Fun Délices (CLOSED)

Enter this cosy Chinese-Japanese joint on the Rue des Rosiers, take a seat at the surprisingly long bar, and cop an eyeful of the weird and wonderful machines that line the kitchen walls. These multi-coloured, oddly shaped cooking engines give some idea of the sort of exotic fast food that awaits you. Some dishes will be familiar to East Asian cuisine aficionados: nothing too strange about the bite-sized takoyaki (fried octopus donuts), for instance, which come with a dollop of mayonnaise in sets of six (€8). Some, less so: we weren’t too sure how to approach the oden (€5.50), portions of unidentifiable seafood and vegetables floating in a no less obscure broth.

For the less adventurous, the charming chefs and their machines cook up a fine range of Chinese meat dishes – we were particularly fond of the beef dumplings (€7 for two) – and succulent desserts – try the Hong Kong waffle (€4) and the wonderfully odd bubble tea. The usual suspects (gyoza, rice balls, udon noodles) also make an appearance, as do hot dogs - a good example of occidental food that’s been assimilated into Far Eastern cuisine, and is now being presented as such back in the west. Yet none of this feels out of place in this eccentric little venue, which pulls off fusion cuisine with more charm (and at better prices) than most of its competitors.