Although there are a lot more Chinese-Americans than Chinese-French (or whatever you want to call…read morethem) in the world, I don't think I've ever seen anything like these "traiteurs chinois" in the United States. It's basically like a fast food restaurant but kind of in the form of a buffet. There's all this food laid out in front of you behind a glass window. The names and prices are labeled, and you pick what you want. They'll seal it up in plastic for you, put it on a scale, and then price it according to weight. The quality here is pretty average.
Immediately, my attention was drawn to their selection of fried rice. They have three different kinds of it, and being eager to try them all, I ordered a little bit of each. I also ordered some of the fish they have here. Unfortunately, because the printing on the receipt wasn't accurate, I don't remember the exact names. One particularly interesting bit is that the guy serving me spoke to me in Mandarin Chinese even after I had spoken to him in French. The people who work at Asian restaurants in the United States will sometimes do this to Asian-looking people they see, but I hadn't had the same thing happen to me in France.
When I got home to eat all this food, my first impression of it was that it was still very hot even though I had taken the tram a long way to get there. The plastic must hold the heat in pretty well. The problem with the plastic, though, is that it's sealed perhaps too well. I thought it could be easily peeled off, but I had to struggle to get that film cover off. It wouldn't come off in one piece, so these little strands of plastic film fell in the food, which is annoying.
The food itself was sort of dry. I mean it had been cooked, and it just sits out there on display while being heated for a long time, so I suppose I can't expect it to be really fresh. Other than that, it was just okay fried rice. Fried rice is generally pretty good, although it's not the most authentic Chinese food. The three kinds of fried rice I got varied in color and flavor, so it was nice to mix it up a little. They were also surprisingly filling. There's a lot more to it than there appears to be. Because of the deceiving size of the box, I was completely full before I was able to touch the fish. When I got to the fish a while later, it was still good. It's the soft and white boneless kind, covered in a sweet brownish-orange sauce that complements it perfectly.
All this food came out to be 12,94€. That's a lot of food for 12,94€. It's just too bad that it's not the greatest food out there. I mean it's produced in bulk and just sits there while it's heated, so it's basically buffet-quality food. But it's priced reasonably, and the important part is that they're fast and they let you leave with it, much like fast food. French restaurants often don't expect that you'll not be able to finish what you order and then want to take it home, but there are restaurants like this which are convenient for that purpose. Otherwise, this place is just passable and not really outstanding.
