Aida — Restaurant in Paris

#111 in my Parisian Michelin Stars Challenge to try them all under 12 months. Check my bio and follow me for full reviews.

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...

Although the atmosphere is great and the service was impeccable, we had to give this rating because of the quality of the food relative to the price tag attached to it. The tepankyaki (meat and rice) portion of the set menu was out of this world. But all the cold starters and remaining dishes were underwhelming. At 280 euros a head (without extras), there was nothing in this experience that seemed to justify the price. The fish was not particularly tasty and a bit chewy at times. The saffron rice was particularly average and lacked flavor .The salad, Uni and fried mushroom were not particularly interesting and could easily be done at home. Although it was obvious by his demeanor that the chef is skilled, we were patiently waiting to be wowed,...

I love the chef here. He is super nice. But after trying 50+ Michelin stars, sadly disappointed, I Don’t recommend this place.

The 1st hour here Had one sesame spinach, shiitake soup and one grilled fish that’s way too salty. Then finally the main course- A Overcooked lobster with way too much sauce and butter… Omakase 320…...