An Adventure

Today I made a fairly brief, precipitation-filled visit to campus followed by an afternoon of avoiding contact with the outside world reading, thinking, and talking about exams (hurrah grad school). So tonight I was faced with a dilemma:

1. I am in a foreign country.

2. I am in an ethnically diverse neighborhood.

3. There are abundant cultural and linguistic challenges I could view as an opportunity to work on my French and broaden my intellectual horizons.

4. The Carrefour down the street sells really good pizzas for like a euro and a half that take approximately 5 minutes to cook in the oven and six packs of beer for just over two euros and I won’t have to speak French or talk to anybody.




Be proud readers; for rather than indulging my introversion I ventured out on a quest for a unique restaurant where I could experience the essence of Paris’ Chinatown. I didn’t have to travel far before I stumbled on “Restaurant Le-Dung” which I can only assume translates as “This Restaurant is the shizzle.” (I haven’t quite reached a decision as to how I shall treat profanity on this blog, so for now I am attempting to keep it friendly for all to view…hence shizzle as opposed to…) Here was my chance to combine my vast experience of eating strange foods with my somewhat limited experience with speaking French. Fortunately they had a Fixed Price menu where I had two options for appetizer, several for the main course, and several for dessert.

The couple whom I presume own Restaurant Le-Dung were very fun…and – better yet – they understood my butchering of the French Language and used simple 2nd grade vocabulary for the duration of the meal so that I could understand them…apparently I still have that ‘I’m a dumb American wandering around somewhere I’m unfamiliar with’ look about my person…c’est la vie. So I look at the menu:

First course: choice between ‘Salade Imperial’ or ‘Pate Imperial (3 Pieces).’ Easy. Everyone knows what Salade means and it is horribly unadventurous, give me the Pate.

Main Course: Ok, I am a sissy. For the main course I chose something that I knew what it was. Poulet Curry. There were several choices, but I’m not in the mood for an upset stomach. If you don’t know what Poulet means…booyah, I know more French than you, stupid! It’s chicken.

Dessert: now Dessert presented a Quandary. I do enjoy a good ‘café’ or ‘the’ after my meal…but this is an adventure. So those items on the menu are out of the question. My choices then were:

“Lychees au sirop (something ummm with…syrup?)
Arbouses au sirop (something else…with…syrup)
Nougat Vietnamien (Some sort of Vietnamese nougat?) or
Gingembre au confiture (which I can only assume has something to do with gingerbread and comfort…so it was certainly tempting)”

I was in a Vietnamese restaurant so I went with the Nougat Vietnamien.

For the first course…pate meant eggrolls with a mint/iceberg lettuce salad and some oil/vinegar/pepper dressing/dipping sauce. Now those familiar with my culinary quirks are aware that I am skeptical of most eggrolls because I believe that you will never know their full contents. This time, particularly, I firmly believe that I will never know their contents. However, this was an adventure, and...they were delicious...whatever they may have been.

The chicken curry was spectacular, I don’t know what all they did to that chicken/onion/carrot mixture but it should be done far more often. I could eat that in an omelet for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and over rice for dinner for a good month before I would get sick of it and even then I would probably ask for seconds. If you’re ever near ‘Place D’Italie’ find the Dung Restaurant and eat their chicken curry.

Finally the dessert. [Mind you I was the only patron at this establishment during my meal and made quite a bit of small talk with its owners. Their kids were playing upstairs and occasionally descended the spiral staircase to enjoy a beverage out of the cooler. Just reiterating that I utilized every bit of the 6 weeks of French I have under my belt during this endeavor.] The ‘Nougat Vietnamien’ can best be described as a Baby Ruth bar minus the chocolate, plus a little bit of heaven, cubed and covered in sesame seeds. If I am ever the pastor of a church in Paris I will use these cubes in the eucharist. They were spectacular.

Adventure: success.

I will definitely return to the Dung Restaurant several times in the next year. The service was impeccable and the food did not disappoint. And the restaurant’s name is another name for poo. Aren't I mature.