Saunter up to the front of le Cheval d’Or, and you’d assume you were coming across any of Belleville’s many Chinese establishments. The neon lights showcase the eponymous golden horse trotting in front of a carriage, with the words Cheval d’Or followed by “restaurant chinois.” Chinese restaurant. These days, that’s a wholly reductive description of what awaits behind the bright red façade.
Behind the counter of the open kitchen and in the dining room blending rusticity and refinement with a few winks at the Chinese heritage of the space, industry vets Hanz Gueco (ex-Verjus), Luis Andrade (ex-Clown Bar), Nadim Smair (ex-David Toutain) and Crislaine Medina (ex-Rigmarole) offer copious plates replete with fusion twists.
Two menus are on offer to diners: The copper (78) includes four appetizers to share, selected by the group from eight offerings, followed by one main and one dessert to share for every two people at the table. The gold (98) is a nine-course prix fixe. Either option must be ordered for the whole table. Our group of four opted for the copper, freeing up some of our budget for two phenomenal wines.
As with many fine dining spots, our selections were just the beginning of the menu that would follow. Before receiving the first of the appetizers we’d ordered, we enjoyed a sort of tofu-egg pudding seasoned with soy. This reminded me quite a bit of Japanese chawanmushi, albeit with a slight sweetness. I loved the presentation as well as the crispy soy cracker laced with seaweed.
Our second amuse was a tiny cup of apple, mushroom, and smoked eel broth. Both apple and eel were fairly faint (read: nonexistent), but the smoky broth redolent with the woodsy aroma of mushroom was nevertheless a lovely way to open the appetite – as was the biodynamic Alsatian Riesling from Albert Hertz we enjoyed.
The first of the four appetizers was unanimously the favorite. These scallops may have been served right in their shells, but there was way more work behind this dish than met the eye initially. Beneath that foamy hollandaise and black chanterelle topping sat a sweet scallop dumpling laced with chive and a lovely hint of soy. “I could have eaten four of those,” one of my dining companions laughed. I could have too, but there was way more to come.
These barbajuans showcased the marriage of Chinese and French technique the restaurant is known for, packaging a corn, shiitake, scallion, and egg filling in crispy pastry native to Nice. Served with a sweet-and-sour dipping sauce, these dumplings were indeed tasty, but they paled in comparison to many of the other dishes we chose.
I was far more enticed by these mapo tofu tortellini, which were served in a rich ground veal sauce seasoned with shiitake mushrooms, garlic scapes, shiitake, ricotta, and scallions. The mashup of Chinese and Italian flavors was as creative as it was delicious, and the technical acuity of the kitchen here was on full display. Our only complaint regarding this dish was the fact that two plates of five tortellini are difficult to share among four diners. While four tortellini might have been less aesthetically pleasing on the plate, for a menu designed for sharing, it probably would have been the more prudent choice.
Our last appetizer also mashed up Italian and Chinese flavors, thuogh I found it less enticing. This combo of pillowy gnocchi and seasonal chanterelle mushrooms was served in a seasme-spiked sauce I found a bit gluey, thickened as it seemed to be with cornstarch. This is never my favorite texture for sauces, so this might just be a me problem, and the gnocchi themselves were formidable.
We had already eaten quite well by the time the mains arrived, but that didn’t stop us. John Dory was lined with a shrimp-and-crab cake base and settled atop a corn-infused beurre blanc, which lent loads of richness and a touch of sweetness.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with this technique, the shrimp cake layer and crispy skin were perfectly cooked, while the fish suffered a bit of dryness. A shame given the lovely flavors here.
We’d arrived for the first seating at 7:30, but the second seating diners had arrived by this point, and the servers seemed a bit slammed. The service here was already a bit erratic, and at this point, we felt nearly abandoned in favor of the newcomers. (We were also getting pretty full by this point, so the fact that there was a fairly long pause before our second main arrived was actually kind of welcome.) By the time this cumin-scented lamb shoulder came to the table, I was ready to attempt to make room – and it was well worth it.
The dish was served with crispy socca flatbreads and a plate of various accoutrements including coriander, sesame sauce, cucumber, mint, and green onions. Both mains also came with a bowl of plain white rice. I skipped the rice in favor of those crispy flatbreads and the house sourdough, whose bottom crust boasted a thick layer of black and white sesame seeds. Thanks to the fork tender texture of the meat and the lovely crispy bits, this dish easily competed with the scallops for my heart.
A small pre-dessert of crème caramel arrived at the table next, boasting far too much caramel for my taste.
The season of ile flottante continues (seriously, when did this take over from riz au lait?), but at le Cheval d’Or, I wasn’t mad about it. This ile flottante was seasoned with coconut, and a crunchy hazelnut and white chocolate crumble at the bottom of the bowl provided some welcome texture to a dessert I usually find ho-hum thanks to the soft-on-soft texture.
But the hands-down winner was this caramelized pineapple tarte tatin seasoned with Sichuan peppercorns. The buttery, crispy puff pastry was pitch perfect, and the vanilla ice cream melting tantalizingly into every crevice had us all dipping our spoons into the plate well after we were full.
Last but not least, we enjoyed two mignardises.
These lemon madeleines were lovely and caramelized and perfectly muted in their sweetness, plus I loved the presentation in real scallop shells.
And a house-made pâte de fruit was the ideal last bite.
This is one of the most creative, delicious tasting menus I’ve enjoyed in a very long time. Despite service that occasionally bordered on inept, especially for a place of this caliber, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Le Cheval d’Or – 21, rue de la Villette, 75019