Brigade du Tigre — Restaurant in Paris

Being a relatively well travelled Asian foodie, I have a pretty good idea of what's Asian, Brigade du Tigre is definitely not it. One can only call it Asian named western food. Almost none of the dishes use Asian ingredients.

Table setting: Chinese style plate with Korean style chopsticks, western spoon, metal ashtray (used as a sauce dish. Why not use the same as the Chinese style plate?). I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

Let's not talk about the abomination where they added vinegar to soy sauce. Yuzu to soy sauce, yes. Yuzu to vinegar, questionable. Vinegar to soy sauce, definite no.

Food A. Onigiri - the cheese used overpowered everything else. I thought the green sauce was matcha but its just.. green. The only thing Asian about this was the rice? And the name.

B. Crispy sardine - only Asian thing about this was the plate that's probably made in China. Forgettable dish.

C. Ravioli with satay sauce - the dish was really tasty. Really excellent. Skin was just right the filling just nice, the veggies a great addition, and the sauce brings it up a level. However, the satay sauce is obviously something the chef concocted based on what he heard others talk about and never tasted - it's be ridiculed everywhere in Asia for claiming to be satay sauce. If not for the misleading name, the dish would be perfect.

D. Caramelised chicken - the only truly Asian inspired dish, but not well executed. It was not caramelised enough, not crispy enough. The addition of lemon gives it a interesting twist, but addition of peanut (instead of the typical cashew nut) brings down the dish.

Down right no if you're looking for Asian or Asian fusion food. OK if French and Middle Eastern food. Good if you're looking for experimental food and don't care about what cuisine...

I cannot rate the food here because my partner and I walked out. This is an "Asian" restaurant that does not respect Asian people or culture. I'm extremely surprised this establishment is rated a Bib Gourmond by the Michelin guide.

Our initial welcome into the restaurant was uncomfortable. The server seemed to have difficulty finding our booking, despite us having received a call to confirm an hour earlier. We were sat at a table which never should've been on the floor as it blocked the path to other tables. The restaurant was nearly empty (it was early in the night) but the servers insisted they could not move us due to other bookings. We decided to try our best to make it work by reconfiguring ourselves to create space to the satisfaction of the staff.

We accepted the awkward service with the hope that the food would impress, but couldn't stay after seeing the wall decor. We noticed a large map of China and its neighbours, evidently from the Vietnam war - an imperialist war of oppression. The text on the poster was war propaganda rooted in racist attitudes, promoting the western "cold" war effort while fearmongering and demonising Asian people and countries. An image of the poster is attached.

As a restaurant serving Asian food, owned by two white men, this ignorant choice shows a lack of respect paid to the very people whose cuisine they claim to celebrate. By displaying a poster supporting colonialism, this restaurant does little to hide its clear participation in theft from and exploitation of Asian people and culture for profit. There is a respectful way to celebrate and share in each other's cultures, and...

The food had some really dynamic and interesting flavours — some of the combinations surprised our palates. However nothing really wow’d us as we’d expected, given the attention from the Michelin Guide. We will say that the rice ball appetizer was somewhat bland, but of more concern was the fact that it was overly crunchy to the point I was concerned about breaking an incisor trying to bite into it — even sawing at it with my knife was challenging. Our table was served by a few people, all of whom were attentive and professional, but the greeter who sat us (beige tee shirt) appeared to have a slight attitude that made us feel like a bit of an inconvenience - so no pleasant greeting or welcome from the person who is the first customer-facing restaurant representative. Perhaps he was preoccupied? Who knows? We give it four stars however — the fact is we did enjoy ourselves and maybe that missing 5th star was a result of a combination of our Michelin Guide expectations and an off night for them? We have no issues recommending...