Chinatown, which I've read is located in the 13th and is the largest Chinatown in Europe. I am hoping to find dim sum and also an inexpensive noodle restaurant as only a Chinatown can do. My frame of reference is San Francisco's Chinatown, which can be quite touristy but remains a vibrant hub of Chinese-American life. I do enjoy the paper lanterns strung across the streets, the Eastern-style facades, and especially the Chinese bakeries. I appreciate being able to find lower prices as well. I'll be traveling with a naturalized Chinese twenty-something, so I'm sure she'd also appreciate the information.

kerouac

Chinatown in Paris is not touristy at all, but it sometimes disappoints visitors from North America who do not find at all the same dishes that they know. They say that the food is "not authentic" or "not as good." The reason for this? Most of the Chinese population of France comes from Southern China and Southeast Asia, whereas the Chinese of North America tend to be from northern China. The cuisines are not at all the same.

Ackislander

I think it is a bit more complicated, at least at the US end.

Most Chinese in the restaurant business in the US are in fact Cantonese or Fujianese, i.e., South China. But in the last 20-30 years, spicy Hunan or Szechwan dishes have become wildly popular in the US, and the restaurant community has learned to cook them and to feature them. We also have a lot of overseas Chinese, so you see increasing numbers of Chinese/Thai or Penang restaurants. And Chinese/Thai/Sushi places.

In the same way that most grand restaurants in US cities have Central Americans on the line doing the actual cooking, the Fujianese in the kitchen are skilled at adapting to whatever cuisine they are given.

Dim sum is a Cantonese custom, so the OP should be able to find it in Paris if the restaurants are South Chinese. Noodles, perhaps not. Those are indeed a North Chinese specialty as are all wheat based dishes (moo shi, for example) and may not be available in restaurants serving a local Chinese community.

Our big surprise in France was Vietnamese food, which I love above all others. It is very different from US Vietnamese food because it is based on Hanoi cuisine. Hanoi was a center of French culture in Vietnam and many North Vietnamese emigrated to France, including Ho Chi Minh (thoough I think he worked in the kitchen at the Ritz or some such). Most Vietnamese in the US are political and military refugees from South Vietnam, and they brought their cooking with them. It uses lighter, clearer broths and many more vegetables than Hanoi cuisine, and I like it better. But both are authentic.

I am not Chinese, but I have had good friends who are and whose families are in the restaurant business. Alas, without them along, we can't follow their first rule of eating well in a Chinese restaurant: never order anything that is on the menu.

Southam

Thanks for this illuminating discussion of cuisine and ethnicity. The French imperialist connections to Vietnam have produced a wealth of unintended consequences including the numerous deli-style takeout shops in Paris, far from exalted dining but often convenient for lunch on the run. For adventurous cooking at higher prices, I like the tiny Shan Gout at 22 rue Hector Malot, two blocks from the Aligre market in the 12th. Its blend of Asian and Continental techniques is not so much fusion as naturally modern. Here are Yelp reviews http://www.yelp.com/biz/shan-go%C3%BBt-paris-2
Just as small but far more hectic, a neighbourhood favourite in the 11th is Paris Hanoi at 74 rue de Charonne. Easy to spot by the lineups. When you get in you will bump elbows with other diners but the miniscule kitchen is in full command of its back-home menu. And sometimes it has Laos beer in stock, one of the tastiest Indochina brews. http://www.yelp.com/biz/paris-hano%C3%AF-paris-3

kerouac

Here is my ancient Chinatown report, just so you'll know what it looks like: http://tinyurl.com/74f5ql4

Ackislander

Kerouac, you are definitely "da' Man!" My mouth waters, my visit to this neighborhood only awaits my flying into Paris!

The photos are beautiful, the neighborhood fascinating. Thank you!

YankyGal

Here's a long, but interesting thread (with some very recent activity) from Paris by Mouth about Chinese food in Paris. It's not specifically related to the 13th, though.

http://parisbymouth.com/forum/#/2011...aris-2-596962/