TukTuk Asian Kitchen Review

TukTuk Asian Kitchen is a restaurant taking inspiration from Asian cuisine, bringing a touch of modernity. The restaurant is located in the food court of the mall Les 4 Temps in La Défense.

The restaurant is surrounded by great options, such as Big Fernand or Factory & Co. We will see in this review if this place is worth trying.

The restaurant

The restaurant is located in the mall Les 4 Temps in La Défense, Puteaux. This is one of the busiest malls since it’s like Chatelet-les-Halles, located directly on the RER A line.

It is also located at the center of La Défense, which is the business area of Paris with large buildings and the famous Arch.

There is no need to say that the area doesn’t lack employees for lunch. It’s probably one of the most dense areas when it comes to office workers. You couldn’t dream of a better place to have a restaurant, although the rent isn’t cheap.

The restaurant is quite colorful, with a modern look and some nice art and paintings inside. It has tons of screens, just like most modern restaurants.

The ordering kiosks are quite intuitive and make it easy for you to order without having to speak to any of the staff. I am not sure whether it is a good or bad thing, but it definitely makes things quicker.

The restaurant is one long line, and there is more space in the back. The kitchen is open, and the counter is the same size. The restaurant is well designed overall, with about 40 seats or more.

The restaurant seems to be Vietnamese, at least that’s what the decoration suggests. It’s cool to see Asian restaurants having a modern, almost revisited design. It really changed from the traditional restaurant in the 13th district or in Lognes.

Another thing to note is that the restaurant is located in a foodcourt-like area of the Westfield Mall. This is very reminiscent of what American malls do, except that there are no shared tables and seats.

The menu

The menu at TukTuk Asian Kitchen is quite simple. Some famous dishes, such as Bo Bun, Beef Lok Lak, Pho, Bao Burger, and other specialties, such as Tacos Bobun, were revisited by youngsters from Europe.

The food seems to be some form of fusion of what young people like to eat and Vietnamese food. I think overall, it’s a good idea.

For drinks, obviously, they have some soft drinks and Asian beers, but also some tea and bubble tea. These seem to be quite popular on the old continent as well.

The experience

The place wasn’t busy, but we ate tons of burgers lately. Sometimes, as Asians, you just need your comfort food. That’s why we tried the restaurant, although I am a big fan of Big Fernand.

We ordered from the outside kiosk our menus, and this was great since it made people look for the menu without having to sit inside the restaurant. It basically gives them the time and space to make their decision.

I’ve ordered a bao burger with sweet potato fries and a mango bubble tea with passion bubbles. This is basically the same menu I’ve ordered from Gomu.

The sweet potatoes weren’t as fresh, hot, or crispy as the ones in Gomu, and the bao of the bao burger wasn’t toasty or even shaped like a bun.

Inside, the beef was well seasoned and tasted good, but the sauce or vinaigrette was too bland. I would have honestly prefer a regular smash steak with salt and pepper and a regular burger sauce.

The dish my wife chose was basically the same beef with stir-fry noodles. Overall, the food tasted good and was well seasoned. The noodles were fresh enough and not too salty.

The beef is seasoned with onions, salt, pepper, garlic, and lemongrass, which is odd but still fits well, to be fair.

This is often the case in some other westernized Asian restaurants, especially Chinese restaurants. Honestly, the food was good, even for us who have lived in Asia and are living in Lognes.

But it was nothing special, really. We feel like the quality is perhaps not on par with what some other restaurants in this same area are offering.

The good thing is that this restaurant is fairly priced overall. In Lognes, a Beef Lok Lak is around the same price, for example, and the rent is so much cheaper.

The tea and bubble tea were nothing special. Actually, they tasted exactly the same as the one we tried in Gomu, which is a good thing. At least you know what to expect.

Verdict

7.6 out of 10.

TukTuk Asian Kitchen is definitely not the best Asian restaurant you’ll come across. It’s not even the best restaurant in the area, I think.

But still, if you enjoy Asian food, especially as a Westerner, this restaurant will do the job, in my opinion. It’s neither very good nor bad, if you see what I mean.

I think it’s a bit of a shame because they could really shine with this type of concept and could definitely create a franchise if the menus were well executed.

I think we live in an era where we are spoiled and we expect our food experience to be special every time we go out and spend money, and this is where this restaurant feels a bit underwhelming.