OUR HOUSEFrom Mount Yuelu to rue du Vertbois
In Changsha, Mount Yuelu looks down on the Xiang river. That is where Lin Wei learned to salt pork belly, to ferment chilli in stoneware jars and never to let a wok cool down. Since 2019 she has been cooking that memory on rue du Vertbois, in a thirty-seat room. The chilli comes from Xiangxi, the pork is smoked on site over tea wood, the fish arrives from Rungis every morning. The menu stays short: fire is the one thing you cannot share.
Chilli hides nothing, it reveals.
On the table tonight
Ten dishes, ten degrees of heat. The menu follows the chilli deliveries and the curing season, and changes four or five times a year.
01Fish head with chopped chilli
02Mao-style braised pork
03Stir-fried Xiangxi smoked pork
04Beef with green chillies
05Farmhouse pork with chillies
06Changsha fermented tofu
07Spicy crayfish
08Dry-pot cauliflower
09Steamed aubergine with chilli
10House tofu from the wok
11Water spinach with garlic
12“Sisters’” rice dumplings
Our signature dishes
10
01
Fish head with chopped chilli剁椒鱼头
The dish you order on the way in
A split grouper head under a blanket of jar-fermented red chilli, steamed for twelve minutes and served with rice noodles that drink up the juices.
34,00 €
02
Mao-style braised pork毛氏红烧肉
Caramelised sugar, no soy sauce
Free-range pork belly seared then braised for two hours in a cane-sugar caramel with star anise and dried chilli. The colour comes from sugar, never from soy.
26,00 €
03
Stir-fried Xiangxi smoked pork湘西腊肉
Smoked in-house over tea wood
Pork belly salted for six weeks, smoked over tea wood, sliced thin and stir-fried with wild garlic and fresh green chillies.
24,00 €
04
Beef with green chillies小炒黄牛肉
Ninety seconds in the wok
Beef flank cut along the grain and seared for ninety seconds with green chillies, new garlic and a dash of rice vinegar.
25,00 €
05
Farmhouse pork with chillies农家小炒肉
The everyday dish of Hunan
Pork shoulder, green chillies crushed by hand and fermented black beans — the dish every Changsha family makes its own way.
22,00 €
06
Changsha fermented tofu臭豆腐
Black outside, creamy inside
Tofu matured in a bamboo-shoot brine, fried until black, pierced and filled with chilli broth, spring onion and crushed peanuts.
12,00 €
07
Spicy crayfish口味虾
Eaten with your fingers, gloves provided
A kilo of Louisiana crayfish stir-fried in beer with thirteen spices, garlic and dried chilli — a Changsha summer night in a bowl.
32,00 €
08
Dry-pot cauliflower干锅花菜
Served over its own burner
Hand-broken cauliflower seared dry, then glazed with cured pork, garlic and chillies; it keeps cooking on its burner through the meal.
18,00 €
09
Steamed aubergine with chilli剁椒蒸茄子
Melting, never greasy
Long aubergines steamed and split open, topped with fermented chilli, garlic and a spring-onion oil poured smoking hot.
16,00 €
10
“Sisters’” rice dumplings姊妹团子
The one dish without chilli
Steamed glutinous rice dumplings, one black sesame, one cane sugar, served in their warm broth — the recipe of the two Changsha sisters.
9,00 €No chilli
Our set menus
24,00 €
Vertbois lunch
A starter, one wok dish, steamed rice and Hunan tea. Tuesday to Friday, lunch service only.
Book46,00 €
Hunan table
Five sharing dishes, from the fish head to the fermented tofu, chosen by the kitchen from the day’s deliveries. Two guests minimum.
BookOn request
Long table
From ten guests, in the back room. Menu and heat level agreed a week in advance.
Write to us
The room, the fire, the mist
The dining room
Thirty covers, dark woodwork and red drapes: people talk loudly here and eat with their fingers.
The wok
Two millimetres of cast iron, the burner wide open: a Hunan stir-fry lasts under two minutes.
The chilli counter
Xiangxi chillies dried, then fermented in jars for forty days before being chopped by knife.
Yuelu mist
The mountain the house is named after: at dawn the mist runs all the way down to the river.
The back table
One long table for ten, bookable for family meals and office gatherings.
Sichuan pepper
Used sparingly: in Hunan chilli warms, it does not numb. Only two dishes carry it.
Book your table
Pick your date, then the time, and we’ll prepare the room around your pace.
- Date
- Time
- Contact
They came by
The fish head arrived steaming and we finished the juices with a spoon. Nothing like the Sichuanese place down the road: here it burns and it smells of smoke.
Frequently asked questions
Every dish shows its heat level, from 0 to 5. We adjust anywhere between 1 and 5; below that the recipe loses its point and we will steer you to another dish.
The room seats thirty: in the evening and at weekends, booking is advisable. Online booking stays open until two hours before service.
Yes: steamed aubergine, garlic water spinach, house tofu, and dry-pot cauliflower without cured pork on request. The fermented tofu does contain a pork broth.
From ten guests, in the back room, with a menu and heat level agreed a week ahead. Write to us from the contact page.
The room is level with the street and wheelchair accessible. The toilets are in the basement, down a flight of ten steps.
Cash and bank cards. Luncheon vouchers are accepted at lunchtime, within the legal limit. We do not take cheques.
FIND US
Rue du Vertbois, between the market and the canal
Address
14 rue du Vertbois, 75003 Paris
Opening hours
Tuesday – Saturday: 12:00 – 14:30 · 19:00 – 22:45 Sunday: 19:00 – 22:00 · Monday: closed
Phone
+33 1 42 74 18 06Getting here
Two minutes from Arts et Métiers (lines 3 and 11), five from Temple (line 3). Buses 20 and 75, Turbigo stop. Bike racks outside number 12.
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