We have not had Chinese food since the Lunar New Year when we ate at Shan Goût: not your usual Chinese restaurant, so it was about time! We found Impérial Choisy on the Internet and decided –once again– to follow the recommendations of Le Fooding and Michelin. The latter has given Impérial Choisy a Bib Gourmand recognition.
Impérial Choisy is located in the southern part of the 13th arrondissement. It is a modern, super clean cantine (small, unpretentious restaurant), where tables fill up fast. A great part of customers consists of Chinese families. 
We arrived just before 9 p.m. and got a table right away. The menu is very extensive and it took us a long time to make our final choices: jellyfish salad, spring rolls, sauteed chicken, shrimp-stuffed eggplants and crispy noodles. 
Our feeling in the end of the meal was a mixed bag. We liked the shrimp nems. The shrimp and vegetable noodles was very tasty. The jellyfish salad (served with pickled tomatoes, ginger and eggs) was delicious; probably the best of all dishes. 
Sauteed chicken came with black mushrooms and bamboos, and yet the mushrooms were very tasty, something was missing. We kept adding chili sauce…
However, what mostly disappointed us was the eggplant dish. Ok, to be fair, we almost never eat fried food, so maybe this explain something. The eggplants were very greasy, the dish had no particular taste, and the size of the prawn stuffed inside the eggplant was not in proportion to the rest. Unfortunately, all we could taste was flour and oil. But maybe it was our fault –we should have known not to order anything fried!
This said, the bill arrived and it was 55€ (we also had a 1/2 liter of red house wine). Taking the price into account, we estimated that Impérial Choisy was worth our money. Some dished we loved, some less so.
To answer the big question “Would we return”, I have to say that maybe (but I would pick something completely different). Or, alternatively, maybe I will continue to search for that perfect Chinese restaurant that doesn’t seem to exist in Paris…
Le Fooding review: http://lefooding.com/en/restaurants/restaurant-imperial-choisy-paris
Michelin review: http://restaurant.michelin.fr/restaurant/france/75013-paris-13/imperial-choisy/2eqxz1n
pearlspotting 
I’ve heard a lot about this place but never stopped by, thanks for the review Miia! It’s true, it seems like Paris is not the place to stay if one’s looking for good Chinese restaurants…
Btw such a shame I’ve not come across your blog before, I’ve tons of posts to catch up now!
xx Thomas
LikeLike
Hello Thomas! Thanks for stopping by and taking time to comment.
I see you have one Chinese restaurant review (Shang Palace): is it worth the money? I used to go to Dave near Palais Royal long time ago, so I think I will return there next time I fancy Chinese.
Do you know this Chinese restaurant: https://pearlspotting.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/shan-gout-not-your-usual-chinese-restaurant/ ?
You also reviewed Regalade Conservatoire. Have you been to two other Regalades? RC is not my favorite of those three…
https://pearlspotting.wordpress.com/2013/08/08/la-regalade-conservatoire-consistent-regalade-style/
If you continue reading my blog, I would be curious to know which restaurants you know and if you agree with me. So, waiting for your opinions 🙂
Have a great Sunday and don’t forget to vote 😉
LikeLike
The presentation looks interesting. I’d give it a shot after your review… but I think we too would stay away from the eggplant. We aren’t typically fried types of people as well.
LikeLike
Yeah, I should have known better!! I really can’t stand fried food but it was a house specialty.
I don’t know why it is so difficult to find good Chinese in Paris. There is one restaurant where my husband and I had the first date, so maybe I will return there next time (“Dave”). It is quite unique: red velvet inside (sort of David Lynch feeling), exclusive, full of fashion victims during the fashion week…
You must have very good Chinese (and other types of Asian food) over there?
LikeLike
Unfortunately not…Korea doesn’t do much outside of Korean. Every other ethnic food they try they ALWAYS have a Korean fusion on it… Now there are areas where foreigners flock to and typically you will find legit items like authentic Bulgarian, Italian, Chinese. These are restaurants ran by people that came to Korea from their perspective countries. Guess I shouldn’t complain to much. 😉
LikeLike
Authentic Bulgarian.. how is that? Mixture of Turkish and Eastern European/Russian?
LikeLike
Bulgarian food is similar to the food in Greece and Turkey. Think tomato, cucumber and amazing cheese salad, moussaka, filo pastries, stuffed vine leaves. Such a treat!
LikeLike
Got it 🙂
LikeLike
I think you’d really like it.
LikeLike