When people tell me that Nantes is a Metropolitan city with lots of foreigners, I always keep silent. Sure it has lot of foreigners, but most of them are from the same continents, there are less diversity compare to like, Austin. In Austin, we had so many choices : Tex-Mex, BBQ, Cajun, Italian, French, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, African, you name it.
The restaurants in Nantes suck big time. They have less variety, more pricey and rigid business hours. For example, if you want to eat Dim Sum, you need to go to Paris. They don't even have ramen soups. The sushi is not as authentic.
To enjoy my time in Paris to the fullest, I decided to go one day earlier before Eason's concert. As soon as we got off the train, we headed to a restaurant that sells different type of dumplings and dishes. The dumplings were made on the spot. And surprisingly, it was so cheap! We paid less than 10€ and we ate well. We ended up begging the boss to go open another restaurant in Nantes, that was how desperate we were.
It was a lovely day with sunshine. Paris seemed wonderful if you are not in rush. I decide to walk to enjoy the view.
In the evening, a friend brought us to savor ChongQing steamboat. I had never tried it before, but it warmed up the whole body, and my heart.
Walked to the Louvre to enjoy a cup of tea there.
The last day in Paris, I got some time to kill so I decided to go towards the Eiffel Tower. Then I met my friend in Chinatown to buy some groceries that I can't get in Nantes, and packed our lunch before heading to the train station.
After this trip, we were so jealous at friends who live in Paris. They have so many restaurant choices and can eat at wee hours. I managed to have Korean lunch with my friend, had a bubble drink, but didn't have enough time to try out a restaurant that serves Chinese breakfast with soya milk, Chinese bun, and different type of tofu dishes. That would be for the next time.
I rarely see Paris with a blue sky like this!
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right, it's very hard to find REAL foreign cuisine in Nantes. I mean, the city does galettes and crêpes very well... but that's about it. What French call "Chinese food" is usually fried rice with eggs and green peas, plus a couple of Vietnamese-style spring roll :-/
We have the same issue in Ottawa. To find authentic Chinese food, you have to go to Toronto (or Vancouver, I'd imagine). Chinese food here is mostly Chinese-Canadian food, emphasis on "Canadian" or Southern Chinese food, i.e. Cantonese. Good luck finding decent baozi, jiaozi and all. We do have good Chinese grocery stores, though.
I have to disagree Zhu, we find decent food in Ottawa, ok maybe chinese restaurants aren't as authentic as in Toronto, but better than here in Lille or anywhere else in France. Whenever I visit Canada, I eat out as much as I can. In France, country of gastronomy, I have very difficult time finding a decent restaurant that is not "regional".
DeleteWe live in Paris and it is hard to find good restaurants without having to pay a bomb!
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