YOOM - my first dim sum in Paris

Let me start this post by stating that I am in no way, shape or form an expert on dim sum or chinese food in general. I've always had an adventerous palate, especially considering my southern fried upbringing. And I have tasted quite a few dumplings in a couple of different chinatowns. The worst chinese food I ever had was in Italy; the best is a tie between London, and the dinky place in Boothbay Harbor, Maine (not because it is terribly delicious food, but because it tastes like my childhood). But at the end of the day, I'm just another caucasian from New England who never turned down a restaurant invite.

 

The atmostphere at YOOM is beautiful, calm, modern, relaxed, and yet still sophisticated. It's a nice place to eat a long lazy dinner. Long lazy dinners are not, however, what I particularly associate with dim sum. I have to say that the food carts and the hasty asian servers were missed for a moment-- that is until I settled into the idea of an upscale dim sum joint.

My dinner buddy was a friend I'd met in my first months of living in Paris. A friend I don't see nearly often enough, but I guess that's how life in the big city goes. We commenced our obligatory catching up of the past month's events as our appetizers arrived-a vietnemese salad and a bowl of wonton soup. Both were fresh and not too heavy and served as palate cleansers between the baskets of dumplings that were about to arrive.

 The grilled pork dumplings were perfectly executed, though not plentiful enough in my opinion. 

Classic steamed shrimp dumplings were nothing to complain about. Though I've been nostalgiac for my crispy Gulf of Maine shrimp these days. It's hard to measure up, I suppose.

And my favorite of the dim sum was a pork dumpling with honey and spices. I could've eaten a whole basket of these suckers on my own. Not pictured is the sticky rice crepe with shrimp, cooked in a banana leaf. It had a bizarre texture, and was slightly difficult to eat with chop sticks. I was apparently too busy preventing a piece of crepe from falling into my cleavage to snap a photo.

In general, I'd say the offerings were generally quite tasty. There were some more exotic things on offer that I'd definitely like to try, but my dinner buddy doesn't like mushrooms, and I wanted to share ! how sad ! My general complaint is that I usually think of dim sum as a somewhat cheap & plentiful fare. For the prices (between 4 and 7 euros per order), the portions seemed terribly frugal. I left the restaurant not feeling hungry, but not terribly nourished either--and with a 24 euro dent in my wallet.

The one catagory where YOOM surely wins points would be in the dessert catagory. They had several offerings from Sadaharu Aoki on the menu which is slightly disjointed considering dim sum is chinese and Aoki japanese, but I digress.

My matcha dome with red bean filling and topped with a macaron certainly did not disappoint:

And who could complain about a chocolate and salted butter caramel tart ?

 

So what's my final verdict on YOOM ? Hard to say. I think for your money you can get much, much better fare in Belleville or the 13th. But for it's prime real estate on Rue des Martyrs, it's a convenient choice. I wouldn't go expecting to be stuffed silly (at least depending on your budget). Could be a nice option for a light summer meal, or after you've had a couple munchies with your aperitif cocktails at one of the many bars in the neighborhood. In any case, I highly advise you don't skip dessert. 

YOOM

20 Rue des Martyrs
75009 Paris
01 56 92 19 10