Had it not been for a local friend from China dragging me here, it would have been easy to dismiss Le Celeste Gourmand as a faux-Chinese restaurant in a trendy district meant for non-Chinese tastebuds, let alone Parisian ones. My friend, a Parisian in his own right of nearly a decade, hails from the Hunan province in China where topics of Mao Zedong, tall mountains, and supposedly the spiciest regional cuisine in the country exist. His claims of Le Celeste Gourmand's ability to replicate the Hunan spice was questionable in my mind, but I soon learned to his palate was a far better judge than I. And just like all things life - one should never judge a book by it's cover, as the place was packed with virtually all Chinese clientele. Some might be tourists, but I gathered a majority of them were Chinese locals living in Paris, all with a hankering for something that reminded them of home and while enjoying regional flavor in a city not known for it's distinct choices in Chinese cuisine. The restaurant feels like a small cafe, with little space and simple decor. Just like all small restaurants in Europe, they manage to deceivingly fit large groups of people with creative uses of combining tables and maximizing round tables. My group of 18 was able to fit semi-comfortably in the space, which is never easy at any establishment. And in the end, my friend was right. The food was of high caliber and the spiciness from the culmination of it all had many of my dining companions panting after every bite. Hunan specialties of Kou Shui Ji (Mouthwatering Chicken), Mapo Tofu, Xian Chao La Zhu Mo (Fresh Spicy Ground Pork), Sauteed Bok Choy, and Qie Sha Zhu Ruo (Eggplant and Pork) were sensational, with plenty of spice to boot. Non-spiceheads beware, be sure to ask the wait staff for their recommendations. Though the final tally of the bill felt a bit pricey for Chinese food, I'm quickly reminded that there aren't too many restaurants like this in these parts and I'm in Paris after all. The Euro's ability to trump the US dollar and the Chinese RenMinBi was somewhat painfully felt when all was said and done. Each dish was hovering somewhere between 9-16 Euros, which for European standards, I imagine is reasonable. But the question begs, is this place worth trying again? Oui and Oui. Le Celeste Gourmand is further proof quality Asian food doesn't have be had in the Quarter Chinois, but more importantly represents a side of China that is often overlooked and under appreciated. I am willing to bet Mao himself would've given this place a thumbs up. read more

See all

I will base this review solely on the food, for I was rather unhappy with a payment mishap that made our meal much more stressful. Just a note, they don't accept any type of credit... The food was great and out before us within 5 minutes if ordering it. I have forgotten the names of the dishes, but there was one of mushrooms, of tofu, of tripe, and of frog legs. The dish with mushrooms was delightful and brought out in a pot that was over a small fire (frog legs were brought out in the same manner). The tofu was tasty and soothingly smooth compared to the frog legs and tripe. The frog legs were a bit on the spicy and pretty tasty. The tripe, however, was made with painful spice. I could barely eat it although it was well cooked and seasoned. A warning about the spice: THE OTHER REVIEWS WEREN'T JOKING! The tripe was insanely spicy. In some respects it was almost as spicy as eating a raw thai pepper, or at least the spice of a raw jalapeño x 1.5. After the first bite I drank two glasses of water before cooling down. Overall, the meal was enjoyable, but one dish was a bit too spicy. I recommend as long as you have a good method of pay, especially if you're a tourist! read more

See all

We live in the neighborhood and decided to try by chance. The exterior does not lend to delicious but don't be fooled. They are so consistent with their dishes in flavor, speed (which is not a French pace), and temperatures are true to dish. We eat here once a week and always find the same kind staff and wonderful service. Bill is always 50 euro for two. Chaux vert, szechuan chicken, sticky rice, pork/leek dumplings, pigment vert et oeuf, champignon nior, peking soup, and on and on read more

Food is expensive in Paris, however, Chinese food offers the better value. La Celeste food was spicy and the chicken dish was excellent. Stick with the chicken. Atmosphere is quiet and pleasant. Service is responsive and pleasant. Be sure to understand what forms of payment are accepted. read more

Le Céleste Gourmand - Spicy chicken - Chinese Near Me - Paris, 75

I was here 2 years ago when I visited Paris with my granddaughter. It was good then and decided to check it out again. The place is colorful and very nicely appointed. We were attended to immediately upon entering. We ordered the steamed vegetarian dumplings, chicken with pineapple, pig's feet in sauce and white rice. Yes, Yes, Yes. Pig's feet! They had pig's feet! The dumplings came first and were delicious--fresh vegetables with a delicate outer coating. The chicken with pineapple was served in a pineapple half. The portion was good and so was the taste. The pig's feet came in a deep dish because there was so many of them. They were served in a spicy sauce with a stick of cinnamon. I make these in a tomato base without cinnamon so I would have preferred them without the cinnamon taste. But still they were really good. They were fall off the bone good. Lovely dinner, lovely servers, nice place. What could be better than an evening out in Paris? Nothing. read more

Wow, the food is excellent, exceeded our expectation. Very authentic and flavorful. We are so glad we have found this restaurant thru yelp. We had fried shrimp egg rolls, steamed shrimp dumplings, light fried eggplants with garlic flavor (the best I ever had), and other variety dishes of chicken, salt and peppered spare ribs and fish. We are visiting Paris from USA and we all agreed that this restaurant beats ones at home. read more

Jazz and Irène Le Vésinet My wife and I went for lunch at Le Céleste Gourmand on Thursday, May 9, 2013, after having received a recommendation by two young friends. We then read what others had written about it. We concluded that chances were excellent that we would like it because it apparently offered food that was authentic. We like authenticity in our "ethnic" food and don't find much left in Paris. We love broccoli and carrots but not in putatively Asian cuisine. We knew that the restaurant is popular so we went on a holiday when we thought there would be fewer diners. We arrived shortly before it opened and were very cordially welcomed. We were offered our choice of seats and chose a table for two by the window in order to have plenty of light. We wish we had had the menu to study before going there because we found that we needed time to study dishes that we were unacquainted with. It is useful to know before going that the restaurant's specialty is pungent (hot to the palate) dishes native to Hunan province. These dishes have nothing in common with the bland dishes of generic Asian restaurants in Paris. It is also useful to know that the "hot" dishes are listed in the first couple of pages. The degree of piquancy is indicated by a symbol, namely thin little red hot peppers. The number indicates degree of piquancy. Because the symbols could be easily missed, find out immediately where they symbols will be if there are any. Later in the menu are pages of dishes that are not marked by a symbol and thus not "hot" at all. You can expedite ordering by using the number of the dish, even writing the numbers to give to the waiter or waitress. We found the waitresses not only cordial but even angelically patient and helpful. That we believe is there nature. However, we have no doubt that this is probably not readily evident when the small place is packed and noisy. We found the cuisine wondrously different abounding in interesting flavors, most of them as unfamiliar as they were delightful. One of our criteria for judging restaurants and much else is the state of hygiene. We can attest that we found the restroom impeccable. My wife tested it before other diners had used it, I after others had used it. All of us need to be aware, however, that it is not so easy for a busy small restaurant to keep a restroom impeccably clean so we can imagine there must be occasions when a diner using the restroom has not been considerate of others, to say the least. What to do? Check the restroom on entering and before using it, report the need for tidying up to a waiter or waitress. Before doing so, call to mind the German saying, "Mit Takt kann man alles sagan" ("Anything can be said if one is tactful." Perhaps we helped assure that our service would be excellent by taking care to remember to smile on entering and by making it clear by our smiles that we were delighted to be there. And guess what? We really were! We had ex- pected a lot and yet the place exceeded our expectations. But the place is for people who seek authenticity and who shun to the extent possible the globalized look and taste that are fast supplanting authenticity and diversity with numbing homogeneity. Go early, even earliest if you can. Don't fake a smile as you enter, but don't suppress it either. Your own friendliness is likely to be reciprocated. We enjoyed ourselves enough that we considered it a categorical imperative to a review expressing our satisfaction. read more

Came to eat here with our family the food is great. The staff and us had a difficult time communicating we do not speak French. We asked for boxes to go and instead she brought us our whole order over again. When we made them aware that we did not want that food that what we wanted was boxes to go she told us it's to late and charged us for the whole order again. That has never happened to us anywhere we have been. I believe that customer service is an important part of the experience of a restaurant. Bad staff they don't bring you free water they pretend not to know what is going on and bring you bottled water and after they bring you free water. If you want good food but horrible customer service and you want to get screwed as a tourist this is your place. read more

Tried based on other reviews but this visitor to Paris found this to be barely Mediocre taste. Small portions. food too salty and oily. Ordered Spicy eggplant thinking it was vegetarian - was too salty and had ground chicken. Menu didn't have chicken listed so it was a surprise to find it in the dish. Would be an issue for a vegetarian. Spicy and crunchy Chicken wasn't spicy at all. Vegetable noodles was better selection among the three dishes ordered. We walked out still hungry not wanting to order anything more even though we weren't full yet. Wouldn't recommend. read more

Came here because of other good reviews. Was highly disappointed. Chicken had small bones and skin still on and the pork was chewy. One of the worst meals I've had in Paris. read more