Peony Pavilion, Chinese restaurant in the 20th arrondissement, Paris, France
Pavillon aux Pivoines is a Chinese restaurant on Rue des Couronnes in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, in the Belleville neighborhood. Inside, the decor is heavy and colorful, featuring a large mural of Hangzhou's West Lake, wooden cranes hanging from the ceiling, a model of a Chinese palace, and a large fish tank.
The family behind the restaurant arrived in Paris from the Zhejiang province of China in 1986 and opened their first place, called Délices Ménilmontant, in 1989. They moved to the current address on Rue des Couronnes in 1994, where they named the spot Pavillon aux Pivoines, and reopened it in April 2022 after a closure due to Covid-19.
The restaurant is run by a family from the Zhejiang province who settled in the Belleville neighborhood in the 1980s. Each table has a small booklet explaining the decor and offering a short glossary of Chinese culinary terms.
The restaurant is open Tuesday through Sunday for both lunch and dinner, and sits close to the Couronnes metro station, making it easy to reach by public transport. The dining room is large, with round tables suited for groups or families, and there is a sofa corner useful for visitors with strollers.
In 1996, a scene for the film Généalogies d'un crime, featuring Michel Piccoli and Catherine Deneuve, was shot inside the restaurant. The dining room where filming took place is the same one that guests walk into today.
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