Home Food Reviews Chez Ly, Paris

Like bees to flowers, my parents (and brother) would automatically walk towards a Chinese restaurant when they see one. I spent my vacation trying to steer them away from Chinese eateries, with the exception of Four Seasons and Gold Mine. After three non-Chinese meals in Paris, they were determined to have Chinese food for dinner, and nothing I said would stop them.So I was dragged to Chez Ly, not too far from Champ Elyseee. The minute I stepped into the restaurant, I knew prices were not going to be cheap. One glance at the menu proved me right. Everything was expensive, even the white rice – €4.50 per small bowl.Our waitress recommended a few dishes, including the chicken with fresh lemon juice (€14.80), fish fillet with ginger and scallion (€16), Cantonese spare ribs (€13.80), broccoli with oyster sauce (€7) and roast duck (€16).Broccoli with oyster sauce was literally just that. I could have prepared this myself. I wouldn’t even call this a dish – there was no proper “cooking” done. The fish fillet with ginger and scallion was alright, but not as good as the ones you can get in Malaysia. Different cooking style and sauces, I reckon. When I saw the ribs, I thought it was a joke. 4 miserable pork ribs for13.80?! I found the ribs tough, because there were barely any fat on it! The Cantonese sauce tasted similar to the Marmite sauce, but sweeter and less sticky. The chicken with fresh lemon juice was nothing to shout about. While the chicken pieces were nice and crispy, I really didn’t fancy them using breast meat (most restaurants use breast meat in France). Roast duck was a total disaster; the duck breast was tough and stringy with a cardboard-like texture. To make things worse, the skin was soggy and flat tasting. They shouldn’t call this roast duck – braised duck would be a more accurate description.

The rice portion was so tiny, my dad and brother had two bowls of rice each. We ordered 6 bowls of rice in total, so we paid €27 just for white rice. The bill came up to €130 for all the above. Ridiculously expensive for such a mediocre affair.

Ambiance: 6/10
Price: 3/10
Food: 3/10 (non-halal)
Verdict: I suggest you take the metro to Tuilleries or Cité. Plenty of nice cafes/restaurants there.

25 Rue La Boétie,
75008 Paris, France
+33 1 49 24 01 68
Metro: Miromesnil
(fairly near Champ Elysee)

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8 comments

Lyrical Lemongrass October 26, 2010 - 3:08 am

Yikes! I guess you'd do better with Le MacDonald's there! :-)

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J October 26, 2010 - 3:53 am

We should start a club – No Asian Food While On Holiday in Europe Club. Haha…

(But I understand your headache – I have the same problem with my parents…)

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basalt1984 October 26, 2010 - 4:09 am

With some exceptions most chinese food restaurants overseas are a ripoff. When I was touring Egypt, they tried passing off 'Wanton noodle soup' with 'spaggetti noodles in funny sause'.

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"Joe" who is constantly craving October 26, 2010 - 5:16 am

the nxt time i go, i am going to bring a rice cooker and rice..can make a living selling white rice!!

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Bangsar-bAbE October 26, 2010 - 8:34 am

Joe – Hahahaha…good idea!! You'll be rich! =D

basalt1984 – That's awful. Did you try it? >.<

J – LOL. Ya…we should! But strange…when my parents went to China, they complained about Chinese food. ~_~

LL – Ya…McD would have been nicer. But my dad DID make it up to me after that awful meal. He let me choose a French cafe to go to…since I was hardly full from dinner. ;)

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thule a.k.a leo October 26, 2010 - 9:01 am

for authentic Chinese meals.. nothing beats countries where Chinese ingredients are plentiful… restaurants in European countries are hopeless. My honeymoon with Jenn in Italy & French Riviera proved my point. Most of our meals were CHinese (cheaper compared to others) and really nothing much to shout about!

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Shen October 28, 2010 - 4:38 pm

I'm very surprised your parents didnt go to try the Paris Chinatown which is a world of difference compared to the tourist traps.

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Bangsar-bAbE October 29, 2010 - 6:41 am

Shen – I think they wanted to go someplace nearby, that's why we didn't wander out. :(

leo – Actually, the some Chinese restaurants in London are pretty good. You just need to know which one to go to. In Europe, I don't know lor… =P

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