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1 star Japanese restaurant in Paris offering a menu of quality meats, fish and shellfish.
One of the most discreet among the best Japanese and yet the first Japanese kitchen star in Paris in 2008. Fine cuisine lovers know that Chef Koji Aida excels in the wine agreements, and more specifically teppanyaki alliances and great burgundy. Frozen calf tartar of punzu, grilled abyss and white asparagus, sushi to Kobé beef, sashimi of line bar with a ume sauce, rascasse in a broth of dried bonito, tepanyaki lobsters of Brittany: the card changes every day and the quality of beef, fish and crustaceans is always exemplary. You must see the chef, dressed in white as for a ceremonial, blow his exceptional products with dexterity on his hot plate or cut the vegetables in motion staccato on his board. This experience, in the form of work in progress, is a must. Be careful, you must book because the room is tiny: no more than 18 people.
Members' reviews on AIDA
A night that I will remember for ever.
Ok, this review will be highly biased because we had a really wonderful night, an evening that created memories that will stay with me forever.
So why? What’s so interesting here ?
Let’s get rid of the obvious first. It’s a Japanese restaurant doing Omakase (you put your trust in the chef - you have a surprise menu), he’s not the only one and actually, in a way, most Star do that (surprise menu, etc…). This is really Japanese, there’s a French influence, but it’s really a Japanese with a Japanese service and atmosphere. For instance, we were only 8 around the counter. Let me rephrase that. A Michelin star chef cooks for 8 persons a day. 8 happy few. That’s explain why it’s in the high end in terms of pricing. Especially with the ingredients that the chef uses (we had caviar for example). To be completely fair, all the small Japanese one star in Paris are expensive. Does it worth it? In this case yes it does. To complete my « training « , I went with a « nose » (a parfum creator working for the big names in Paris, I wanted to have a exchange with a expert, like I did for interior designer, etc…). To this day we are still speaking about this experience.
So why? What is the champagne ? Indeed, the chef recommended us a great champagne (low dosage 2g/l, perfect for gastronomic dinner). So may be it was the champagne ? It helped but I don’t think so. I think it’s the chef. It’s his personality and charisma. It does transpire in his cuisine. Very grounded, well balanced and ultimately extremely pleasing. We were all so excited that we ended up buying more champagne and toasting to the chef, and to all those alike him that creates memories through their cuisine. To which he answered with great class. Interestingly, he shared a little bit of his own story when asked why France. He said that when he arrived at the airport, more than 20 years ago, he smelled the air and thought « this is it, this is home ». Well, we are all lucky that the air smelled nice that day! ???? Because now we have available a door to Japan and to a very unique Japanese.
A reference. You can go with a friend, business foodie or lover. Doesn’t matter. You’ll travel.
A top tiers one star Japanese experience