Dao restaurant & Art, the new exceptional Chinese restaurant

Dao Restaurant & Art is the new Chinese restaurant like no other, on rue Saint-Marcel, Paris 13th. At Dao, you'll discover exceptional Sichuanese and Shanghainese cuisine, prepared by a true master of Chinese cooking, no less! Not only will you enjoy dishes you won't find anywhere else, but you'll also find a real gourmet delight.

Dao Restaurant & Art is the new restaurant replacing the "O d'attente" at 55 boulevard Saint-Marcel in Paris's 13th arrondissement. A restaurant well worth a visit for discerning lovers of Chinese cuisine.

The restaurant's greatest asset? Its renowned chef, LIU Gaojin, one of the few Chinese chefs to have been awarded the certificate of excellence of Grand Master in Chinese Cuisine. There are only 200 chefs in China to have received this distinction, and given the density of the population, it's not for everyone.

In this restaurant, don't be fooled into thinking you're eating egg rolls or any of the other classic specialties you'll find everywhere in Paris. Instead, the chef invites you to sample the true traditional dishes of the Sichuan and Shanghai regions, prepared in creative and original ways. And he excels in his art.

The menu features dishes with unpronounceable names, but oh so rich in flavor. It's a veritable explosion of flavors, even though we're used to discovering the best restaurants in Paris. Suffice to say, it's a real coup de coeur.

Especially since, let's be honest, the menu is more thanaffordable for the quality of the dishes. The average price is around €25 per person. The chef's menu is deliberately simple, featuring fresh, seasonal produce.

In terms of decor, we find ourselves in a refined, arty setting. Two rooms open up to us, one at the entrance, bright and spacious, and another at the back, ideal for groups, parties or family gatherings.

Note that the venue also hides 3 karaoke box rooms for groups of 6 to 15 people in the basement, but only with Chinese music for the moment, a matter for us amateur singers to follow.

Among the dishes we tested and recommend is the excellent starter with pork belly and green bean sprouts(Dao Ke Bai Rou). Fine, fresh and tasty, we love it. If beef in all its forms is your thing, then be sure to try the Mo Fan Fu Qi Fei Pian (I told you it was unpronounceable).

The portions are generous and the plates well-stocked. But you've got to save room for the main course! We chose to try the fresh sea bass, green bean sprout soup, which is truly gargantuan(DAO-Shui Zhu Yu). Discover this dish served for two.

Do you like tofu? Let yourself be tempted by the sweetness of Kou Dai Dou Fu, a dish that marries tofu and chicken in a soup with mixed mushrooms and chop suey cabbage. Atypical and original, we love it.

We also offer a fine selection of fine teas. The Chrysanthemum tea is just divine.

To finish on a high note, let yourself be tempted by the lovely selection of pastries from L'Osmanthe, a patisserie specializing in exotic desserts. We love the Opéra revisited with matcha green tea and the lettre d'amour with oolong tea and jasmine, raspberry and pistachio jelly. But perhaps we'd have liked the blueberry-black sesame or lemon-kumquat tart just as much.