Délice de Shandong -- Restaurant Review

88, Boulevard de l'Hôpital

75013 Paris

Tél : 01-45-87-23-37 

www.deliceshandong.com

Hours: Le restaurant est ouvert tous les jours sauf mercredi. 

Les horaires d’ouverture sont de 12h00 à 15h00 à midi et de 18h30 à 23h00 le soir.

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor

€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; €€€€ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on minimum 2-courses)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  4 - Star........................................................€..............................................................2 - Bell

Typically we go for Asian food for lunch with friends on the week-ends (comme d'habitude), and usually around Avenue de Choisy in the heart of the 13eme arrondissement, Chinatown.  Today for lunch we decided to do something different and head over to the other side of the 13eme, along the boulevard de l’Hôpital.  We selected “Délice de Shandong”.  Shandong, being a Northeast province of China, and is known for its vinegars, grains, peanuts, seafood, and they favor steamed breads vs rice as their starch of choice. 

We were 5-people. A couple from NYC, and one in particular very well versed on Western cuisine as well as Asian/Chinese cuisine, a “foodie” in other words.  Myself, JJ, and my best friend who is from San Diego, and although he does not claim to be a “foodie” he has a fairly good palate.

We ordered several dishes and they came at varying times as in most Chinese restaurants. So here’s what we ordered:

We ordered the “Soupe avec le goût pimenté et aigre” (Hot spicy sour soup). Great consistency, tasty, but we all agreed it was lacking something. So, we asked for some soy sauce and vinegar, keep in mind Shandong region of China is well known for their vinegar. I just added vinegar to mine, since I found the salt balance just fine. What a difference it made. It tasted like what “hot and sour soup” is suppose to taste like.

Ravioli au porc et chou (potstickers). They were a little bit on the doughy side, and one companion was expecting it to be a little pan fried so the bottom would be crunchy and the top steam sort of like gyoza (Japanese version), but it was all steamed. Regardless, I thought they were good.

“Intestins de porc aromatisé” (flavored pork intestines). This was probably our favorite dish. It’s a spicy dish accompanied by sweet banana chilis, with a nice layer of hot chili oils. Pork intestines can have a funky odor and taste, but the Chef did a great job of ensuring they were cleaned properly We devoured this dish like no tomorrow. It isn’t for everyone, in fact, my best friend would not eat the intestines, but he did eat the banana peppers. And, it is a very spicy dish!

Porc fumé sautés pimenté (Spicy smoked pork sautéed).  This was our second most favorite dish. It was spicy, smoky, and was "chowed" with leeks and tofu, with the latter having the consistency of tempeh. The pork was pork belly, now how can you go wrong with that. 

We had one vegetarian dish. “Aubergines à la sauce piquante” (Eggplant with a spicy sauce).  Eggplant has a tendency to absorb a lot of oils, but there’s a difference between being greasy and oily, and this dish did have chili oils as a flavoring agent, which gave it a little heat, it was delicious. We loved it. I think there’s a trend here that we’re liking the really spicy dishes. 

Lastly, at the request of one of friends who doesn’t really eat spicy, we ordered two dishes: the “Poulet aux ciboulettes à la vapeur” (Steamed chicken with chives), and Boeuf sauté aux oignons (Beef sautéed with onions).

Poulet aux ciboulettes à la vapeur.  This was a very mild and delicate dish. Surprisingly, the chicken was very, very tender and moist; probably due to the steaming and the fact that they didn’t over steam it. The added chives gave it another delicate layer. We liked it, but were not wowed by it.

Boeuf sauté aux oignons.  Except for one person, this was the dish that we all unanimously agreed was “boring”. I don’t know how else to describe it except it was dull and not very imaginative. It’s something you could get at the Chinese “traiteur” in Paris.

It looks like this group really liked the spicy dishes. I’ve noticed in France that a lot of restaurants that would typically be “spicy” in their native countries "Frenchify" their food and tone it down. This restaurant stays true to its roots. The dishes that were suppose to be spicy, were.

All of us liked the food; however, my best friend preferred the Chinese food around the Ave de Choisy.

Summary:  This is the next best thing to be being in China, San Francisco, or NYC. Unfortunately, we had ordered so many dishes that we neglected some other dishes that are known for this region, such as the seafood, steamed breads and peanuts...  Oh well, there’s always another day. And, we’ll be sure to go back!

For 5-people including 2-beers, 2-sodas, and a big bottle of Badoit (sparkling water), our bill came to 18 euros each.