Restaurant in Paris, France
Paris's strongest case for Cantonese at €€€€.
Shang Palace is Paris's only Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant, holding a 1 Star for over 40 years at Avenue d'Iéna. The seafood-forward menu under Chef Samuel Lee Sum justifies the €€€€ price if you want serious Cantonese cooking in a formal, celebration-ready room. Book three to four weeks ahead minimum; Tuesday and Wednesday are closed.
Yes, if you want Cantonese cooking at a Michelin-starred level and you are already planning to spend at the €€€€ tier. Shang Palace has held its Michelin 1 Star and has been operating for over 40 years at 10 Avenue d'Iéna in the 16th arrondissement, which tells you something about consistency in a city where French kitchens dominate every awards list. For a celebration dinner where the cuisine itself is the point, and where you want a room that signals occasion without defaulting to another classic French address, Shang Palace is the clearest answer in Paris right now.
The visual register here is immediate: chandeliers overhead, Sung-dynasty-style paintings on the walls, and a dining room that reads as formal without being stiff. This is a room designed for celebration meals, business dinners, and anniversary bookings. If you are coming with a partner for a significant occasion, the setting will do the work for you in a way that a more stripped-back modern dining room would not. It earns its place among Paris's €€€€ tier on atmosphere alone, though the cooking is the actual reason to book.
The menu at Shang Palace is built around Cantonese technique applied to premium sourced seafood, and that sourcing logic is what justifies the price point. Cantonese cooking, at its serious end, is one of the most ingredient-dependent cuisines in the world: the technique is largely about clarifying and respecting the protein rather than masking it. That means the quality of what arrives in the kitchen matters more here than at a kitchen where sauces and transformations carry the dish. Chef Samuel Lee Sum's approach to seafood reflects this directly. Leopard coral grouper, for instance, appears in multiple preparations across the menu, each method chosen to highlight a different quality of the fish: steamed with ginger and scallion to preserve texture, shredded with pork and mushrooms for a more complex layering, or deboned and sautéed with dried tangerine peel and olive-pickled mustard leaves for a sharper, more aromatic result. The sourcing decision comes first; the cooking method follows from it. This is the opposite of menus where a fixed technique gets applied to whatever protein is available. For a diner comparing value across Paris's €€€€ category, the sourcing depth here is the clearest differentiator from the French kitchens that dominate the tier.
Over 40 years, Shang Palace has maintained the kind of kitchen discipline that Michelin rewards with continued recognition. That longevity is not incidental. Paris has seen Chinese restaurants open and close across every price point, and few have held a Michelin star across multiple decades. The consistency implied by that record is relevant booking information: you are not gambling on a kitchen mid-stride.
Shang Palace is the right call if your party wants a Michelin-starred dinner that is genuinely different from every other €€€€ option in Paris, all of which are French. It works well for two to four people on a special occasion, a serious business dinner where the setting and credentialed cooking reflect well on the host, or any table where someone specifically wants Cantonese at its most considered. It is a poor fit if the group wants tasting-menu format with wine pairing, or if the priority is watching a chef's personal narrative unfold across dozens of micro-courses; this is a more classically structured Cantonese dining experience, not a modernist progression.
For broader Paris dining context, see our full Paris restaurants guide, or explore hotels, bars, experiences, and wineries across the city.
Shang Palace is hard to book. As one of only a handful of non-French Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, it draws both local regulars and visiting diners specifically seeking it out. Book at minimum three to four weeks ahead for a weekend dinner, and further out for key dates like Valentine's Day, anniversaries, or end-of-year holidays. Tuesday and Wednesday are closed, which compresses availability across the remaining five days. Lunch service runs 12–2 pm; dinner 7–10 pm Thursday through Sunday, with Monday also offering both services. If you have date flexibility, a Thursday lunch is your most realistic walk-in window, though securing a reservation in advance is strongly advised.
The address at 10 Avenue d'Iéna places it squarely in the 16th, close to the Trocadéro and easily accessible from central Paris. The neighbourhood is quiet and residential by Paris standards, which suits the tone of the restaurant.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty | Michelin Stars | Days Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shang Palace | Cantonese | €€€€ | Hard | 1 Star | Tue–Wed |
| Kei | Contemporary French / Japanese | €€€€ | Hard | 3 Stars | Varies |
| L'Ambroisie | French Classic | €€€€ | Very Hard | 3 Stars | Varies |
| Le Cinq | French Modern | €€€€ | Hard | 2 Stars | Varies |
| Alléno Paris | Creative French | €€€€ | Hard | 3 Stars | Varies |
If you are a committed Cantonese dining enthusiast and Paris is not your only destination this trip, it is worth knowing how Shang Palace sits in the global picture. The Chairman in Hong Kong and The Eight in Macau represent the apex of the category in Asia. Shang Palace is not at that tier, but it is the most serious address for Cantonese cooking in Paris, and for a diner based in Europe, the comparison is academic. Within France, if you are building a broader fine dining itinerary, Pearl also covers Mirazur in Menton, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Troisgros in Ouches, Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern, Bras in Laguiole, and Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or. Within Paris itself, if you are weighing creative French options, Arpège is worth considering alongside Shang Palace depending on your group's preference.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Shang Palace | €€€€ | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | €€€€ | — |
| Kei | €€€€ | — |
| L'Ambroisie | €€€€ | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | €€€€ | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | €€€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Shang Palace and alternatives.
Dress formally. Shang Palace sits inside a luxury hotel property on Avenue d'Iéna and holds a Michelin star, so the room and clientele both signal that this is a jacket-and-dress-shoes occasion. Arriving in anything less than business formal risks feeling out of place given the chandelier-and-Sung-painting dining room.
Yes, and it is one of the more distinctive choices at the €€€€ tier in Paris precisely because it is not French. The combination of a Michelin star, over 40 years of operation, and a formal room with serious Cantonese cooking gives it the weight a celebration requires without replicating what every other special-occasion restaurant in the city does. Book Thursday through Sunday; the restaurant is closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nothing in the available venue data confirms specific dietary accommodation policies. Given the €€€€ price point and Michelin-starred status, calling ahead to discuss restrictions before booking is the sensible move. Cantonese cooking at this level tends to be seafood-forward, so guests with shellfish or fish allergies should flag this explicitly.
If you are spending at the €€€€ level, the structured tasting format is the right way to experience Chef Samuel Lee Sum's range across Cantonese technique. The venue's 40-year track record and 2024 Michelin star suggest the kitchen can sustain a multi-course format. For à la carte flexibility, the seafood-focused menu offers enough variety that a shorter meal still works.
The seafood is the core argument here. The venue data highlights leopard coral grouper prepared multiple ways, including steamed with ginger and scallion, and sautéed with dried tangerine peel and olive-pickled mustard leaves. These dishes reflect the kitchen's Cantonese technique most directly and are the clearest expression of what Chef Samuel Lee Sum does at this price point.
For Michelin-starred French cooking at comparable price, Le Cinq at the Four Seasons George V and L'Ambroisie are the reference points. Kei is the closest peer if you want a non-French Michelin-starred option, though its format is French-Japanese rather than Cantonese. If you want to stay Cantonese but spend less, no direct Michelin-starred competitor exists in Paris, which makes Shang Palace the only option in that specific slot.
Yes, if Cantonese cooking is what you are specifically after and you are already comfortable at €€€€. Shang Palace has held Michelin recognition and operated for over 40 years, which is a credible track record at this tier. If you are indifferent to cuisine type, Pierre Gagnaire or Alléno Paris at Pavillon Ledoyen will give you more Michelin weight per euro on the French side of the ledger.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
